An impassioned, thought-provoking work of biblical fiction.
A compelling look at the adolescent life of Jesus Christ.
In the New Testament, there’s an 18-year gap in Jesus’ life story, which this work attempts to fill. A curious 13-year-old Jewish boy, Joshua is suddenly cast out of his temple because he wanted to ask his rabbi a few questions. Soon after, he witnesses the stoning death of his cousin, Rachel, all because her new in-laws were convinced she wasn’t a virgin upon marrying their son. Joshua is devastated and bewildered; how could this happen to his beloved cousin? Disgusted by the Mosaic Law he’s grown up with, Joshua starts out on a journey of discovery through Galilee, Judea, Egypt, Rome, Greece, Babylon and more, along the way discussing and philosophizing with great minds of those regions. Joshua begins to form his own ideas, amassing followers and slowly evolving into the Joshua depicted in the Gospels. Mathew has poured over hundreds of documents to fill in the blanks, so to speak, of Joshua’s life. The work is impeccably researched—perhaps even a bit too much: At times, the philosophizing seems to roll on for pages as it struggles to reach a point. While this dry ruminating may inspire thinkers, average readers might find it burdensome. Toward the end of the novel, Mathew’s tale seamlessly integrates well-known characters—including Mary, Pontius Pilate, King Herod, Peter, Judas, Caiaphas, etc.—and lesser-known, contemporary philosophers. Joshua’s thoughts are notably modern, focusing greatly on the rights of women and instances of monotheists treating women poorly.
An impassioned, thought-provoking work of biblical fiction.Pub Date: March 13, 2013
ISBN: 978-0988713000
Page Count: 592
Publisher: Odyssey Press, Inc.
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
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