Nicholas Fillmore

DISCLAIMER: I received a copy of this book on LibraryThing in exchange for an honest review.

The story of the life of Jesus is familiar, and will still seem familiar after reading this book. This book places Satan as a more central figure in the last year of the life of Jesus, as a traveling companion, as a guiding influence rather than as the more typical deceiver. This premise, coupled with Satan distaste of God following his expulsion, gives a rich undercurrent to the familiar story, showing a Jesus and a Devil who are more human than not, less adversarial, and less caricature, than the typical portrayal.… (more)

In reading this I found myself reminded of something my old English teacher said to me. I was seventeen, and had just discovered Waiting For Godot and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. My brain fizzed with ideas, and I wrote a short play. Embarrassed, I showed it to my English teacher, who returned it the following week with the comment "Not bad, but about 40 years out of date".

Basically this is a novel of ideas, riffing on the relationship between the devil, Jesus, and the soul of humanity. It is well written, moves along nicely, and inoffensive stylistically and in content. The big problem I had was that I've read this book many times before. If you haven't, you may well really enjoy it.… (more)