Whew! I wanted to finish one last book for June and I've finished this one with 40 minutes to spare!
I was immediately intrigued by the timeline at the beginning of this book, and once I began to read it, I realized this will make a great study book for the teens during our Bible time.
I had mixed reactions to the different stories in this book. The stories of the four gospel writers didn't really contain a whole lot of new-to-me information. Others, like those of Mary, Thomas, and Paul, were really informative and interesting. The report card at the end of each chapter seemed odd and out of place. Why is the author grading the individuals based on the veracity of rumors about them? It was just a weird addition.
Even with the interesting information offered on several of the figures, I didn't feel there were enough answers given on any of the characters to fit the promise on the back of the book, "Learn what really happened to your favorite characters."
Something else that drove me mad is the author's use of weird terms like "Johannine", "Marian", and "Petrine." Nobody talks like that in a book written for the average Joe. Because the rest of the book is written for the average Joe, these "scholarly" adjectives were way out of place.
Overall the information was interesting---but don't get too excited. Aside from a couple assumed exceptions, the book doesn't really give any concrete answers at all.
I received this book from Moody Publishing in exchange for my honest review.
All opinions are my own.
