Considering the theme of the novel with the known impeding tragedy, I was surprised to find out this novel was almost “cute”, and probably the first clue was on the prologue, with God and Lucifer plotting on how to change the course of Jesus Christ yet another’s reincarnation.

The time is modern day, and Jesus is now an evangelist singer travelling the US along with a troupe of 12 friends and his mother. Jesus’s preferred among them is Judas, the same man who all the others like to hate, especially Mary Magdalene, the “harlot” pop singer who likes to make trouble among them.

Jesus, Judas, Mary Magdalene, Mother Mary, Thomas, Peter, Matthew, all of them know what is happening, and what will be Jesus’s fate, and they are waiting for the moment when the local protesters will move from words to actions, ending yet another time Jesus’s life, and giving him the chance to sacrifice himself to a better purpose. But this time Judas doesn’t want to play the same plot, he loves Jesus and he wants for him to have the chance to live a long life, possible together with him. On the other hand, innocent Jesus, almost naïve and too tempting for his own good, doesn’t want to give up to Lucifer’s lure, but for once he is wondering if, at least, he cannot enjoy what Judas is offering.

The plot is not really complicated, but the originality is given by the development: each chapter is told by a different player, mainly Jesus and Judas, but also Mary Magdalene, the apostles and Mother Mary, and of course God and Lucifer. There are other characters in the story, but since they are not “aware” of the truth, they don’t have the chance, like others, to tell their version of the story. It’s like a reenactment of the Gospels, indeed the apostles told their own version of the same story, same as they do in this novel.

Considering I’m not a practicing catholic, maybe I’m without preconceptions, and I don’t see much scandal in this retelling of the Jesus’s story. For me it was a good exercise in romancing the myth.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BCO2JHU/?tag=elimyrevandra-20