Risen by Angela Hunt

I have just finished reading this novel, but have not seen the recently released movie.  The story revolves around the death and resurrection of Jesus, as seen through the eyes of a Roman Tribune.  For those familiar with the Bible, the events in this story will be predictable.  It's for this reason that I say the book is just "ok".  I would have liked more character development.

The book introduces two main fictional characters into the familiar story of the resurrection; Clavius (a Roman Tribune) and Rachel (a Jewish widow).  The story-telling switches frequently between these two characters.  Since I consider their interaction and differing perspectives to be one of the highlights of the story, I was very surprised to read in the Author's Note that the character of Rachel was completely cut from the movie!  The bulk of the story centers around Clavius searching for the body of Jesus and interviewing his followers for information.  The author did a fairly good job of representing the Biblical characters in a matter consistent with the Scriptures.

Some of the vocabulary used in this book is specific to that time period in Roman history, and can be a bit difficult to decipher.  I would have liked to see more explanation given in the text, or a glossary of terms in the back of the book.

In summary, if you already know the details of the resurrection, this story won't be new, but it will be told in a different way.  If reading the book or seeing the movie gets people thinking about and investigating the truth of this claim - I say that's a good thing :)

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House in exchange for an honest review.

Here is a trailer for the movie...