Iscariot

Tosca Lee is one of the best novelists writing today The short version of any review of her work is buy it now A warning about Iscariot it is challenging You will see of yourself in Judas than is comfortable Lee s characters are well drawn with complex motives, and careful attention is rewarded She writes compactly, with every word doing its work It s a three dimensional story, with depth and characters you care about The thorough research in preparation for this novel is marvelously evident I [...]

From the epilogue interestingly, at the beginning of the book A dog chokes by the side of the road in Capernaum He is rabid and manged He is foul and unloved He is worthy to live than I.If only I had never left Jerusalem as a child If only Herod had never died If only I had never laid eyes on the gaunt man by the side of the Jordan.The Nazarene.They will say that I betrayed him, that I reduced his price to thirty silver shekels That I turned against my master They do not know me.They will not a [...]

Riveting.explosive.volutionary are just a few meager words that describe Tosca Lee s latest literary masterpiece She has immersed herself in the life and time of the well known disciple of Jesus Christ known as Judas Iscariot She brilliantly succeeded in humanizing this notorious traitor of Jesus Christ She skillfully and intricately laid before our eyes an intimate, less traveled path of the motivations and desires that Judas passionately followed to the end of his life.We are granted the honor [...]

hurriedly wipes eyes Did anybody see that No Good.Iscariot is one of those rare and dangerous novels that makes you think Told from Judas s point of view, Iscariot is basically a speculative look at the gospel accounts leading up to Judas s betrayal of Christ Instead of treating the story as a historical account like the Bible, Tosca Lee delves deep into the emotions of those who have chosen to follow Jesus Especially moving were the scenes where Jesus heals the leper and the paralytic I think o [...]

Nobody puts skin on biblical figures and brings them to life as well as Tosca Lee For some reason she also picks the toughest ones to portray in fiction This novel, Iscariot, rang true to me Her depiction of Judas Iscariot s belief system had a convincing historical basis And unlike the stereotyped condemned man who personified betrayal, she made him human and someone who truly did love Jesus when he became one of the disciples Even in the end, she showed his regrets and they made sense given th [...]

I was given an Advanced Reader s copy of this book due to be published in February 2013 by Simon and Schuster Canada I don t normally read Biblical fiction It just seems so contrived to me and I m never happy with the way characters are portrayed So it was with some hesitation that I accepted this book to review However, I hooked by the end of the first chapter I ve always considered Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus as an imposter someone that Jesus allowed among his disciples because of th [...]

My Jesus pickleI have gone and got myself into a GR rating pickle I only read Iscariot A Novel of Judas to approximately halfway and yet I feel it is okay to still give the book 3 stars out of 5 Usually I have a twinge of remorse when I rate a book I have not finished In the case of Iscariot, however, I do not feel remorse at all Because it was not the quality of the book itself that made me stop reading, it was the discovery that it was fantasy.Calling it a fantasy may be a bit strong for those [...]

Brave, passionate and fearless are three words that I would choose to describe both the author Tosca Lee and her new novel Iscariot, A Novel of Judas I think it takes a true master and someone who is willing to take a major risk to write a novel like this And take risks she did But I think unequivocally the risk paid off as Iscariot is an amazing literary work that takes us on Judas journey with Jesus in a way that was so heartfelt and yes, heartbreaking, I mean, how can it not be Personally I t [...]

I approached this book not knowing what to expect, thinking to myself Is it actually possible to be entertained by a story from the Bible that I ve heard over and over The answer is a resounding yes Iscariot is one of those novels that satisfies on every level, offering the pleasure of a beautifully told story, combined with an entertaining plot and a character that is sure to shatter every preconceived notion you have ever had about Judas Iscariot Tosca Lee writes with exquisite prose, with col [...]

One of the reviewers had stated that this book didn t feel real and that the disciples didn t feel real and couldn t see how they went on to start a church because they didn t have enough faith I feel the exact opposite, yes this book does show the disciples as human beings who struggled with faith as much as we do in this present age, but to me this added to the believability of this book We have each read the gospels and we know the story and therefore we think we would have acted differently [...]

A week or so after starting this book, I realized I was reading it slowly Then I had to analyze why I was reading it that way Was it boring No Was it poorly written No Did the subject not interest me No again Then I figured it out I was reading slowly for three interconnected reasons 1 Because there was a depth and earnestness to it that I probably hadn t run into since I read Tosca s Havah a few years back The situations are plausible, and the characters refreshingly real.2 Because it was troub [...]

Wow What a beautiful imagination of Judas life and betrayal And how I loved the portrayal of Jesus s love It blew me away It was such an appropriate read for this Easter weekend.

Being someone that isn t very religious, I find I am still drawn to the stories from the Bible That being said, I typically prefer my stories to be from the Old Testament However, this story of Judas the perpetual antagonist in any New Testament story of Jesus gets a new treatment by Tosca Lee and that drew me into this novel.Iscariot follows Judas from his youth to his death and fills in many of the gaps in his life left by the Bible We learn about what his life might have been like leading up [...]

The name Judas has become synonymous with traitor as a result of one of the most heinous acts of betrayal ever Judas Iscariot selling Jesus to the Jewish authorities for thirty pieces of silver History has been quick to condemn Judas who, through his own belated sense of guilt, condemned himself and committed suicide What horrible twistings existed in his mind to make him commit such despicable acts That is exactly the question author Lee attempts to answer in this engrossing study of Jesus disc [...]

Overall, very well done and I should have given an extra star just for the ambition to write such a challenging novel, but I ve been reading Patrick O Brian s books for the last several months and it s hard to give an historical novel high marks with a baseline like O Brian for comparison Still, Lee is a good writer, she did actually say the book was supposed to be focused on the relationship of Jesus and Judas and she does re create a strongly imagined, tangible world in which the story of the [...]

Bravo, bravo Tosca Lee has captured my imagination and soul with this fabulous book of biblical fiction I ve been a Christian minister for nearly 40 years, yet found myself learning from every chapter Her command of language and metaphor makes the book sparkle Do you think you know the story of Judas Readers will see this despised man of the Bible in a new light, and Jesus is his startling ministry that shattered the beliefs of the times This would be a great book to read for Lent I will never r [...]

Original post from One More PageEver since Tosca announced that she was writing this book in 2010, I have been eagerly waiting for this to come out I loved her first two books, Demon and Havah The Story of Eve, and a novel about Judas Iscariot is something that I know only Tosca can write with the same heart wrenching clarity and sensitivity that she did in her first two books When it came up available in Netgalley, I immediately got it and saved it in my Kindle Of course, it took me ages to fin [...]

Mia am dobre intencje, ale po prostu nudzi am si Mo e gdybym nie zna a ju tego, co jest opisywane, kontynuowa abym czytanie Mam wra enie, e autorka niewiele z siebie daje opisuje jedynie po swojemu to, co ju zna i nie zachwyci o mnie to, nie zainteresowa o Niestety.

I love it when great writers take the time to completely research a project if they are going to write a historical fiction novel It s even better for me as a reader when I can get my hands on a greatly researched and well thought out biblical historical fiction When they can take me by the hand and transport me back into history and allow me to walk side by side with a character, it truly helps me understand them better and what may have motivated them to make the decisions they did Such is the [...]

Iscariot is a provocative, intimate portrayal of the life of Judas Iscariot his relationship with Jesus.Judas is labeled as a thief and betrayer, and he is both of those things But every person is than what their actions make them, and before Judas made the decision to betray Jesus, he was called His friend This friendship between the two of them and between Judas and the rest of the disciples was compelling I applaud Tosca Lee for making a mysterious, hated figure into a real person that provo [...]

I was lost for words when I finished this beautifully written novel And I m still struggling to find the best words to describe the power of this story.But the incredible thing about this story is it s part biographical, part fiction and I m left wondering how much of it was fiction.Judas Iscariot, the betrayer, the one that Luke described Satan entered moments before he committed his betrayal The gospels never tell us exactly what the discussion between Judas and the Chief Priests amounted to, [...]

Tosca Lee tackles the daunting, and perhaps controversial, task of creating a backstory for the most infamous disciple, Judas Iscariot The reader can expect a great deal of history and backstory, presumably fictitious, which paints an interesting story, in the early chapters As the story unfolds, Judas matures and suffers much at the hands of the Roman occupiers Lee does an excellent job in showing the pre Jesus years of Judas life and examines many of the nuances of Jesus ministry including how [...]

Judas has always been an enigma to me A man who walked with Jesus, witnessed miracles, was privy to his inner circle, private teachings and thoughts who for some reason set into motion the death of the man he called master I have read many theories but this one seems to ring truest to me Judas was a man looking for a warrior king, a messiah who would rescue them now Jesus confused him Tosca Lee manages to bring Judas to life, to give us a peek into what his thoughts might have been, why he acted [...]

I m starting this review with a quote from the book I don t like it, Simon murmured the second evening What teacher teaches with stories like these How does one truth with fiction It s a dangerous thing to toy with scriptures, to chance changing even one jot or tittle of the law end quote I have a feeling Tosca really understands that Writing a book that takes so much conjecture even with the massive amount of research she did had to have her wondering how many readers would say exactly that If [...]

This is powerful tale that follows the life of one man both before and alongside the Biblical tales of Jesus Christ, a man known to Christians and others alike as the betrayer Judas Iscariot s well known tale lacks context, and that s what Iscariot offers Historical and fictional context for why a devote follower would turn on his master.Judas is not the best of men he is no saint but he tries to find truth and faith amid horror and doubt.There are few who don t know the end to this story alread [...]

Wow Awesome Fantastic The most memorable book I have read thus far in 2014.I could scream it from the rooftops but will just write a review instead In Iscariot author Tosca Lee brings us the story behind the most reviled man in biblical history The man whose name through the centuries has become synonymous with betrayal The man who is considered one of the biggest bad guys in the gospels But what led this man that Jesus called friend to turn traitor Tosca Lee presents readers with the before sto [...]

Tosca Lee has a real knack for taking characters and situations from the Bible and taking them beyond the one dimensional cardboard cut out that they often become in our minds She has outdone herself with Iscariot Taking Judas, someone that we are quick to judge and look down on and showing us an example of what his life might have been.We often look at the disciples of Jesus and laugh, thinking how thick could they be Didn t they have any faith Didn t they get it Seeing Jesus through the eyes o [...]

This book is amazing What a writer and what a book It s taken me a while to read it because I can only read a few chapters of it at a time In most books, that s a bad thing, but not this one I can only read a bit at a time because this book breaks my heart every time I read it Suppose just suppose mind you that Judas Iscariot wasn t the wolf in sheep s clothing that we always thought he was Suppose he was someone who loved Jesus as much as any of us or perhaps even What if his story didn t end [...]

As a big fan of Tosca Lee, I couldn t wait to get my hands on this book I did wonder what I would find, yet knowing that Lee does extensive research for all her biblical fiction gave a trust factor that allowed me to walk into this book with an open mind and heart It is intriguing to think that there could be to the story of history s greatest betrayer and to do so in fiction seems a safe enough place to do it Lee did an amazing job portraying Judas possible emotional motivations for what he di [...]

I was pretty disappointed in Tosca Lee s Demon, because I thought she tried too hard to and was ultimately unsuccessful at answering the age old unanswerable questions.However, getting into the mind of people considered villains is one of my favorite past times, and I thought she did it rather well As she said and I ve always thought, everyone does things because it makes sense to them Nobody makes a decision while cackling like a movie villain, enjoying the evil nastiness of it all And I feel s [...]