Truly my favourite Ted Dekker book so far: "A.D. 30"

about the book....

A sweeping epic set in the harsh deserts of Arabia and ancient Palestine.

A war that rages between kingdoms on the earth and in the heart.

The harrowing journey of the woman at the center of it all.

Step back in time to the year of our Lord...A.D. 30.

The outcast daughter of one of the most powerful Bedouin sheikhs in Arabia, Maviah is called on to protect the very people who rejected her. When their enemies launch a sudden attack with devastating consequences, Maviah escapes with the help of two of her father's warriors--Saba who speaks more with is sword than his voice and Judah, a Jew who comes from a tribe that can read the stars. Their journey will be fraught with terrible danger. If they can survive the vast forbidding sands of a desert that is deadly to most, they will reach a brutal world subjugated by kings and emperors. There Maviah must secure an unlikely alliance with King Herod of the Jews. 

But Maviah's path leads her unexpectedly to another man. An enigmatic teacher who speaks of a way in this life which offers greater power than any kingdom. His name is Yeshua, and his words turn everything known on its head. Though following him may present even greater danger, his may be the only way for Maviah to save her people--and herself.

my review....

A.D. 30 is an unbelievable tale, one that transported me back to the days of Jesus and swept me up, wholly and completely, into the world of Maviah. The language is poetic, and the drama is nothing short of epic. Ted Dekker has given a completely new twist to the genre of "Biblical fiction", and I'm pretty sure that I fell in love with Jesus all over again as I watched him interact with the characters of this story. I have found that quite often fictional books about Jesus feature characters who are part of his inner circle, but Dekker offers up something different here, with a character who is not even Jewish, but hails from the desert sands of Arabia. Maviah is absolutely fascinating, a character portrayed with utter realism, as she struggles to find the strength and the courage to survive after facing a horrible loss. Her journey towards Jesus is a beautiful one to behold, as she learns that he loves her deeply, though she believes herself to be the lowest of the low. Though she is not Jewish and has no reason to trust him, she is captivated by the love in his eyes and the beauty of his smile. I loved the scenes where Maviah has a total showdown with evil, and... well, I dare not say more as I don't want to give any part of the story away|! I really enjoyed all the different characters, from Maviah to her two sidekicks, Saba and Judah, and even found the villains of the story to be etched upon the page with a sense of realness. Dekker has succeeded at bringing history to life, and I hated to see the story end.

Dekker has succeeded at writing a novel that is truly beautifully written. I can honestly say that this is my favourite Ted Dekker book to date. I am greatly looking forward to the next book in the series, A.D.33! 5 out of 5 stars.

Book has been provided courtesy of Center Street, a division of Hachette Book Group Canada, for the purposes of this unbiased review.

 about the author....

TED DEKKER is a New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty novels with a total of more than 3 million books in print. He is known for thrillers that combine adrenaline-laced plots with incredible confrontations between good and evil. - See more at: http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/authors/ted-dekker/#about