Iscariot: A Novel of Judas by Tosca Lee

In Jesus, Judas believes he has found the One—a miracle-worker. The promised Messiah and future king of the Jews, destined to overthrow Roman rule. Galvanized, Judas joins the Nazarene’s followers, ready to enact the change he has waited for all his life.

But Judas’ vision of a nation free from Roman rule is crushed by the inexplicable actions of the Nazarene himself, who will not bow to social or religious convention—who seems in the end to even turn against his own people. At last, Judas must confront the fact that the master he loves is not the liberator he hoped for, but a man bent on a drastically different agenda.

Iscariot is the story of Judas—from his tumultuous childhood and tenuous entry into a career and family life as a devout Jew, to a man known to the world as the betrayer of Jesus. But even more, it is a singular and surprising view into the life of Jesus himself that forces us all to reexamine everything we thought we knew about the most famous—and infamous—religious icons in history.

Paperback, 368 pages

Published January 7, 2014

by Howard Books

4/5 stars

This was a recent selection from our church book club. The timing was perfect with Easter on the horizon. It is also my first time reading a Tosca Lee book.

Iscariot is the story of what could have been Judas Iscariot's life, the man who betrayed Jesus that ultimately sent him to the cross. With only a handful of verses in the Bible that talk about Judas, it doesn’t give any information into his family background, what drove him to do what he did and finally drove him to take his own life?

Authentic to the times and history of the year it wasn’t hard to get immersed in the setting. My biggest take away from this story is something the author mentioned in her notes at the end.  That is that we don’t know everyone's story, we don't know their inner struggles, their past so maybe have some compassion.  She painted a very plausible and believable story of Juda's life, but truly we will never know.

I listen to the audiobook via hoopla which is approximately 9 hours long