Overall I enjoyed the book, mainly for the subject matter. The author had the bad habit of switching points of view between first and third, which was annoying and not handled very gracefully. The ending also went on a bit too long and I thought it would have been better with less. ( )

57561

Randy Singer is an author of legal stories. This book is a departure in that, while still about a lawyer, it is set during the time of Christ and involves a man who ends up defending a few people of historic significance. The writing is ok. It will hold your interest. The historic aspects i found very interesting and engaging. Singer seems to have gotten the historical aspects of the story and also the culture right. The book tends in some ways to remind me of Ben-Hur (the book, not the movie). If you enjoy historical fiction and/or stories about the law, you will likely find this an enjoyable read. The narrator of the audio book does a competent job and does not detract from the story. ( )

Randy Singer’s The Advocate can be regarded as an achievement for three reasons.

Firstly, like any good novel situated in an historical date and place, the reader can feel and smell the greatness and flawless of the Roman empire. A developed civilization in which flourish philosophers and artists, yet subject to the ruthlessness and vanity of his rulers. Order and majesty mingled with terror and injustice.

Secondly, it shows the radicalism Christianity represented to the world. What it seemed just a deviation of the already weird Jewish religion, proved to be even more powerful than death itself. And the humiliating crucifixion on a cross turned to be a source of relief and hope for another life after the earthly one.

Finally, for lawyers, this book is a fresh inspiration about how to address difficult cases. Being faithful to the Truth does not mean being straightforwardly fool or predictable. The art of defending a client has always consisted in presenting the arguments in such a way that the judge can see reality the way the client did under the circumstances. And also, it requires addressing the judge in a way to force him to say what is just. From this viewpoint a good advocate not only presents the facts conveniently but also challenges the judicial system in order to achieve the always painful outcome of justice.

We are grateful for this entertaining novel from whom we learn about God, the human soul and history.

Santiago Acevedo ( )

This is the third Randy Singer book that I have tried to get into although slightly different from the other two due to the historical element.

Singer has created a story around the events of Jesus' death and resurrection. It reminded me a little of Ben Hur with the descriptions of gladiators and the types of violent entertainment provided by Emperors like the notorious Nero.

In the author's note, Singer states that it took him five years to write this book due to the research required. He wrote other books in his normal crime/legal genre alongside this one.

Unfortunately, I didn't get on with this book either so it must be Singer's writing style that I struggle with. I found the book very long and lost interest after just a few chapters although I forced myself to read to the end. The Jesus storyline felt like it had just been tagged onto the rest of the narrative because the author wanted it to be there. I didn't feel Singer did a good job of merging the characters to immerse the reader in the events of the day. He also glossed over the resurrection and the Gospel message was a little vague in places.

The events surrounding Jesus and the Apostles had been lifted straight from the Bible even to the extent of having Luke and others appear in the story. This was a difficult area because I appreciate that Singer tried to be faithful to the biblical text which many Christian writers fail to do but I felt that it would have been more interesting to include other fictional perspectives of the events in question. Any writer can copy huge chunks of the Bible but making the story come alive in a fictional narrative is tricky and I don't think the writer has succeeded here.

There is a lot of graphic violence and torture--I have found this in all of Singer's books. Indeed, I abandoned the first one I tried to read as the violence sickened me. I have read other Christian books recently that manage to include violent scenes to make the story realistic without being graphic. Singer includes too much for my tastes. As far as I can recall there were no sexual scenes and no bad language.

I am rating this as "okay" due to the attempts by the author to bring the Gospel to people. However, I don't recommend it due to the violence. ( )