A centurion present at Jesus' crucifixion gets faith in Jesus but through his life fighting in different parts of the Empire, loses it but finds it again. He falls in love with Mary Magdalene: a chaste love from afar; as his faith weakens, hers grows stronger. When he sees the strong faith of Christians being frozen to death on a frozen lake north of Rome, he regains his faith and joins them. Ending did seem a bit rushed and we weren't given his rich emotional life which filled most of the novel.

Written well, almost cinematographically, with scenes switching from Lucius the centurion to Mary and the early Christians back and forth. Maybe I'm too pedantic, but these things bothered me: Germans and other barbarians called Huns, the pejorative WWI term. And also the Danube and surrounding area located in Germania unless I'm mistaken and this was just another of Lucius' postings. The "romance" seemed unbelievable but I can see the purpose of its being used as contrast of how Jesus affected different people. I did like the author's basing the ending on the 40 martyrs of Sebaste, 40 Roman soldiers who died such a horrible death. I did like the long section on source material. ( )

As most people that truly know me, know that I like to try and see things from another person's advantage point, this book is giving me that. So far this book has been very interesting and heartwarming, yes I've already cried and only on chapter 12. Sure to be more tears to follow. Partially fiction but based on facts of the Crucifixion of Jesus

Will be back to review after finishing.

"Gone was the innocence of his childhood. Gone were the ideals of his manhood. All that remained were scars of battle, ravages of war, and memories of a love torn from his embrace so many years ago he could hardly remember what she looked like."

It's true that I intentionally chose the days near Easter to read The Centurion by author Ken Gire. But it's important to know that, while the crucifixion of the "King of the Jews" is indeed an important early event with lasting influence through the novel, this isn't a story centered on that or the life and ministry of Christ. Rather, it's the story of the life and career of another man, a Roman centurion named Lucius; Mary Magdalene, a follower of Jesus; and equally about the history and conquests of Rome paralleled with the dangerous forging of the new Church.

And I found the telling of it all to be consummately amazing.

It's clear that the author is no novice with his pen, revealing compelling imagery and a depth of human emotion. Lucius's longing and growing cynicism come through as clearly as his passion for battle and for discipline and solidarity among the Roman Empire's soldiers. I thought for a moment that Mary's character might be depicted as too perfect, but she has her own longing and maybe even some disillusionment to deal with in her adversity.

I had a minor issue with a few appearances of double punctuation (?!), which I find to be more appropriate for casual text messages or social media statuses than for novels, and I thought italicization was way overused. When a book is well-written, as this one certainly is, I believe an author can trust the reader to catch the significance and power of the words most times without visually forcing it so frequently.

Nevertheless, it's a weighty story, as epic and violent as it is contemplative. Heartrending, while still leaving room for its measure of triumph. I'd recommend this novel to readers of biblical fiction as well as any military and historical fiction fans—readers of Christian fiction and otherwise.
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I received a complimentary copy of this book from Moody Publishers for an honest review. ( )