More than a Skeleton by Paul L. Maier

Like its prequel, the stakes in Paul L. Maier's More than a Skeleton are high.  

Published in 2003, this story takes place post-September 11, 2001, and is once again in Israel (and Rome). This time, instead of an archeological discovery, there's something else just as potentially world-changing: a mysterious man named Joshua, born in Bethlehem to a Miriam and Joseph, raised in Nazareth. He performs miracles (or does He?), heals the sick (hmm...), even raises a disciple from the dead (huh), claiming to be an intermediate coming of Jesus, sent by God to bolster the church in these turbulent times.

Hmm... I struggled with this premise and how Maier was going to get out of it. But around halfway through, I really began to appreciate the extent of his research and storytelling ability overall... it's a complicated book! And the modern setting with Joshua's  interlaced into the parallels of some of Jesus' Biblical ministry, were fun to explore.

While the style of the novel is more modern, which I enjoy, this being the 3rd book of Maier's I've read recently, I feel like his strength lies in his prose and his storytelling abilities overall. I honestly struggle with his dialogue, as characters speak like academics in the 1940s (truthfully, they are academics. It's just that the style of the dialogue is incongruent with the era of the novel). I felt it fit better in the first book, where the style matched the dialogue better, if that makes sense, because it all was older. And, because of my struggle with the romance in the first book, I am a little biased against the couple in this book as well—but that's my problem, not anyone else's. It's not that I don't root for them, but the constant allusions to their 'fairytale romance' are too many, and I still don't find it believable that they got together in the first place. 

That being said, if you love fiction that makes you think, More than a Skeleton definitely fits this category. Click here to get it on Amazon! And come back next week for the next book in this trilogy (I haven't read it yet, but I am looking forward to it!).