Advocate

This historical fiction packs a powerful punch for listeners, especially those who are Christians. Theophilus, a person mentioned only twice in the Bible, becomes the conduit through which the author creates 1st century Rome and the beginnings of the Christian Church. Narrator David Cochran Heath effectively captures the young Theophilus and his family as he climbs the rungs of success as a Roman advocate (lawyer), ultimately becoming an aide to Pontius Pilate. Heath deftly portrays Theophilus's conversion to Christianity as well as his final agonies when the tyranny of Rome destroys everyone he loves. While the graphic depiction of Christ's Passion and the many other crucifixions and cruelties of this time period are not for the faint of heart, it's a fascinating story. E.E.S. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine

Starred review from April 28, 2014
Veteran lawyer-author Singer (The Last Plea Bargain) uses the idea advanced elsewhere that the Bible books Luke and Acts were written as legal briefs to defend the Apostle Paul against the Roman emperor Nero. The two biblical books are addressed to an enigmatic Theophilus, (a name meaning "lover of God,") and Singer develops a fictional Theophilus, a lawyer who stood behind Pilate to advise him to offer up Jesus Christ to be crucified. Theophilus witnesses the lives of Jesus and Paul unfold, and has to decide based on the evidence whether to join the early movement of Jesus followers and become a victim of the great persecution of Nero. Some of the dialog comes directly from Scripture; other speeches are faithful to biblical characters such as Paul: "The most important thing is not that the letter proclaims my innocence but that it proclaims the good news about the Messiah." Cross James Michener's great historical fiction with a John Grisham legal thriller, and you've got this epic classic by Singer.