WALKING WITH JESUS: Reflections of Those Who Knew Him

It's an old and well-worn literary tradition to tell the story of Jesus through the people who crossed his path, and this compilation of 18 fictionalized reflections maintains the standard and adds a little that is new. Here we find first-person accounts by unnamed biblical figures such as the woman caught in adultery, the Roman centurion and—in one of the book's most original and imaginative chapters—the mother of Judas. There are also chapters for familiar and named New Testament characters such as Martha, Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene and John the beloved disciple. The writing can at times be maudlin and overdone, hammering home the message when a more subtle hand would have sufficed. But Sullivan has an emotional sense for the characters, and his first-person narratives lend immediacy to the biblical figures' experiences of Jesus. (Jan.)