The Damascus Way - review

Over the years I've enjoyed several books written by Davis Bunn and Janette Oke, so I was interested to review their latest collaborative book, The Damascus Way. It's the the third book of the Acts of Faith series, which is historical biblical fiction set during the book of Acts.

I haven't read the first two books in the series so as I started this book I had the sense that there were people and events that I should know about. Still, it worked well as a stand-alone story. Being familiar with the book of Acts in the Bible helped orient me. For example, I knew, without being told, just how Stephen had died. By the same token, though, the story was somewhat predictable. I was pretty sure I knew what would happen to Saul of Tarsus... and whaddya know? I was right!

The fictional characters intrigued me, and made the story come alive in ways I hadn't considered before. I always enjoy a good story that makes me think deeply, so I appreciated that about this book. I felt like the book was well-researched, and I learned a lot about the lifestyle and culture of New Testament times. One scene in particular that stands out to me is when several of the characters are caught in a serious sandstorm as they are traveling. I hadn't thought about that being an issue that people in that day and area would have had to deal with.

I did enjoy the story overall, but I found it a little slow-moving in places, and predictable in others. However, if you enjoy biblical fiction, I expect you would enjoy it.