Book Review: Seventh Day by Bodie and Brock Thoene (AD Chronicles #7)

Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Pulls you into a familiar story

Cons: A bit slow and drawn out in parts

The Bottom Line:

Biblical stories

Remixed, dramatic effect

And results are good

Politics Makes for Little Rest in Seventh Day

With Seventh Day, authors Brock and Bodie Thoene have returned us to the setting for the first three books of the series. It is once again the final months of Jesus' life and things are progressing toward His death and resurrection.

Yeshua's fame is growing thanks to his many miracles. But as his popularity grows, so does the hatred of the religious leaders. Their desire to destroy Him only increases when two young adults claim to have been resurrected from the dead. After a confrontation in Jerusalem, they plot to draw Him out of hiding and arrest Him away from the adoring crowds. Will their plan work? Or will it backfire in the most horrifying way?

While I started out enjoying the three book flashback to Jesus' birth, I was more then ready to get back to this timeline. Because it's been a couple years between Third Watch (the one that really precedes this book) and this one, it took me a couple chapters to remember who all the characters are. But it wasn't long before I was back in the swing of things. Frankly, I was thrilled to check in with the characters I have come to truly love again. Because the cast is so large, most of them get little in the way of development. In fact, if you don't already know them, you might find the sheer number a bit confusing. The ones important to the story are well developed. Others do seem to come and go at random, which I found confusing. I think an extra editing would have helped with that.

Even though I was already familiar with the heart of the story, I was still drawn into the events. The political what if they play is interesting. I'm not sure I buy the way they set up the story, but it gives me something else to think about when I reread John 11 in the Bible in the future. Their inclusion of the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus certainly made me see it in a whole new light.

This is the first time the Thoenes have chosen to write from a first person point of view. They chose to write most of the book from Peniel's point of view. That choice did afford us a couple extra scenes that I really enjoyed. However, it seems funny they'd choose to do it now. Additionally, they switch from first to third at will to tell us the complete story. That would word well if there were chapter breaks or some other way to tell easily what was happening. They do provide scene breaks, but it isn't as easy to read as it could be.

These books seem to be getting lighter as the series progresses as well. This one clocks in at just over 200 pages excluding the study guide. It almost feels like they are stretching the story out over as many books as possible. While what was here is good, picking up the pace would only help the series.

Long time fans will be especially interested in reading the prologue, which includes a snippet updating us on characters from their many other series.

In the end, I did enjoy this book. I moved me and made me think. While not perfect, Seventh Day was well worth reading.