The Soldier Who Killed a King by David Kitz

The Soldier Who Killed a King by David Kitz ISBN-13: 9780825444852 Paperback: 288 pages Publisher: Kregel Publications Released: July 25, 2017

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Watch the triumphal entry of the donkey-riding king through the eyes of Marcus Longinus, a centurion charged with keeping the streets from erupting into open rebellion. If you've heard the story of Passion Week so often it's become stale, now is the time to rediscover the terrible events leading from Jesus's humble ride into the city to his crucifixion.


My Review:
The Soldier Who Killed a King is biblical fiction set during Jesus' triumphal entry to resurrection. Our point of view character is Marcus Longinus, a centurion in charge of a gate near the Temple but who ended up present at every significant event. He struggled with profound guilt over his part in Jesus' scourging and crucifixion.

The characters used modern phrases like "wow" and "yeah," and the main characters had modern sensibilities about the value of human life. The Romans clearly saw who Jesus was while the Jews didn't. All of the religious leaders were called Pharisees, and every report we got about them painted them all as horrible, cruel hypocrites. The chain of command seemed meaningless as Pilate's soldiers were ordered about by anyone of superior rank. A visiting ruler (Herod) threatened to kill Pilate's centurion if the centurion didn't follow his orders, and the priests held four of Pilate's soldiers captive for a while without Pilate taking any action.

While the author generally stayed true to the gospel accounts of Jesus' Passion Week, he did change some things. He didn't have Jesus preaching every day in the temple. He had Herod order one of his soldiers to put the crown of thorns on Jesus when it was Pilate's soldiers who later did this. Herod and Pilate became friends before Jesus' trial. So Herod was sleeping at Pilate's place (unclean!) when Jesus was brought to trial, and Herod ended up judging Jesus in a bedroom while practically naked (not to mention demon-possessed). Jesus even paid a bodily visit to a boy during the period when he's dead and in the tomb.

The author provided great detail about the soldier's armor, the scourging, and the crucifixion. The scourging and crucifixion were described in such gory, drawn-out detail that I ended up skipping over it. There was a minor amount of British bad language. There were no graphic sex scenes. Overall, it was a decent story, but I'd expected a higher level of accuracy based on the subtitle.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


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