Daniel Overdorf. A Death Well Lived. Crosslink, 2020.

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the son of man is?” (Matthew 16:13)

It takes a little while to get into A Death Well Lived. There are a number of characters introduced and whom we follow, but it becomes clear that the story centers around one Lucius, a Roman centurion stationed in Caesarea in the Holy Land at the time of Christ.

Much of the dynamic in the story comes from the interaction between the Jewish residents of the Holy Land and their ruthless Roman rulers. Lucius himself practically kills a Jewish demonstrator in Caesarea. The man is holding a piece of bread, but it looks like a rock to Lucius. But, hey, he is only a Jew, one of many conquered peoples the Romans look down upon.

Also figuring in the story are Lucius’ common law wife Nona (Roman soldiers could not marry); Tullus and Paulla, their two children; Septimus, Lucius’ overbearing boss; Decius, Lucius’ longtime friend and fellow soldier; and Avitus, a Roman soldier with a Syrian background who has a helpful understanding of Hebrew customs. Pontius Pilate makes an appearance, and Jewish mobs in various places around Palestine are complaining and demonstrating against some of his policies.

That brings Lucius and his century (100 men) to Jerusalem. People are complaining about some of Pilate’s building projects that do not respect Jewish custom and law. More soldiers are needed to keep the peace there. Here we meet some important Jewish characters: Tobiah and Deborah, the victim of Lucius’ beating and his pregnant wife; Ephraim and Miriam, who operate a popular inn; and peripherally, the rabbi Jesus of Nazareth.

Because of the Roman perspective, the Roman-Jewish interaction, and Jesus in the background, this reader cannot help think of Ben-Hur. That is perhaps an unfair comparison, though. Ben-Hur is epic in scope. A Death Well Lived covers less than a year. While there are a couple of riots and plenty of conflict, much of the conflict in this new novel is internal. We see a gradual change in Lucius as he begins to see Jews as real people not all that different from him or anyone else.

Like Judah Ben-Hur, though, Lucius does encounter Jesus because they are both in Jerusalem during Passover. Jesus is observing the holiday and teaching his followers. Lucius is patrolling the streets to make sure that order is maintained.

Another novel that a reader might be reminded of is The Robe. The main character of that novel is a Roman soldier who wins Jesus’ robe in the dice game at the crucifixion (See Matthew 27:35, cf. Psalm 22:18). That also has much more scope than A Death Well Lived.

A Death Well Lived is not so much a sword and sandal epic as a historical novel focusing ultimately on the changes taking place in a battle-hardened Roman soldier as he witnesses the religion of the Jews and the works of Jesus of Nazareth. Perhaps more so than either of those two classic novels, this confronts the reader with a very important question: Who is Jesus? What difference does it make? Or, as Jesus Himself asked, “Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:13)

Disclosure of Material: We received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through the BookCrash book review program, which requires an honest, though not necessarily positive, review.