From Library Journal
Caldwell's 1959 best seller, a public library staple for decades, has been more or less out of print for the last ten years, so its appearance on audiotape is a bit puzzling. It's the story of Luke, a Greek physician and companion to St. Paul, who, according to tradition, wrote the third gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. The Lucanus of Caldwell's story is the son of a former slave; a rich benefactor recognizes his merit early and subsidizes his education. Though Lucanus never meets Jesus, he intuits the presence of an unknown God from childhood and stumbles across a Chaldean cult, which worships Him, even before the birth of Christ. Revolted by the human suffering he witnesses, he turns away from God, only to become reconciled over time, especially upon meeting the Virgin Mary. Narrated by John McDonough, this is an old-fashioned epic, with larger-than-life characters, prose that sometimes goes over the top, glacial pacing, and a disgust for Roman excess that seems to condemn the present as well. Librarians in facilities where Christian fiction is popular might still wonder whether this tape is worth the steep price and five inches of shelf space. John Hiett, Iowa City P.L.
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