"They were the faces of my dreams..." Claudia Procula--wife of one of the most controversial figures in ancient history--comes alive to twenty-first-century readers in a groundbreaking new novel by the award-winning author of the Lindsey McCall medical mystery series. For decades, the daughter of the last Oracle at Delphi has suppressed the secrets of her birth, extensive education, and marriage to the notorious Fifth Prelate of Judea--Pontius PIlate. Now, at age seventy-nine, she feels compelled to leave behind her story for the world and set the record straight about the beginnings of modern history. He has had his arms raised for how many hours now? Shouldn't there be a Joshua to help this Moses? I suppressed a smile at my wittiness, knowing better than to voice the thought aloud. My ladies would be shocked by my allusion to the great Jewish prophet. Well aware of my reputation as an empty-headed nitwit among those who served my husband, such low expectations had served me well. Best to maintain the fiction. In a surprising change of genre and style, Wilder brings her extensive research and wide-ranging imagination to bear on the seminal story of our time: the passion of the Christ. The result is a compelling and harrowing love story replete with historical figures such as Seneca, Socrates, and Pilate himself. It is sure to captivate both believers and skeptics alike, and remain in readers' minds long after the last page is turned. Wilder (The Fragrance Shed by a Violet) provides a fresh, entertaining take on one of the lesser-known women of the Bible: Claudia Procula, daughter of the last Oracle of Pythia in Delphi and wife of Lucius Pontius Pilate. Told from their alternating perspectives, the story begins with Claudia recognizing in adolescence that she is gifted with premonitions and a knack for academics. Meanwhile, Lucius distinguishes himself in battle as a standout soldier and is named Roman tribune by the end of his first campaign. Lucius moves quickly up the ranks, but when he is promoted to Prelate of Judea he realizes he is unable to control the unrest of the land he now must govern. --Publisher's Weekly For anyone looking for one of those easy, cozy reads, this is not it. For someone who is looking for a fantastic plot of the ancient world filled with suspense, romance, and history, this is definitely the book you want. Not only is this a well-researched book that allows the reader to actually feel as if they are walking the streets in Judea and living within this realm, it s also a book that does not avoid controversy. It simply is a plot so well-crafted that the controversy comes second to the characters you will never forget. --Feathered Quill Where this book really started to hook and draw me in was its second half, and the inevitable introduction of Christ into the life of the couple - from this moment on I was utterly engaged. Certainly, we all know Pilate from this primary source - his part in the persecution and execution of Jesus - but Lin admirably portrays Pilate as a decent and honourable man, put in an unenviable situation; she presents a good case that the Prelate s notoriety is a great injustice and misinterpretation of history. She does this objectively and even with a hint of respect for the man, and this is to her huge credit, because I know the huge importance of Lin s own Christian faith to her (this said, if she is multi-layered about Pilate, her contempt for King Herod is notable a character she does not so much craft, as dollop like some odious caricature across the page. Fair play to her for this, however it can be reasonably assumed that anybody who murders a reported 14,000 infants is generally revolting, in anybody s book). --Amazon Review Lin Wilder holds a Doctorate in Public Health and has published extensively in fields like cardiac physiology, institutional ethics, and hospital management. In 2007, she switched from non-fiction to fiction. Her series of medical thrillers include many references to the Texas Medical Center where Lin worked for over twenty-three years.