A Time for Judas Book

Forget everything you know about the Passion and the Resurrection.
That's easy, and very much the point here, because Philo, a Cretan scribe under Pilate who narrates this novel (he is also the protagonist), is a blank slate when it comes to Jesus. Well, better for me to say this novel's quiet Jesus is the one who is a blank slate to all except his companions and followers. To the Romans, Jesus, 'The Galilean', is just one of many mystics from the desert hinterland.
And what else should he be, in this, the beginning? Our Philo is worldly, an urban subject of an empire become decadent, so he is hurt when his beautiful Samaritan lover - who Judas had introduced to him - leaves to follow 'the Galilean.' In fact, he accuses Judas, somewhat ironically, of being a user of people. Philo doesn't understand the power of what may be happening, and so he is a perfect vessel for reporting to us the mysterious events and seemingly grandiose claims about Jesus. Others will tell the tale in more fanciful terms, for his part our narrator simply relates.
As for Judas, he plays his role, though not only of shame. It seems his betrayal could only be a ruse that is hidden in plain sight, for as Philo reasons, everyone knew where Jesus could be found in Jerusalem. Yet the story required a betrayal, a scapegoat, and he is the most educated of the disciples, thus the most believable for the purpose at hand. Poor guy, his pride means that he cannot keep his story straight, and that is how he fails, no other way. Mary Magdalene is also a central figure here, so sensual that she gains the reputation of being a former prostitute, though that was actually someone else. To be clear, she is the life companion of Jesus, but not someone the disciples want around afterward.
Life is a mystery. Resurrection and godhood are certainly mysteries. So this straightforward reporting works in this novel of the last days of Jesus. No breathlessness, simply a narrator puzzling over and pondering the strange things he has seen in the desert province of Judaea. The rest will be up to us and the stories we tell one another.
It is not particularly politically correct, so I can see many not liking it for that reason. The sensuality of the characters, the viciousness of the religious authorities and the mob, the nuanced way that Pilate's decision-making is imagined. The charismatic and detailed story of one of the two crucified thieves to share Golgotha that day. Then there is a plot involving Jesus' body and a few desperate men, one of whom is Philo.
But it is an imaginative and unflinching novel, a fresh look at the story of the greatest tragedy ever, or is it redemption. I recommend it as an Easter/Passover read.