From Publishers Weekly
As this unsurprising installment in Girzone's bestselling Joshua series (following Joshua and the Children ) opens, the simple carpenter Joshua is wandering in the desert in the Middle East. Finding a lost lamb, he returns it to its owner, the prominent sheik Ibrahim Saud, then cures a little girl in the sheik's encampment of a deadly snakebite, thus gaining the Arab's eternal gratitude. Their ensuing friendship opens the possibility of success for Joshua's true mission, bringing peace to the Middle East. He unites like-minded Jews, Arabs and Christians as the Children of Peace, hoping to end strife by forming personal bonds between peoples. Under the guidance of the gentle, mysterious holy one, the movement increases and multiplies until it topples governments and creates the basis for lasting peace with justice. This accomplished, Joshua departs like a religious Lone Ranger, leaving those he touched asking, "Who was that Holy Man?" Talky and slow-moving, the narrative shows Joshua splitting his time between visiting the sites associated with his (i.e. Jesus's) previous life and preaching didactic sermons. Even the Children of Peace comes off like some odd 12-step program where participants do everything but say, "My name's Khalil, and I'm a hatemonger." For the millions who have found Girzone's previous efforts so enjoyable, however, Joshua's latest outing will provide more of the same. Literary Guild alternate.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Kirkus Reviews
Girzone's enormously popular Joshua series (The Shepherd, 1990, etc.) continues, now taking its charismatic, Christlike protagonist to present-day Israel, where his updated parables and common-sense approach to peace spread oil on historically troubled waters. Just exactly who is this fellow? Girzone never quite says he's Jesus of Nazareth back for another round with a screwed-up world, but he hints heavily. The young man always knows the names of people he meets for the first time; he never gets worried; he knows Israel like the back of his hand; and he never talks in contractions. On foot (sandaled), the friendly, well-tanned young man wanders into an Arab camp bearing a lost lamb belonging to the granddaughter of the local sheik. Hitting it off with the aged sheik (but not with the sheik's son), he stays to supper and later that night cures the granddaughter of snakebite. It's the first of a string of miracles for which Joshua takes no credit, pointing out that that sort of thing is God's work. The grateful chieftain provides the friendly Jew an entree into the Arab community, the first step of a nonpolitical peace process that actually works. Strolling around Israel, Joshua chats up Christians, Moslems, and Jews, making friends and followers wherever he goes, pointing out quite sensibly that things aren't going to be better until everybody stops indulging in vengeance and gets down to the work of getting along. There are numerous parallels to events of two thousand years ago, but the actors are new, and the results more upbeat. Affecting at times, and never smarmy. Still, not for the cynical. --
Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
