just read the book, loved it. I thought it may have been too short though. it leaves me wanting more. i do love the way anne rice can take you too the period she writes about, it was as though I was there. Ive never really read the bible, and was not really familiar with all the characters and locations, but rice guides the reader through it all wonderfully. it is nice to have the internet to research a little further. to make a few connections and clarify a few things i had to look up a map just to see how far the journeys were, and also wikipedias section on jesus helped me make a few connections about characters that jesus interacted with at age 7 was related to what would happen later in his life. I loved learning about a time period and history that ive known very little about. the authors note was also great.