First off I am Catholic and this book has not changed any of my beliefs. I was interested in this book as a different view of my faith. The author did a good job in depicting Joshua as a man of faith and peace. He had many struggles and lose in his life but laid it all aside when called upon. The first 5% of the book did not make sense and that is why I put it off for so long.
I got a good visual sense of the times and got clarification on some scriptures and parables.


Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

I liked this alternative story to the one that is widely taught. I think the concepts are valid and, even though there may be pushback from traditionalists. Recommended.

I was captivated by this book and it did shed new light in some areas. One must keep an open mind when reading this because some perceptions are different than what you may have believed. Very thought provoking.
Many thanks to SeaScape Press LTD and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

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I thought the book was great and very entertaining. How much can be considered historical vs. fictional kept the subject matter intriguing. I would definitely recommend this book to my friends.

I couldn't finish this book. It was very hard to get into and relate to. The dialogue was jerky, and the descriptions were overly done. I'll try it again after I let it rest.

For me, this retelling was just too "Hollywood" for me. Despite his origins, the description of Jesus as blond-haired, blue-eyed, was hard to imagine. Jesus did not act as a miraculous healer would be expected to act--hiding away so that people would not be disappointed when he did not heal them. So many coincidences with the Roman father seemed contrived. DNF

I received a E book copy from Net galley.

The Murdered Messiah is an alternate history on the life of Jesus Christ, written by Len Lamensdorf, who undertook 30 years of research to produce this fast paced, fantastic historical novel.

The author throws several questions to us before we venture into the novel.
1. Did Jesus think he was a Messiah?
2. Must the Messiah be a king?
3. A warrior? A priest? A prophet? All of the above?
4. Who did Jesus believe himself to be and how did he conceive his earthly mission?
5. Why would a man whose entry into Jerusalem at Passover was a triumph be suddenly and mysteriously murdered by the Romans?

The novel starts in the present day, Yossi comes to know that the secret scroll is stolen from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and later he finds out that his ex-wife Leila is behind it. He goes to her house to get hold of the scrolls before it is sold. But Leila gives him the translated work on the scroll which he completes it in 3 days.

A story within a story, the scrolls tells us about the birth of Joshua Ben Joseph (Jesus) the mystery behind the immaculate conception of Miriam, a centurion and later deputy to the cruelest man Pontius Pilate, Gaius Fabricius his relation to Joshua. The story deviates from the scriptures which I have read in the Bible, starting from the conception, his siblings Jacob, Judith, marriage life of Joshua with Rebecca their children David and Rachel,Joshua's life in Qumran, his preparation and understanding the meaning of Messiah, his teachings in Capernaum, Chorazin, Bethsaida, crucifixion and resurrection.

The author has given many instances on Joshua's intelligence and the life of Judas his thoughts about Joshua and his betrayal during Passover etc. Len Lamensdorf has given an alternate down to earth hypotheses on the miracles performed by Jesus. It looks acceptable but he failed to explain how Jesus or Joshua healed the sick and how he raised men from dead.

Superb narration and thrilling climax to the novel. As mentioned earlier this 700 plus pages book is fast paced and some might find uncomfortable with the story line.

I like to quote some inspirational lines:

A man who throws water into the river is not likely to drown the river, but a man who spits into the wind may find it blown back into his eyes.

King Messiah would be a righteous king who would not… put his trust in horse and rider and bow, nor shall he multiply unto himself gold and silver for war… For he shall smite the earth with the word of his mouth.

Messiah would be free from sin and would be powerful not because he led a great army but because he "leaned upon his God"

Come, let us return to the Lord, for he has torn, that he may heal us, he has stricken, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us, on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.

The Messiah would be abused, tormented, viciously tortured, perhaps even killed. But God would give him triumph over death. That was the Baptizer consolation.

Joshua said, "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.

The Murdered Messiah

by Leonard Lamensdorf

SeaScape Press, Ltd.

Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles
Historical Fiction, Christian

Pub Date 15 Nov 2016

I am voluntarily reviewing a copy of The Murdered Messiah through the publisher and Netgalley:

At 3 a.m on a Saturday Morning when Yossi is woken by a banging on his door waking him up, as he steps outside he realizes what he's being warned about.

We are transported back to the time of Christ. We are given a look at what his life could have been like as well as his death.

I found The Murdered Messiah to be an excellent historical read.

I give it five out of five stars.

Happy Reading.

The first five percent was crap, so I decided not to read the rest.

I expected it to be something like The Passion of the Christ, but it actually just tries to discredit the Christ in really stupid ways. There's no point in this even being published.

i really wanted to read this book. I was very interested in the perspective. However, the writing style simply couldn't hold my interest

Please know I speak as a person who is not a devout religious oriented individual nor am I atheist or agnostic. But there are issues that have long been a puzzle to me concerning the period and the actual events surrounding Jesus. My interest is also from a historical standpoint and my interest is further enhanced by having toured Jerusalem during one of my business trips to Israel. Not to give too much away I can say this book has a lot of quotes from the Bible, some familiar, many not, at least to me. I have also read a great deal of historical information on Rome and the Roman Empire, and many historical novels about the area of Israel and the surrounding lands and people. This is a book of about 771 pages, as it is five books of the series inclusive. It would be an excellent book on its own, a well written account, but would likely be a tad much with the miracles were it not about Jesus. It offers some alternatives to the story of Jesus as I have known it to be told or written over the years. I have never understood how a virgin could birth a child, nor have I found the resurrection to be understandable, hand of God for sure, but still… The telling of depravity by Pontius Pilate rings true from other accounts I have read and while the disciples are not as I have known, who is to say, written historical accounts aside, as we now have “fake news” who knows how the stone rolled back in the day. My association with Israelis did not focus on the religious aspects as I know them but rather on their accounts of events as they know them. And surely Islam is as devoutly studied and believed as is Buddhism, Judaism and Christianity. This is a great story, well written to hold the reader attentive and thought provoking. I do not hesitate to recommend this and do not believe this alternative version from what has been historically spouted would offend any. I must assign five stars based on the creativity of blending history, fiction and fact.

Maybe it was me, just could not get into this book, managed to get through it, but found no rhythm to keep me motivated to read for any length of time

This book is a well written novel of the author's view of the life of Jesus. While I completely disagree with how the author portrays the history of Jesus's birth and certain parts of his life, he has written his novel in such a way to be engaging. That said, if you want a great novel to read this may be an option for you. If you want history and facts seek elsewhere.

Outstanding alternate treatment of the story of Joshua (Jesus). I find the author's story more believable than the official version. A must read for anyone interested in gaining another perspective on the subject. (Just my opinion.)

Very interesting and plausible chronicle of the life of Jesus. It is a little slow paced but, very interesting and gives so many rational explanations for the "lost years" only a Biblical scholar could have any knowledge of. Impartial and thought provoking,

I have always been fascinated by the theories and stories about Jesus Christ and other things pertaining to religion. The two other books in the picture are books relating to the life of Jesus, Freemasonry and the temples of Solomon. These two books are not so fiction. The writers are both religious scholars who have explored various sources and texts. It's the readers prerogative how they would take the contents of these two books. These two were like historical fiction books for me. It had in no way affected or changed my belief.

The Murdered Messiah is much like the two books - The Hiram Key and The Book of Hiram. This book chronicles the life of Jesus Christ. The events that lead to his birth, to his crucifixion and resurrection.

This was probably the longest book I have ever read. In some parts, the pace was slow. I had to resort to reading two other short stories in between so I would not lose interest in this book. But overall, this was a very interesting read. I think, this theory of Jesus Christ's birth and conception is not very far fetch. I think this could be the most plausible and the nearest explanation to the mystery of Christ. I am a Catholic and reading this book had in no way affected my faith or belief at all, just like the two other books mentioned above. I am just glad or relieved or maybe thankful that someone was brave enough to write his theory relating to the events and assumptions of the life of Christ.

I love Joseph's character. He was a man of his word. He still married Miriam (Mary), in spite of what other people think and say, solely because he loved her. It was probably the most unselfish thing to do. To love and accept someone, including all her flaws and baggage. I'd prefer this version of Joseph over the one we popularly knew who did not want to marry Mary and wanted to break the engagement.

The most interesting part of this book was how Judas' character was portrayed. I liked how he was not totally made out to be the bad link in the chain of Jesus' ministry. He was flawed but he was indeed a follower of Joshua (Jesus). His actions and decisions were understandable, knowing where he was coming from.

The most despicable character, contrary to our belief that it was Judas, was Pontius Pilate. I would like to believe that he was definitely the bad guy, the ultimate face of the devil or the devil incarnate. I totally despised him. I enjoyed his tormented reactions after he found out that Joshua rose from the dead. I think if I were to make someone's life a living hell, it would be Pilate. I would love to see him lose sleep and pull his hair out until he drives himself crazy with anger. I would enjoy tormenting him.

I commend Lens Lamensdorf for coming up with this interesting book. Like the author, I too, in some way thought about these theories here. I guess, the only thing that can't be humanly or scientifically explained was how Jesus healed the sick and resurrected the dead. And like the author, I too believed that if ever a Messiah was to be called, it just made more sense that he comes from the common people, the humblest of beginnings. Who's most likely to lead the oppressed than one who has suffered the most?

I give this book 4/5 crosses. Just like all martyrs, Jesus (or Joshua in this book) died to free his country and people from foreign rule. The only difference that separated him other revolutionaries was that his way was through peace. He didn't believe in rising in arms and killing. As the author said, only he might just be the greatest martyr in Jewish history or maybe the greatest in the world has ever known. I think, I would readily accept this version of Jesus Christ without question. His unfortunate beginnings and tragic life only added strength and shape to his character.


We need a man who is brave enough to be a soldier, learned enough to be a priest, strong enough to suffer any loss and powerful enough to lead the people--We need the Messiah.
- Len Lamensdorf, The Murdered Messiah -

I was really surprised while reading this book since it goes beyond what I was taught in school which was a little unsettling. As my opinions have changed over the years this book made me start thinking again. Jesus was a preacher and he judged no one is what I got out of the book.

What’s it all about?
A caveat  to begin with! This historical novel did take some reading, and initially I hadn't realised what an effort I was taking on; a total of  20hrs to get through!
This book is an attempt to fill in the gaps of canonical Gospels of the life of Jesus Christ and the author has in my view wandered off greatly from scripture and used a margin of poetic licence;  accomplished by steering away from the very creed of Christianity, thus providing an alternate view of Jesus's mission. This is by no means new, as many other writers have said similar things, and claimed new perspectives on the life of Jesus  as the Christ. So if you do have very strong Christian beliefs, you may find yourself in conflict with what the author is tying to communicate.
What’s good about it?
If one is looking  purely as a telling of a  story of a Jewish man who tried free the Jewish Nation from  the yoke of Roman Occupation, you find this an interesting tale. Its well written, engaging, and very descriptive. The crucifixion described in the book of what Jesus went through is fairly horrific, and brings to the fore the absolute agony which was endured - this personally left its mark on me.  I also enjoyed the balance of  Jesus's extended family his Brothers, Sisters , and also the specially close relationship he had with his Mother.
Another aspect of the writing that I found interesting is that Len brought to life the culture of the time in Galilee; the differences of belief between Pharisee, Sadducee, and how this affected the culture of the time on the ordinary Jewish population; who had to endure this and also the over bearing 'Roman Rule'.
I also liked the opening and closing chapters that Sandwiched this particular tale quite nicely in my view.
What’s not so good about it?
I felt the overall pace of the story could have flowed better ; and also the references from Scripture especially around the claimed 'Miracles' were a little cherry picked to suite the main body of the narrative.
Overall 
An enjoyable read, albeit a long one for the subject matter; but isn't all theology!

I couldn't get into this book at all. I did try, the format, the way the author wrote... I thought Id like it. Maybe for someone else.