Each of the first three Gospels calls attention to the Roman centurion who officiated at the Crucifixion, and it is this sympathetic, yet enigmatic figure whom Mr. Wibberley has made the focus of this novel of Christ's Ministry and Passion. In so doing, he not only achieves a thoroughly fresh interpretation of the Gospel story, but also imbues it with a shrewd appreciation of human motives and its wonder implicit in his juxtaposition of Jesus and the hard-bitten veteran, Longinus—a stern, dutiful man completely loyal to Rome and unreligious except as he paid lip service to the Roman Gods.