City on Fire by Tracy L Higley

This book, City on Fire by Tracy L. Higley is subtitled "A Novel of Pompeii." When I saw this book, I was very interested, as in our homeschooling this year we are learning about ancient Rome--I thought maybe it would be a book that we could read aloud from, I mean, it is a Christian novel. . .about Pompeii and ancient Rome. . .

Well, after finally finishing the book I will say loudly, "NO WAY" would we read this book with the kids. As a matter of fact, my oldest child saw the cover and mentioned it as well, asking, "Mom, when you're done with that book, can I read it too if it's appropriate?" Well, it's NOT!

I really really did not like this book. First of all, it is very long,slow, and b-o-r-i-n-g :) Hey, this is my review, I can give my honest opinion, right? And ancient Rome was a harsh, immoral society--and the story reflects that.

The story has two main characters, whose stories are told independently and then they intersect about two-thirds of the way through the book. Ariella is a Jewish girl whose family was killed at the burning of the temple at Jerusalem and then she ended up as the servant of a vile and horrid Roman man. She escapes that man by running away and passing herself off as a gladiator. She learns to fight and the story goes on from there. The other main character, Cato, is a sort of honest businessman who moves from Rome to Pompeii and slowly begins to move against the cruelly powerful leading nobleman of that city and his practices. I'm not going to give you more info than that. . .the story moves on and on. . .

I would not recommend this book to anyone, regardless of age. . .certainly NOT for a child or teen. In my opinion, it was long and boring, lots of lurid details, and the volcano action occurs in the last sixth of the book or so. Had I not committed to reviewing the book I probably wouldn't have read past the first chapter or so.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher (Thomas Nelson) for the purpose of this review. I was not required to write a positive review.