enter balthazar of antioch - who is neither a nobleman or a magi - seth grahame-smith's unlikely protagonist in his most recent offering, 'unholy night.'the author takes us to the judean desert in 2 bc - where herod's soldiers are in pursuit of the ghost of antioch - a thieving 'rat,' and a cold-blooded murderer who has, for the last decade, managed to steal and kill and slip off of the authorities radar when he needed to.
on one occasion he was actually caught by herod's men, only to escape getting his head cut off and this time, taking two other petty thieves with him. and please indulge me with a wild guess. yes, indeed. he met gaspar, a muscular, african thief and melchyor, a greek swordsman, hailed as the 'best in the eastern empire.' it was in their escape that they decided to follow a bright star shining down on them - leading them to bethlehem.
and just like how we have been told this story - this was exactly when and where they met a pair of zealots - joseph and mary - and their new born son, who was never named on the book but was pertained to as the messiah. balthazar was essential to much of the trouble faced by the fugitives in the book, and was also the unspoken leader of this odd band composed of both the religious and the non-believers. balthazar was also instrumental in securing that joseph, mary and their son reach egypt where they cannot be touched or executed.
within the story, we were afforded the chance to learn how balthazar grew up to be a celebrity criminal of some sort and what painful part of his life has pushed him to hunt and kill - especially those in position - mercilessly. but despite being a man of only one tangible belief - that is - the only thing worth worshiping is the god of wealth - the story does give us glimpses and moments when balthazar is deep in his thoughts, minding the causes that lead him to his life and assessing whether the same reasons still hold water.
the author has succeeded in weaving meticulous biblical and historical tales with that of his own funny, twisted ideas. the result was a surprisingly poignant and hilarious novel that any first-time reader would enjoy and would find to be 'adequate.'
