I had the honor of meeting Tosca Lee this year at the One Year Adventure Novel 
Summer Workshop, and then getting to see her again a month later the first night of the Realm Makers conference.
I was determined to read one of her books before I met her, so a few days before the OYAN SW, I stayed up late reading her short story Ismeni,a prequel to her novel Sheba: Rise of a Queen. I decided then and there that I would be purchasing Sheba at OYAN. Which I did. I then devoured it before leaving for Realm Makers (staying up far too late night before I left in order to finish it, in fact)
But this post, of course, is not about Sheba (that will come later). It is about the novel of Tosca’s that I have most recently read. Iscariot.
Rating: 5 of 5
Description in One Word: Powerful
Description in One Sentence: A journey through the life of Judas Iscariot that will leave you shocked, in awe, and probably changed.
Tosca is a masterful storyteller that deals with things in a direct, real, and raw way. She doesn’t shy away from the tough stuff, and her prose benefits from that. Her stories are strong. Iscariot is no exception.
How can I aptly describe the emotions, the discoveries, the awe? Tosca takes you into the world of Judas in a way I’ve never seen or thought about before. You see a side of the history that a read through of the gospels may not give you at first glance.
And though all the time you know what is going to happen, you know what the eventual outcome is going to be, you are still left clinging to the book, sitting on the edge of your seat with heart pounding, wondering what is going to happen next.
I cried – no, sobbed- over this book. Yes, I do admittedly cry a lot over stories. But this was a major cry, people, okay? We’re talking grab the box of tissues because of excess snot sobbing. Because it’s beautiful. And it changed me. It made me look at that time period, the events that happened, in a new light. It gave me a speculation about what Jesus’ relationships with his disciples looked like, what He went through, what He did.
Iscariot is one of those tales that when you shut the book, you just kind of sit there, held up in a ball of feelings that you don’t quite want to dissapate, staring at the cover going,
Have you read Iscariot? What were your thoughts? What other works by Tosca Lee have you enjoyed? If you haven’t read any what are you waiting for???
The Storytopian 