King's Shadow by Angela Hunt

Book Description

Two women occupy a place in Herod's court. The first, Salome, is the king's only sister, a resentful woman who has been told she is from an inferior race, a people God will never accept or approve. 

The second woman, Zara, is a lowly handmaid who serves Salome, but where Salome spies conspiracies and treachery, Zara sees hurting people in need of understanding and compassion. 

Powerful and powerless, Idumean and Jew, selfish and selfless--both women struggle to reach their goals and survive in Herod the Great's tumultuous court, where no one is trustworthy and no one is safe.

My review:

This is a riveting novel of King Herod his wives, children and his sister, Salome.  Salome is a fascinating character who will do anything for her brother including keeping his descent into madness a secret.  There is plenty of palace intrigue mixed in with all of the gossip and finger pointing going on, it seemed as though the King wasn't the only one who was concerned about their power being usurped. 

The one character who held my attention throughout, happens to be the fictional character named Zara a nine year old who is chosen to be Salome's handmaid. I loved how her story progressed as she grew into a young lady and finally a young woman with a child. King's Shadow is told through the POV's from both Zara and Salome with each chapter marked so the reader could follow along.  Admittedly, there are several characters with the same names so that was a bit confusing at times.

Ms. Hunt writes of the 400 years between  the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament and even though I haven't read the other three book in this series, I really enjoyed this one but I may read the others in the series.  It is an interesting read and fortunately the grim details of King Herod's killings aren't told in great detail.  I have started to enjoy Biblical fiction in the last few years and this is one of my favorites.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher but was under no obligation to write a review.  All opinions are my own.