Journey of the Pearl. A. E. Smith

Centurion Longinus was the soldier assigned to execute Jesus of Nazareth. Longinus had no idea that the task would catapult him into a whirlwind of events that would change the course of his life and history. As he struggles to forgive himself for executing Jesus, he must deal with his commanding officer's mysterious and deadly vendetta. Longinus also fears for those he loves, including Dulcibella, the daughter of his former commanding officer, Cornelius. He protects a unique blue pearl, the highest prized object of the ancient world, given to him by a dying man in gratitude for the centurion's act of courage and kindness. A fictional tale based on people and events in the New Testament of the Bible, this is a storyteller's tapestry woven with threads of history and colored with hues of imagination to portray the dramatic struggle of good against evil.