While the orthodox crowd will pillory this review as that of a heretic, and the New Agers will be irritated by the dismissal of the "truth" of the gospel in the book, there is actually a common ground which makes the book worth a read.
The author, say what you will, does a very credible job providing a reasonably unified synthesis of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, legends, apocrypha and theosophical thought into an easy to read and though provoking text. I found it interesting to see how he synthesized John and the synoptics, and further how he synthesized Matthew and Luke into a comprehensible and credible sounding account of what would have been presented in the 4 Gospels could they actually be made to agree (for those of you unfamiliar, they DO NOT agree on many points, including timelines, quotes and locations).
Adding in narratives that reflect legends of the "lost years" of Jesus, and placing him with the Egyptians, Tibetans, Indians, Persians and Greeks was done with a reasonable flow, and addressing and integrating long known apocryphal literature available to the author in the late 1800's (such as various infancy narratives, the writings of Ireanaeus, etc) as well as pointing out commonalities between the religions of India and the Eastern Mediterranean is well done.
Before you take this as "gospel" literally, however, regardless of the claims of the author to have received it through the "Akashic Records", please take a deep breath.
Modern Biblical scholarship, the discoveries of lost manuscripts in Nag Hammadi, Egypt and the Dead Sea Scrolls, along with just plain common sense should lead the reader to view the book as allegory and literature, rather that a literal "gospel".
There is much to be learned here, much to ponder, much to take in, and much to appreciate. The message rings true, even if allegory isn't literally "true". The skill by which the 4 Gospels are assimilated alone makes it an interesting read for the orthodox Christian, and woe be to ANY reader of scripture or philosophy, especially the New Ager, who cannot appreciate the power and usefulness of allegory in a message, or who immediately takes these writings to be a literal retelling.
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