The Knights of Dark Renown

  The first book of a medieval adventure series is an “unsentimental, even-tempered, rather stirring view of one period in the Holy Land's unholy agonies” (Kirkus Reviews).   Reynald of Chatillion, Prince Reynald to his friends, the Red Wolf of the Desert to the Saracens, is the most dangerous man in Palestine. His face tells a tale of epic battles hard-won, stitched together by the jagged scars of combat.   England is divided and Christendom struggles to retain its grip on the Holy Land . . . The code of chivalry chimes in hideous dissonance with massacre and cruelty as Reynauld is determined to raise the stakes of war to their limits.   Based on real historical figures and events, Churchmen, barons, knights, courtiers, their wives and mistresses, are seen in sharp outline against a hard, dry, dangerous landscape commanded by huge castles and roamed by mounted soldiers.   “An impressively confident first novel, most readable and refreshingly free from any pseudo-medieval mysticism.” —The Sunday Telegraph   “The chivalry and the cruelty are finely balanced.” —Daily Mirror   “Highly enjoyable. . . The story is exciting as well as psychologically convincing and thought-provoking.” —Financial Times