I've long been fascinated by the Siege of Malta, and this book gives a good recap, wrapped in a good story with engaging characters. It was a fabulous beach read. I'm delighted to learn that there are more books featuring the same characters. I'm going to snap them up.

In the gory details of the battles, it reminds me a bit of Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe novels or {author:Steven Pressfield]'s Gates of Fire, but it's got a lovely romantic subplot (albeit with some hard moments).

I also loved the even handed view of Christianity and Islam. The worldview in this book is complex, much like the real world.

This book is well worth reading.