Knights Of The Cross: the extraordinary story of the First Crusade - gripping from the first page

Demetrios Askiates #2

by Tom Harper

The crisis of the First Crusade is the powerful backdrop to this gripping novel of intrigue, sacrifice, savagery and holy war — from the author of The Mosaic of Shadows .The year is 1098: Having routed the Turks, the armies of the First Crusade reclaim Asia Minor for Christendom. That is, until their advance is halted on the Syrian border before the impregnable walls of Antioch. As winter draws on, they are forced to suffer a fruitless, interminable siege, gnawed by hunger and taunted by the Turkish defenders. Then, when divisions appear between the leaders of the crusade and the men they lead; and between the Westerners and the accompanying Byzantine forces, the entire crusade is on the verge of collapse.In the midst of the misery, a Norman knight, Drogo, is found murdered. The ruthlessly ambitious Lord Bohemond, suspecting his rival Count Raymond, charges Demetrios Askiates to find the killer. But as Demetrios investigates, the trail seems to lead ever deeper into the vipers’ nest of jealousy, betrayal and fanaticism, which lies at the heart of the crusade.Other forces are equally a great Turkish army is fast approaching to relieve the garrison of Antioch. Unless the crusaders can bury their differences and take the city, they will be crushed before its walls. Ever more isolated, Demetrios must ally with Bohemond if they are to have any chance of finding the key that will unlock the gates of Antioch. But once inside, the crusaders will discover that their greatest trials have barely begun.From the Trade Paperback edition.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Fiction, Historical, Medieval, Historical Mystery, Ebooks

464 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Tom Harper was born in West Germany in 1977 and grew up in Germany, Belgium and America; he now lives in England. He is chair of the Crime Writers' Association and also a member of the Historical Novels Society and the Society of Authors.

Tom Harper also writes historical adventures as Edwin Thomas.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Markus]

In the flower of my anger, I became the angel of vengeance and struck him down. I put the mark of Cain on his brow, so that men might know him as a murderer, and left his body to be devoured by carrion-eaters.

After bringing down the conspiracy against the Emperor, Demetrios Askiates is sent as an agent of the Empire with the First Crusade. And when a Norman knight is brutally murdered in the crusader camp, the unveiler of mysteries has to call on his old skills again while the Army of Light faces judgment before the walls of Antioch…

Knights of the Cross was a disappointing book that ended in a rather positive surprise. Until quite near to the end, I was sure this was a two-star read. Now that I've actually finished the book, I'm leaning towards four stars, but since it was not as entertaining as the first book, I'll stick with the middle ground.

Like the first book, it was a bit too simple. There were few characters (some of the characters in the first book that were even present in the historical battles for Antioch have been removed), the plot was straightforward, and much of the book was shaped in a negative fashion by the author not managing to give focus to the actual murder mystery. One could claim that having the Siege of Antioch as a backdrop makes it difficult to divert the focus onto something else, but he did a good job of that in The Mosaic of Shadows, where the surrounding events were no less spectacular.

Fortunately, this book had two huge strengths. The first of those was Harper’s characterisation of Adhemar of Le Puy. To those unfamiliar with the name, the Bishop Adhemar was the first man to swear the oath at the Council of Clermont and became the first crusader in history. Because of this piety, he was also appointed by the Pope as the formal and spiritual leader of the First Crusade. Adhemar is not a figure who has interested me much before, but he was by far the greatest character in this book. And arguably the only one with real depth.

The second strength is the ending. I correctly guessed the identity of the culprit (and it was pretty obvious, in my eyes), but I was still surprised. Explaining why would entail spoilers, but in any case, I greatly enjoyed both the surprise and the ending as a whole.

I suppose this book does suffer from second book syndrome. These books, though well-written, have an entertainment value that’s higher than their actual quality, and this one was definitely a bit less interesting than the first one. But it still was enjoyable, and it made me look forward to reading the last book in the trilogy, which has one of the best titles I have ever heard in historical fiction.

I’ll leave off the review with the end passage, which was probably the best part of the book:

As I turned to go back, I glanced over my shoulder. The mountains were little more than purple shadows against the deepening sky, and the valleys between had vanished. The course of the Orontes was hidden, and darkness covered the road beside it.

The road we had fought so long to clear.

The road to Jerusalem.

[Chris]

Knights of the Cross was a generally good book. It didn't cover much of the first crusade, just the siege of Antioch. It is an interesting book in the fact that it gives a lot of accurate information about this important siege. Although the stories of the characters are fictional, much of the book is based off of factual events.

The story isn't the strongest I've read, but it keeps you interested enough to turn the page.

[Keith Currie]

Events around the siege of Antioch by the army of the First Crusade drive this historical novel. The so-called investigator Demetrios Askiates investigates (in a very desultory fashion) the semi-mysterious death of a Norman Knight. At its best in the description of the siege; at its worst when following the strangely inept Demetrios.

[Elias Kreouzis]

Με μεγάλη ανυπομονησία, περίμενα να το ξεκινησω, λόγω της εποχής που μου αρέσει πολύ. Όμως απογοητέυτικα έχει πολλα λάθοι όσον αφορά τους χαρακτήρες και την αλληλεπίδραση ανάμεσα σε Δυτικούς, Βυζαντινούς και Τούρκους. Ίσως κάποιος που γνωρίζει λιγότερο ιστορία να του άρεσε.

[sonja wegert]

The history part of the crusade is well written but I was disappointed by the main character Demetrios. He shows no ability of logic thinking, revealing of mysteries or secrets. He's written like he has absolutley no clue what he's doing, stampling through the story without any thought, plan or clue. Also the whole plot seems quite feeble as he investigates a murder ordered by a Lord who does not pay him for it, Demetrios despises more and more throughout the book on the background of a crusade were hundreds of people being tortured and murdered every day.

Overall, if you like to read it for the crusade then the book series is interesting and written in a way easy to read.

If you read it for the plots and mysteries and how they been solved - as I did - then the books are a real disappointment and Demetrios would be an embarrassment for any medieval detective or spy (e.g. Cadfael or Owen Archer). I know their stories are set a few hundred years later but ingenuity, ability and cleverness should be fairly similar.

[Arghenta]

Ambientazione intrigante: l'assedio di Antiochia da parte dell'esercito cristiano della prima crociata. Esistono pochi periodi ancora così avvolti nella leggenda più che nella storia, così intriganti. In questo libro si utilizza l'investigazione su alcuni delitti avvenuti nell'accampamento per portare un po' di luce sugli intrighi dei comandanti e sul candore della fede che li spingeva. L'approfondimento storico è tenuto sul giusto livello per interessare senza appesantire la storia ed è certamente più interessante la vicenda storica nel suo insieme della risoluzione dei delitti per cui, una volta finiti, ti rimane la voglia di andare a scoprire Gerusalemme.
Si tratta del secondo volume con protagonista Demetrios di Bisanzio, ma il libro regge perfettamente anche da solo.

[Angela]

4 Stars

Knights of the Cross is the second book in the Demetrios Askiates series by Tom Harper. This is such a vividly detailed story/series, it really comes to life before your eyes, pulling you into all the action and keeping you in its grasp right till the end.
A fantastic historical (medieval) mystery with plenty of action, adventure, dramatic developments, tension, suspense, The Crusaders, The Holy War, interesting characters, intrigue, agendas, murder, and more.
I highly recommend reading the first book in the series before starting on this one, as the first book will enhance your appreciation of this story, as well as the series as a whole.
Well done...
Happy Reading.

Thank you, Tom Harper!

[Abdullah Samir]

I was looking for any reference of the crusaders era and am glad i found tom harper .
He is a good narrator and a fine researcher . what i did not like is the crime line story . Not relevant . does not make sense . he could have used the TAIFORS for a good line of religious prejudice and i would have make sense .

[Steve Dempsey]

A historical novel set against the background of the first crusade. It is a murder mystery intereoven into the factual events of the first crusade. I found it overly long and wasn't sure if it was a murder mystery or a factual account of the siege of Antioch.

[Megan]

It was fine. I liked the parts that essentially recounted the historical events, but less the parts that were the mystery or heresy -- they didn't get enough attention to be the focus of the story.

[Guy Lawfull]

Very enjoyable read

The mix of history and fiction was very seamless. The scenes were moving, dramatic and enthralling, with a fair amount of gore thrown in for good measure.

[Paschalis]

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[Rob Wilkinson]

Events so exciting and fantastic the story writes itself. The siege of Antioch by the first crusade, the fall of the city, and then the crusaders beseiged in turn by Kerbogha's larger army. Progressively the crusaders run out of supplies until they are forced to fight their way out of the city they captured a few months before. I suspect that the story derives more from crusader sources than from the Turks, though it's difficult to deny the fact that the city fell and a number of crusaders survived to tell the tale.



I can recommend this book just for the history!

[Omni Theus]

Tom Harper seems to start his novels well prose wise but more so descriptively drops of white gold. I remember his description of the mountain range behind Antioch was impressive early on for instance. But that height was not reached or surpassed thereafter. Certainly more of a personal trait I seek when reading is the writer's handle on their craft and the beauty of their prose therein. Such tended to suffer as the book continued on. I felt a little bored by the end of the book as the language seemed to push me away. The story was fine though. 2 out of 5 stars.

[Sarah]

I'm not really sure why I read this one. I barely liked the first one in the series, but this one was even worse.

I really like historical mystery novels, but this one was bor_ing with a capital B. The main character is full of himself (for no good reason) and the only parts of the plot that are interesting are the actual historical events. At least the first one in the series had somewhat of a mystery (who's trying to kill the emperor?) even if the answer and indeed most of the novel is cliche. But the so-called mystery in Knights of the Cross is not only dull, it's annoying. Who cares who did the murder? Who cares about the boring suspects?

If you really like historical mystery you might try the first in the series, but I would avoid this one for sure.

[Alethea]

Not nearly as much fun as the first, unfortunately, and I like the first crusade. No real quibbles on the historicity; it failed as a book, and partially as a mystery. Mystery and history struck an odd and less appealing balance in this book, with the mystery evaporating for chapters at a time, blown away by events. At the same time, despite managing to be present for an improbable number of historic events, Demetrios is peculiarly passive. Though he uncovers heresy, he doesn’t actually solve his mystery…or, really, do much of anything, except witness the siege of Antioch and fall in with odd company.

[Tom Hooker]

Set during the siege of Antioch in the First Crusade (1098 AD). While the Army of God faces starvation and deprivation, first outside the walls of Antioch, then inside while besieged by a Turk army, a Greek scribe is given the task of solving the murder of a Frankish knight. During his investigation, he uncovers a heretic cult which worships the false god Mithra, a critical clue he must use to solve his case. While the story is good, the book has no heat. I really didn't make much of a connection to any of the main characters.

[Kenny]

This was one of those books that should have been better. The background gives plenty opportunity for battles, intrigues and with a who submit thrown in, this should have been a diverting read. But I never was convinced why I should like the character, jumping in at book two may not have helped. The best pieces were around the historical events, and the truly fictional murder case was disappointing. The characters felt flat, but it is frustrating as some pieces ticked along nicely. Potential for better.

[Ghost14]

This is more political than its predecessor and the follower. The author tries to squeeze in a mystery sub plot into the main plot but somehow, the flow doesn't come as naturally as it did in the first part ('mosaic of shadows')

Apart from that, its the most stand-alone book in the trilogy if one reads only this and avoids the other two.

[Liviu]

Awful sequel - modern thriller in the Crusade setting, no suspension of disbelief, only the author's sort of engaging style and the narrator makes me rate this above the one star it deserves based on content

[Gordon]

Intrigue, murder, mud and treachery as the Crusaders rampage across Anatolia to invest Antioch on their way to carving out new kingdoms. A detailed and convincingly historic background make this detective novel of sorts a recommended read.

[Susan]

Starts a little slow. The character-building is a little rudimentary, to say the least. The dialogues taste a bit like paper.
And battle-scenes... :sigh: I know the whole story takes place at a siege, but that doesn't make them any more of an enjoyable read.

[Anna]

Un giallo storico ben costruito che tuttavia mi è parso freddo e poco coinvolgente. Lo scrittore non è riuscito a coinvolgermi nelle vicende dei personaggi e ho sentito per tutto il tempo l'urgenza di finire il libro.

[Laura]

The story of the First Crusade. A quite disappointed book.

[Peter]

Epic novel of the Crusades.

[Mieczyslaw Kasprzyk]

Entertaining.

[Winnie]

I enjoyed this trilogy - not brilliant but good characters and quick easy interesting read.

[Paul Sinclair]

Disappointing after reading the first book in the series. I found the siege details interesting but the mystery really plodded along.

[Kevin Keating]

It started out pretty good, but just wasn't that interesting after a while. It was a murder mystery but I really didn't care after a while. Historical stuff wasn't that great either.

[Nathan Nolte]

I'm glad it was free...it wasn't that good.