The Red Cross of Gold I:. The Knight of Death [Kindle Edition]

Brendan Carroll (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

If ever Murphy's Law holds true, it certainly applies to Mark Ramsay, Chevalier du Morte. His latest assignment as Assassin for the Order of the Red Cross of Gold, poor Knight of Solomon's Temple, should have been simple. That is the way he likes things: Simple. But it is not to be… not this time.
Traveling to America in search of a traitor, Sir Ramsay runs afoul of Cecile Valentino, who is determined to learn the secret of immortality from him. The trouble is the Knights of the ruling council are only semi-immortal, which means that they can be killed, but like vampires arising from the grave, they return from the dead… normally in very foul moods out for blood and revenge, especially when murder is involved.
Their uncanny ability to live in spite of being killed, works well for Cecile, but not so much for Mark as she tries to learn his secrets. To add further mayhem, her use of stolen alchemical substance gives him a short bout of amnesia that muddles his mind completely frustrating his efforts to sort things out.
His unusual behavior and memory loss soon has the Order in an uproar with some of his immortal Brothers are calling for his head.
The Knight of Death is the first book in the Assassin Chronicles series, which gradually pulls the reader into the world of fairies, dragons, magick and mysticism. There are currently twenty-four novels released in ebook format and paperback.

About the Author

The Red Cross of Gold is the culmination of a personal journey for Brendan Carroll spanning a period of time from early October 1953 through the present day. ‘Let those with ears hear and those with eyes see’ that every life is a journey through the tribulations of the flesh.

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 654 KB
• Print Length: 386 pages
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B001J6ORUI
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #89,187 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

Brendan Carroll was born and raised in Southeast Texas, finally ending up in the beautiful Texas Lake Country. Throughout his scholastic career, he wanted nothing more than to tell a good story, get a few laughs or give a few frights. After high school, he joined the US Navy and spent the next four years serving the country in the fighter training squadron VT-86 out of Pensacola, Florida. In college, he majored in Environmental Science and Geography with a minor in Geology and ended up with a teaching certificate for Secondary Earth Sciences. After one year of teaching fourteen and fifteen-year-olds, his desire to inspire young minds was laid to rest and he took up a position serving the State of Texas in the Correctional Field. In his spare time, he has produced over thirty novels which are currently being published in Kindle format as well as paperback at a much slower pace. His one aim is to entertain the reader with a good tale and hope that they may get something more from his work than just a laugh, a fright or a sigh.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 4 1/4 Stars, August 6, 2009

By 

Lynn ODell "Red Adept Reviews - A Blog" (Carolinas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Red Cross of Gold I:. The Knight of Death (Kindle Edition)

Plot/Storyline: 4.75 Stars

This was an amazing, epic tale from an author with tremendous talent and imagination. I was enthralled with the storyline.

I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised by the timeframe of this novel. With the 'cover' and the description, I made the assumption that it was a medieval novel. However, it actually takes place in present day with flashbacks to medieval times.

My favorite parts were the flashbacks of Mark's past. They were done with terrific style, making the reader breathless for more.

About 25% of this book should have been left out. There were pages of passages that did not forward the storyline. However, I must add that it was all still very interesting.

Character Development: 4.75 Stars

I found Mark to be an absolutely fascinating character. All parts of the book told from his viewpoint were simply wonderful.

I wasn't enthralled with "Merry". She was just a bit too insipid for my taste. I think she should have been a stronger character. However, I will grant that perhaps that was part of her allure for Mark?

Writing Style: 4.75 Stars

The sentence structure was very well done, creating any easy flow throughout. This author also excels at dialogue, writing realistic speech.

The descriptions, while good, were a bit verbose at times.


Editing/Formatting: 3 Stars

There were many editing type errors throughout the book, mainly missing words or extra words that seemed to have left out or forgotten in a deletion. One section confused me when an incorrect pronoun was used, 'he' instead of 'she', several times. Some of the action sequences got a bit confusing when they involved more than two people because pronouns were used instead of names.


Overall:

An oustanding beginning to a fantasy series that will have the reader rushing out to purchase the next book.

Rating: R for graphic violence, sex, violent sex, and scenes of rape.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 800 years old, and still flawed., September 30, 2010

By 

R. Reed "Author of Xanthan Gumm." (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Red Cross of Gold I:. The Knight of Death (Kindle Edition)

Living for 800 years doesn't make a person wise and self assured, according to Mr. Carroll. His hero, one of the legendary Knights Templar, not only escaped the purge of his order by the King of France, but he has survived all the years since then, along with a small group of his fellows. As we meet him, he has ventured to Texas, of all places, on what he thinks is a routine mission to retrieve a missing apprentice. He is dosed with a potion that steals his memory, and has to re-learn who he is and question everything he always assumed about his unusually long life and devotion to his order. When his brethren come for him, all hell breaks loose as they bungle their way through a rescue.

This is the opening book in a long series, and I look forward to meeting Mark Ramsay when he knows who he is. I'm sure he will still question his mission and existence.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific book!, August 6, 2009

By 

Linda Fox (Spokane, WA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Red Cross of Gold I:. The Knight of Death (Kindle Edition)

This is one of the best books I've read in a long time. I took my kids swimming, and sat there for 3 hours engrossed and on the edge of my seat. They had to beg me to take them home, because I didn't want to stop reading. Every time I got a free minute, I wanted to get back to this book. I am so glad there are many more in the series!

Our hero is Mark Ramsay, immortal Templar Knight, alchemist and assassin, rough and tough and oh so gorgeous. He finds himself kidnapped and without his memory, and discovers who he is and what he is about, along with the reader. Just when you think things can't get any worse for our hero, his Brothers come to his......rescue? Murder and mayhem, sword fights and brawls, flashbacks to life during the Crusades, love and loss and sex and even some unexpected humor all abound in this terrific tale.

I highly recommend this series!