When Will Campbell joins the most powerful organization in Europe, the Order of the Knights Templar, he is thrown into a world of intrigue. Apprenticed to the foul-tempered scholar Everard, he must try to make sense of many things: his own past, the dangerous mystery that surrounds Everard, and his feelings for Elwen, the strong-willed young woman whose path seems linked with his own.

Charged with recovering a heretical book stolen from the Order's vaults, Will ends up fighting for his life --- for hidden within the book's pages are the covert plans of an organization known as the Anima Templi: the Soul of the Temple, and many men are ready to kill to possess their secrets.

Meanwhile, a new star is rising in the East. The former slave Baybars Bundukdari has become one of the greatest generals of his time. Haunted by his early life, he is driven by an unquenchable desire to free his people from the European invaders of his homeland.

From the filthy backstreets of Paris and London to the burning plains of Syria, these stories come together on the eve of the last Crusade. With page-turning suspense and breathtaking battle scenes, Robyn Young portrays a rich cast of characters, reflecting on each side greed, ambition and religious fanaticism, as well as courage, love and faith.

© Copyright 2010 by Dutton, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA).