Kindle Edition Amazon Brendan Carroll, Novelist Category:  Fantasy Publisher: Brendan Carroll ISBN-10:  1466330651 Type: Fiction Pages: 344 Copyright: May 30, 2011 ISBN-13: 9781466330658 Price: $3.99 (eBook) Chevalier Mark Andrew Ramsay returns from his first assignment as Assassin after Edgard d'Brouchart resumes his position as Grand Master of the Order, but he is not really willing to completely give himself over to the Order just yet. With things returning to a somewhat normal condition within the Order of the Red Cross of Gold, the Chevalier Mark Andrew Ramsay returns from his first assignment as Assassin after Edgard d'Brouchart resumes his position as Grand Master of the Order, but he is not really willing to completely give himself over to the Order just yet. The mission did not go as planned and already, consequences have followed him home. Consequences in the form of a beautiful woman with more ties to the Order than anyone could possibly imagine. Across the sea, Omar has located the Ancient Evil and plans a very dangerous confrontation with Jozsef Daniel. And if that isn't enough trouble for Sir Ramsay, loose ends are getting looser in the Abyss. Just when it seems Mark Ramsay cannot have anymore secrets, more and more truths are uncovered, while new mysteries begin to come to life, spurring even more questions about the indomitable Knight of Death.  Excerpt Vanni dropped his head and stood waiting to be killed as several of the King’s warriors emerged from the trees behind him. The King sniffed and then held out one hand toward him. He shook his head, slinging copper-colored blood in all directions. The silver bells in his long hair jingled and several yellow flower petals drifted to the ground around him. “What are you doing out here?” he demanded when he had caught his breath. “I was practicing my… drum,” Vanni said sadly. He had really done it this time. He had actually hurt the King. He was much bigger than the elven King now. At least a head taller and much stouter. “I’m sorry, sir. I really, truly am. I didn’t know it was you. I thought it was the Anu.” “The what?” The King jerked his head at the nearest archer and the archer whistled for the ponies. “The Anu! The creature with the tusks,” Vanni said and then slapped his hand over his mouth. He had not meant to tell the King about the creature. “There is no such thing as an Anu!” The King shook his head again and wiped at his nose. The ponies arrived and the elves mounted up. Il Dolce Mio climbed onto his pony and held out his hand to his unruly charge. “Climb up.” Vanni swung nimbly onto the small animal behind the King. So they would not kill him just yet. “Now tell me what you were doing near the stream, Vanni,” the King demanded as they started back toward the castle. “I was practicing my drum and I saw this strange creature,” Vanni told him. “I went to investigate him.” Vanni went on to tell him about the big, dark-skinned one with the wrinkled nose and long, coiled hair. He did not tell him about the conversation about fathers and mothers, nor did he tell him about the strange circle and symbols on the ground. “I forbid you to come back here,” the King told him angrily. “I have never heard of such a creature. It must have been from the Abyss! You will be boiled in oil, eaten or lost or… I am sick to death of chasing you about, Vannistephetti. I am going to find your father and bring him here. He must take you away and teach you to be a man. I cannot be responsible for you anymore!” “But… a man?” Vanni sat straight up on the pony and looked about at the warriors. They rode along on either side of the King with their crossbows ready in front of them. “My father will teach me to be a man? Why? I like it here, my King! I don’t want to be a man! They are… they would be… it would be…” “You will go with him,” Il Dolce Mio told him flatly. “You will learn how men do it, just as I did.” “But you are an elf!” Vanni objected. He had heard stories of his father. His father was described as an eagle and a serpent and a great warrior, but he’d never been told that he was a man. “Are you saying that my father… is a m-m-man?” “Yes. Yes. Yes.” Il Dolce Mio nodded. “A man! Your father is a man! Just like my father was a man.” “But your father is not a man. Your father is Adar, the Mighty Hunter! He is…” “Hush! Your father was also my father for a time,” the King told him and waved one hand in dismissal. “He is a man! And he will come and take you. It is time.” “No!” Vanni tried to get off the horse and one of the warriors turned his crossbow on him. He stopped and relaxed a bit. This was highly irregular. “Please. I don’t want to be a man. I will be good. I promise!” “It is too late,” Il Dolce Mio told him. “As soon as I can find him, I will bring him to you.” They rode on toward the castle in silence. Vanni knew that he had done wrong and now he would be banished. A terrible day! A terrible day indeed. ((((((((((((())))))))))))) Luke Andrew nodded off again and then jerked his head up. He had been studying the archives for days. Something was just not clicking here. There was something terribly wrong with the Red Cross of Gold. His father was not telling him everything and he was not sure if his father even realized that anything was amiss. How could Adar, the Mighty Hunter, recognize this purely human anomaly that was going on? Mark Andrew Ramsay was many things and knew a great deal, but he didn’t know everything and things that were quite normal to him, were completely abstract and impossible to most people. Luke Andrew on the other hand, was half human. He had a better grasp on humanity than his father. De Lyons condition baffled everyone, but there was something that they were missing. Something very ominous. De Lyons was completely human… completely human. His father had been an executive at a bank in Lyons. His mother had been an architect in a very successful drafting firm. They had died together while on vacation in the Alps. Guy de Lyons, like most of the human apprentices taken in by Edgard d' Brouchart, had been an orphan. Well-heeled, but an orphan. Luke yawned and rubbed his eyes as he stared into the computer screen. De Lyons was completely human.

Blood drinking, Blood lines and Bloody battles.
Could things get any more complicated for The Knights of Solomen's Temple? Well of course they can. Lucio almost loses his heart, literally, and his soul is missing, of course it is all due to his womanizing ways. I think I know why there were never two Lucios, he would just fall in love with himself. Maybe Vannie will keep him out of trouble for awhile, he's as cute as Il dolce mio and quite a handful.
Can I tell you how much I hate Edgard d'Brouchart,the self righteous hypocrite and vicious too. It is such a blessing that his family is not like him. There are an awful lot of them. Can't we have Mark back running things?
Well anyhow, there is more about blood drinking rituals and blood lines that go farther back than the Bible. Plus battles over ancient relics all over the world even in America and including all the favorite underworld characters. Scarry, funny, sweet and really twisted. Have fun and as always start here to get the best from the beginning.The Red Cross of Gold I:. The Knight of Death

This series just gets better and better!
The Red Cross of Gold: Assassin Chronicles series just keeps getting better and better. The previous two books started revealing information that sheds new light on some of the characters, but that's nothing compared to the action in this installment! I can't tell you how many times I put the book down and yelled "Holy crap!" at a new development.

Mr. Carroll has created a host of living, breathing characters- some of which scare the Hell out of me, some I'd love to meet, and a few I'd dearly love to get drunk and hang out with. I am very much looking forward to the next installment, and am sure it will be just as exciting and compelling as the previous ones have been. Most highly recommended!

Masterful
Once again this lastest book to the Assassin Chronicles is just as exciting as the first book in the series and explains who and what the main character Mark Andrew Ramsey, Knight of Death may be.

Full of the mystical realms, plot twist and turns, a real roller coaster of action as always. Can't wait for the next addition to the series !