Zara and Constantinople - early 1200s

Itinerate musician and drifter, the man known only as the Briton has failed at one more thing -- trying to kill a man he thinks is the one he's been tracking, and, in turn, being killed himself. The Briton feels he has nothing to live for and death will be a release from his past failures. However, Gregor of Mainz, a faithful Christian knight from Germany, decides that the attempted assassin of Gregor's father-in-law (who is mistakenly called The Englishman, hence the Briton's confusion over whom he wanted to kill!) will be his captive. Pious Gregor tells the Briton that it is sinful to commit suicide, and he will do everything in his power to keep him alive. The Briton is not impressed.

Gregor is one of many knights and soldiers recruited for the Fourth Crusade, supposedly to fight the infidels. But the Venetians were asked to build ships and transports for the thousands of warriors, incurring huge debt for the crusaders, who have yet to pay. The only way the Venetians will agree to move the gigantic war machine now is if the soldiers agree to attack the Christian city of Zara for Venice, something the pope, who has encouraged the crusade, is adamantly against. Gregor and his small group consisting of his younger half-brother, Otto; Otto's mistress, Liliana; two servants, Richard and his grandson, Richard; and now the sullen, wisecracking Briton, reluctantly agree to depart with the rest of the army. The Briton, however, makes yet another questionable decision -- he kidnaps/rescues a Muslim "princess," Jamila, from a bellicose and overbearing Venetian. Now Gregor has yet another person to be responsible for.

The Fourth Crusade ended up not being anything that the pope wanted it to be. The Briton, keeping his past secret from his companions, spends his time getting into plenty of messes, trying to keep his rescuee's complicated history from leaking out, and fighting his growing attraction to the "princess." Gregor, honorable to the core, is constantly bemused by the antics of this Briton, and stands by his Christian beliefs even in the face of disobeying his benefactor, who is also his father-in-law.

CROSSED is a fascinating, exciting, and beautifully researched novel of a rather confusing period in time. Plenty has been written about the failures of the Fourth Crusade, but to experience it from the ground up, so to speak, made this history lesson much more thrilling. Seen from the eyes of the Briton, readers can envision the crusaders as they come to grips with the fact that there is nothing "holy" about this venture, and that everyday people are paying the price with their lives and livelihoods for fortune hunters and morally deficient leadership. Ms. Galland presents a gritty, honest account of a plan that went horribly wrong. The Briton's sarcastic views and secondary characters who add plenty of humor and humanity to the tale keep a sad story from being too somber.

I highly recommend this excellent novel, but be prepared to hunker down for a while; it's over six hundred pages, all of them well-written! Also check out Ms. Galland's website, http://www.nicolegalland.com/ for a really fun look at how she researched this book.

Jani Brooks