Product Description

King of Jerusalem and Defender of the Holy Sepulcher, Baldwin IV walks the sword's edge between the intriguing barons of his own Court and the jihad of Islam. Between the two, however, a sinister presence lurks--a heretical society called the Order of Sion that will stop at nothing to see its own dark designs come to fruition. Baldwin is young, innocent, and a military strategist of no small measure. And, he is a leper. In the midst of mounting political tensions and war, a beautiful woman unexpectedly befriends the lonely sick king--a woman who claims she is Mary Magdalen.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1627438 in Books
• Published on: 2009-04-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

Review
The complex and distant world of the Middle East in the times of the Crusades is the setting for this historical novel. It is also billed as "a medieval fantasy."

In Jerusalem in 1176, 15-year-old Baldwin IV, a Christian, ascends the throne of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. In the tumultuous times that follow, the young Baldwin, afflicted with leprosy that claims his life in 1185, mounts a losing struggle against enemies within and without attempting to preserve his beleaguered kingdom.
--AZ Daily Star, JC Martin

From the Author
Although a novel of the Crusades, The Leper King presents a story as relevant today as it was in the eleventh century. Holy wars and jihads between Christians and Muslims are nothing new, neither are voices of heresy within and without the Church. But imagine setting the character of an immortal saint in the midst of a Jerusalem rife with magic and mayhem, giving Mary Magdalen the opportunity to defend her faith and those she has come to love against the enemies of truth. It creates an intriguing behind-the-scenes twist to history--a history which causes us to wish it might be true.