Fortress of Crows by Daniel Colter, a well written book that ultimately wasn't for me. Thank you for giving me a chance with this book and I do think others will enjoy it.

A Captivating Historical Thriller.

In Fortress of Crows, author Daniel Colter takes us back to the bloody clashes of the Crusades. Protagonist Finn of Struan, a stoic Knight Templar, is dispatched on a perilous quest to recover the legendary Copper Scroll and its forbidden secrets.

Compelling characters grapple with clashing loyalties amid the unrelenting brutality of holy war. Finn's noble sense of duty contends with his dangerous attraction to his enigmatic companion,

With cinematic combat scenes, cryptic puzzles to decipher, and an unlikely romance tested by clashing faiths, Fortress of Crows delivers a satisfying thrill ride for adventure lovers. This brisk tale succeeds in bringing to life a definitive era of chaos and bloodshed.

Highly recommended. My thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of the book for my unbiased review.

The Knights Templar are a fascinating group of soldier monks, extremely religious yet incredibly violent when required. This novel is intriguing in that the main characters are involved in a very bloody treasure hunt, with the main purpose of unwittingly enrich their Holy Order.
The author does not hold back in describing the blood and guts warfare and methods of torture used by all participants. The main protagonists are all well-rounded characters and are quite quirky but likable.
From my knowledge of that part of the Middle East, the author has undertaken some deep research into the history of the various cities, and previous 'ancient' battles that had taken place between the Romans and the Jews. I was previously unaware of the rivalries and cultural differences between the Orders of the Templars and the Hospitallers. It weirdly reminded me of the unwashed Rockers vs the stylish Mods 1960's!
I can thoroughly recommend reading the author's historical notes at the end of the book. The notes flesh out in detail the real and fictitious events written about in the book.
To summarise, I really enjoyed the writing style of the author and will definitely read his earlier works.

This eARC was provided by Netgalley.com and I am providing an unbiased review.

It has been a short time from the end of the first book in this series. Some of the characters from the first book have been reassigned to other sectors/divisions, but our main character is pretty much still doing what he was originally. This time, new orders have come down for his men to accompany some relic hunters, whilst also being chased by some evil goons,

At first I was a bit hesitant to start on this story. Why would the Templars want to help relic hunters? Ohhhh, right. The Templars were moneylenders, and everybody likes gold, except our main character. Either way, he has his duty to follow, thus he does. This is the first time we see how it might have been being in close contact with females for the Templars. As one would expect, there become some strong emotional feelings, that God and Duty must make our MC abstain and be the solid character he is.

World building was as good as the first book, though I think this one centered more in a certain area. The caverns I have no clue about, and the story about the Jews and Romans fighting there... no idea if true or not. Sounds very possible though. Again, there is plenty of action going on, and loss of lives, and injuries that seem impossible to overcome. Definitely was still a good read, and I would look forward to future books in this series.