The Fifth Knight

The Fifth Knight, Book 1

By: E. M. Powell

Narrated by: James Langton

To escape a lifetime of poverty, mercenary Sir Benedict Palmer agrees to one final, lucrative job: help King Henry II's knights seize the traitor Archbishop Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. But what begins as a clandestine arrest ends in cold blooded murder. And when Fitzurse, the knights' ringleader, kidnaps Theodosia, a beautiful young nun who witnessed the crime, Palmer can sit silently by no longer.

For not only is Theodosia's virtue at stake, so too is the secret she unknowingly carries - a secret he knows Fitzurse will torture out of her. Now Palmer and Theodosia are on the run, strangers from different worlds forced to rely only on each other as they race to uncover the hidden motive behind Becket's grisly murder - and the shocking truth that could destroy a kingdom.

©2013 E. M. Powell (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Tale of historical murder and unexpected love

This story gives us a different view of what might have taken place in Canterbury when Thomas Becket was murdered. Sir Benedict Palmer is a mercenary who is trying to raise himself out of the poverty he has always lived in. He goes on a mission that will indeed give him a great purse with which to give him the life he thinks he wants. The mission is with 4 other knights and concerns the arrest of Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket. King Henry has had a disagreement with him and many in England consider Becket a traitor because of it. The arrest turns into murder and is witnessed by Theodisia, a young nun. She is then kidnaped by the knights. As it turns out though there is much more to her than Palmer thinks and she was not accidentally taken. She is not just a nun. It quickly becomes apparent that once they get to the castle of one of the four knights she will most likely not survive. Palmer is her only hope.

Her faith is all she has known since she was very young and she struggles with being out in the world as she had expected never to do so. She was to be the Anchoress of Canterbury. Palmer carries her on his horse for the journey to the castle and they begin to develop a relationship along the way. Since she never expected to be with a man as other women are she is unprepared for the feelings she is beginning to have. A real struggle rages inside of her. Their feelings for each other develop slowly but are handled very well. There are several twists and turns and of course some ups and downs. The Fifth Knight is not who you think it is. That really did surprise me but fit just perfectly into the storyline.

James Langton did a really good job or narrating the book. His voices were a very good mixture and easy to identify the characters. The women's voices were well done also. I felt like he had a real feeling for the characters and was not just reading them like some do. I will look for more from him.

The book is 11 1/2 hours but so worth your time. Don't hesitate to buy this one.

An OK read with awesome narration

I have to say that I truly had issues liking Theodosia and her repeated poor decision-making but I really enjoyed James Langton's narration, as usual! Overall the story was interesting if a bit predictable in a lot of instances. I probably wouldn't read The Blood of the Fifth Knight if it weren't for Langton's narration and the fact that it has higher ratings here and on Goodreads.com

Smashing!

Truly enjoyable with excellent dialog, characters, plot, and narrated performance. Great villains and a surprising heroine.

Read this one first then Blood of the Fifth Knight

I made a bad mistake I read the Blood of the Fifth Knight first then the Fifth Knight it made better sense. I enjoyed both books tremendously because I love stories about Medevial times and the knights who lived during those times as well as the monastic life that encompasses their lives. I look forward to the next one.

Good story.

Liked the story a lot. Carried the holiness a little to far. Narrator was great