Religion

Publisher Marketing: May 1565. Suleiman the Magnificent, emperor of the Ottomans, has declared a jihad against the Knights of Saint John the Baptist. The largest armada of all time approaches the Knights' Christian stronghold on the island of Malta. The Turks know the Knights as the "The Hounds of Hell." The Knights call themselves "The Religion." In Messina, Sicily, a French countess, Carla la Penautier, seeks a passage to Malta in a quest to find the son taken from her at his birth twelve years ago. The only man with the expertise and daring to help her is a Rabelaisian soldier of fortune, arms dealer, former janissary, and strapping Saxon adventurer by the name of Mattias Tannhauser. He agrees to accompany the lady to Malta, where, amidst the most spectacular siege in military history, they must try to find the boy - whose name they do not know and whose face they have never seen-and pluck him from the jaws of Holy War. "The Religion" is Book One of The Tannhauser Trilogy, and from the first page of this epic account of the last great medieval conflict between East and West, it is clear we are in the hands of a master. Not since James Clavell has a novelist so powerfully and assuredly plunged readers headlong into another and time. Anne Rice transformed the vampire novel. Stephen King reinvented horror. Now, in a spectacular tale of heroism, tragedy, and passion, Tim Willocks revivifies historical fiction. Review Citations: Publishers Weekly 01/29/2007 pg. 64 (EAN 9781427201003, Compact Disc) - *Starred Review Kirkus Reviews 02/15/2007 pg. 149 (EAN 9781427201003, Compact Disc) - *Starred Review LJ Best Audio Books 10/15/2007 pg. 102 (EAN 9781427201003, Compact Disc) Kliatt 11/01/2007 pg. 50 (EAN 9781427201003, Compact Disc) Library Journal Prepub Alert 01/01/2007 pg. 70 (EAN 9780374248659, Hardcover) Booklist 01/01/2007 pg. 24 (EAN 9780374248659, Hardcover) Library Journal 02/01/2007 pg. 65 (EAN 9780374248659, Hardcover) - *Starred Review Kirkus Reviews 02/15/2007 pg. 149 (EAN 9780374248659, Hardcover) - *Starred Review Kirkus Best Books 01/15/2007 pg. 15 (EAN 9780374248659, Hardcover) Entertainment Weekly 05/18/2007 pg. 70 (EAN 9780374248659, Hardcover) Best of Book Sense/First 5 Yrs 06/01/2007 pg. 1 (EAN 9780374248659, Hardcover) New York Times 05/20/2007 pg. 19 (EAN 9780374248659, Hardcover) Books & Culture 05/01/2007 pg. 9 (EAN 9780374248659, Hardcover) Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/2008 pg. 96 (EAN 9780374248659, Hardcover) Publishers Weekly 01/08/2007 (EAN 9780374248659, Hardcover) - *Starred Review Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/2010 pg. 998 (EAN 9780374248659, Hardcover) Contributor Bio:  Willocks, Tim Tim Willocks is a novelist and filmmaker. He is the author of the novels "Bad City Blues, Blood-Stained Kings, "and "Green River Rising", which has been translated into fifteen languages. Willocks holds a degree in surgery and practiced psychiatry and addiction medicine until 2003. He also spent ten years writing screenplays and producing films in Hollywood. He completed "The Religion" in a cabin in the backwoods of upstate New York and now lives in County Kerry, Ireland.