Product Review

The Christian kingdom of Jerusalem is under siege. The charismatic Kurdish leader, Salah ad-Din, has succeeded in uniting Shiite Egypt with Sunnite Syria and has now declared jihad against the Christian kingdom. While King Baldwin IV struggles to defend his kingdom from the external threat despite the increasing ravages of leprosy, the struggle for the succession threatens to tear the kingdom apart from the inside. In the high-stakes game, one man stands out for his loyalty to the dying king, the kingdom, and Christianity itself. That man is Balian d'Ibelin.

This is the second book in a three-part biographical novel about Balian d'Ibelin, who defended Jerusalem against Salah ad-Din in 1187. The first book in the series, Knight of Jerusalem, was a finalist for the 2014 Chaucer Award for Historical Fiction and a B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree.

About the Author

Defender of Jerusalem won Silver for Christian Historical Fiction in the Readers' Favorite Book Awards 2016, the 2015 Chaucer Award for Historical Fiction Set in the Middle Ages, and the Silver Award for Spiritual/Religious Fiction in the 2016 Feathered Quill Literary Awards. It was also a finalist for the M.M. Bennetts Award for Historical Fiction and a B.R.A.G. Medallion honoree. Visit Helena P. Schrader's website: http://www.helenapschrader.com for a complete description and reviews of her publications, or follow her blog: http://schradershistoricalfiction.blogspot.com for updates on current works in progress, recent reviews, and excerpts. For more on the crusader kingdoms and Balian d'Ibelin visit: http://www.defenderofjerusalem.com or follow her blog on the Crusader Kingdoms at: http://defendingcrusaderkingdoms. blogspot.com. Helena is a career U.S. diplomat currently serving in Africa.