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Cross of Fire
Cross of Fire
Cross of Fire
Ebook507 pages7 hours

Cross of Fire

By David Gilman

3.5/5

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WINTER, 1362
After decades of successful campaigning in France, Thomas Blackstone, once a common archer, has risen to become Edward III's Master of War.

But the title is as much a curse as a blessing. Success has brought few rewards: his family – bar his son Henry – is dead, slaughtered; his enemies only multiply. Death, in so many guises, beckons.

As he battles to enforce his King's claim to French territory, Blackstone will assault an impregnable fortress, he'll become embroiled in a feud between French aristocrats, he'll be forced into pitched battle in the dead of winter... and he'll be asked to pay an impossible price to protect something much more precious to the King than mere land.

All the while, out of the east, a group of trained killers, burning with vengeance, draw ever closer.
Praise for David Gilman:
'The level of suspense is ratcheted up to a truly brutal level' SHARON PENMAN

'A gripping ride' WILBUR SMITH

'Gilman does heart pounding action superlatively' THE TIMES

'Like a punch from a mailed fist, Master of War is a gripping chronicle of pitched battle, treachery and cruelty' ROBERT FABBRI
LanguageEnglish
PublisherBloomsbury Publishing
Release dateFeb 6, 2020
ISBN9781788544931
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Author

David Gilman

David Gilman has enjoyed many careers, including paratrooper, firefighter, and photographer. An award-winning author and screenwriter, he is the author of the critically acclaimed Master of War series of historical novels, and was shortlisted for the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize for The Last Horseman. He was longlisted for the same prize for The Englishman, the first book featuring ex-French Foreign Legionnaire Dan Raglan. David lives in Devon. Follow David on @davidgilmanuk, www.davidgilman.com, and facebook.com/davidgilman.author

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3.5/5

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  • 5/5
    Another Great Book

    Thomas Blackstone has been one of my favorite characters and I was excited to read Cross of Fire. I wasn't disappointed. Gripping combat, realism and a well executed plot definitely delivers the goods.

Book preview

Cross of Fire - David Gilman

cover.jpg

CROSS OF FIRE

David Gilman

www.headofzeus.com

By David Gilman

THE LAST HORSEMAN

NIGHT FLIGHT TO PARIS

Master of War series

MASTER OF WAR

DEFIANT UNTO DEATH

GATE OF THE DEAD

VIPER’S BLOOD

SCOURGE OF WOLVES

CROSS OF FIRE

Dangerzone series

THE DEVIL’S BREATH

ICE CLAW

BLOOD SUN

MONKEY AND ME

First published in the UK in 2020 by Head of Zeus Ltd

Copyright © David Gilman, 2020

The moral right of David Gilman to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

A catalogue record for this book is available fromthe British Library.

ISBN (HB): 9781788544948

ISBN (XTPB): 9781788544955

ISBN (E): 9781788544931

Cover images: Shutterstock

Map design: Vanessa Periam

Head of Zeus Ltd

First Floor East

5–8 Hardwick Street

London EC1R 4RG

WWW.HEADOFZEUS.COM

For Suzy

Contents

Welcome Page

By David Gilman

Copyright

Dedication

Character List

Map

Epigraph

Part One: Sworn Enemy

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Part Two: Hell’s Gate

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Part Three: The Raven and the Cross

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Five

Chapter Thirty-Six

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Chapter Forty

Chapter Forty-One

Chapter Forty-Two

Chapter Forty-Three

Part Four: The Road to War

Chapter Forty-Four

Chapter Forty-Five

Chapter Forty-Six

Chapter Forty-Seven

Chapter Forty-Eight

Chapter Forty-Nine

Chapter Fifty

Chapter Fifty-One

Chapter Fifty-Two

Chapter Fifty-Three

Chapter Fifty-Four

Chapter Fifty-Five

Chapter Fifty-Six

Chapter Fifty-Seven

Chapter Fifty-Eight

Chapter Fifty-Nine

Chapter Sixty

Chapter Sixty-One

Chapter Sixty-Two

Chapter Sixty-Three

Chapter Sixty-Four

Part Five: Death in Avignon

Chapter Sixty-Five

Chapter Sixty-Six

Chapter Sixty-Seven

Chapter Sixty-Eight

Chapter Sixty-Nine

Chapter Seventy

Chapter Seventy-One

Chapter Seventy-Two

Chapter Seventy-Three

Chapter Seventy-Four

Author’s Notes

About the Author

An Invitation from the Publisher

CHARACTER LIST

*Sir Thomas Blackstone

*Henry: Blackstone’s son

THOMAS BLACKSTONE’S MEN

*Sir Gilbert Killbere

*Meulon: Norman captain

*John Jacob: captain

*Renfred: German man-at-arms and captain

*Will Longdon: veteran archer and centenar

*Jack Halfpenny: archer and ventenar

*Ralph Tait: man-at-arms

*Richard Quenell: archer and ventenar

*Beyard: Gascon captain

*Othon: man-at-arms

*Aicart: Gascon man-at-arms

*Loys: Gascon man-at-arms

*Gabriel LaFargue

*Meuric Kynith: Welsh archer

*Tom Woodbrook, Robert d’Ardenne, William Audley, Thomas Berford: men-at-arms

*William Ashford: King Edward’s sergeant

WELSH MERCENARY

*Gruffydd ap Madoc

ITALIAN CLERIC

*Niccolò Torellini: Florentine priest

BRETON NOBILITY AND SERVANTS

*Lady Cateline Babeneaux de Pontivy

*Lord Mael Babeneaux de Pontivy

*Jocard, Lady Cateline’s son

*Jehanne, Lady Cateline’s daughter

*Judikael: lord and ally of Babeneaux

*Gwenneg: lord and ally of Babeneaux

*Roparzh: captain

*Melita: servant woman

John de Montfort: English-backed claimant to the Duchy of Brittany

Charles de Blois: French-backed claimant to the Duchy of Brittany

Jean de Beaumanoir: lord and ally of Charles de Blois

FRENCH CLERICS, OFFICIALS, MERCENARIES AND VILLAGERS

Pope Innocent VI

Guillaume de Grimoard, Pope Urban V

Simon Bucy, counsellor to the French King

Bertucat d’Albret: mercenary leader

Garciot du Châtel: mercenary leader

*Roland de Souillac, physician

*Alphonse: Count de Foix’s steward

*Master Gregory: Count de Foix’s bailiff

*Raymond Villon: Mayor of Sarlat

*Guiscard the Lame: woodcutter

FRENCH NOBLEMEN AND MEN-AT-ARMS

Henry, Count de Vaudémont, Royal Lieutenant of Champagne

Gisbert de Dome, Lord of Vitrac

Gaillard de Miremont, Lord of Sauignac

Gaston Phoebus, Count de Foix et Béarn

Viscounts of Cardona, Pallars a