GIVEAWAY and Book Review of Knight Blindness

Book Review of Knight Blindness
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BLURB:

BACK COVER BLURB FOR KNIGHT BLINDNESS

Ready for battle, Medieval English knight, Stephen Palmer, charges into the French enemy’s cavalry line. Heeding a warning given months before, he hesitates as he comes face-to-face with the knight in the warning. Struck down in the year 1356, he finds himself landing in the year 2013. Grievously wounded, he’s taken to a nearby hospital. Confused by the new world surrounding him, he attempts to convince the staff he’s from another time, only to find they think him mad.

Rescued by friends, who, to his surprise, have also come through time, he must find a way to function in this odd modern England. He is quickly enchanted by the kind Esme Crippen, the young woman hired to tutor him. She too is enchanted by him. Tempted to deepen the relationship, she hesitates thinking him adorable, but mad. He must discover the means for getting her to believe the truth, all the while, unknown to him, he didn’t come forward in time alone. The enemy knight has also traveled to 2013.

French noble, Roger Marchand, doesn’t question why the English knight who charged him hesitated. That fraction of a pause gave him the advantage needed and he brought his sword down upon the Englishman’s helmet hard, unhorsing the knight. He moved to finish the Englishman off when the world changed in a rush of sensations as he is ripped through time.

Seeking a reason for the terrible event, he enters a nearby chapel. There, thinking God has chosen him for a quest to turn French defeat that day in 1356 to victory, he sets out to find the English knight. The man he is convinced holds the key to time. If he returns to the day of the battle, he can warn his king of mistakes that snatched victory from them.    

BIO:

I was born and raised in Chicago. My father was a history professor and my mother was, and is, a voracious reader. I grew up with a love of history and books.

My parents also love traveling, a passion they passed onto me. I wanted to see the places I read about, see the land and monuments from the time periods that fascinated me. I’ve had the good fortune to travel extensively throughout Europe, the Near East, and North Africa.

I am a retired police detective. I spent twenty-five years in law enforcement with two different agencies. My desire to write came in my early teens. After I retired, I decided to pursue that dream. I write two different series. My paranormal romance series is called, Knights in Time. My romantic thriller series is, Dangerous Waters.

I currently live in the Pacific Northwest with my husband, four rescue dogs and a rescue horse. 

ONLINE LINKS:

Website:    http://www.chriskarlsen.com/

blog:          http://chriskarlsenwriter.blogspot.com/2013/07/come-and-join-me-for-christmas-in.html#comment-form

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/chriskarlsenwriter

Twitter:      @chriskarlsen1

GR:           http://www.goodreads.com/author/dashboard

Pinterest:  http://pinterest.com/chriskarlsen/

Trailer:      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvxVhx404L8

BUY NOW LINK:

·         Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Knight-Blindness-Knights-Time-ebook/dp/B00E2QS488/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1374422719&sr=1-1&keywords=knight+Blindness

·         B & N http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/knight-blindness-chris-karlsen/1116277738?ean=9781491019122

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Excerpt/Other: 

Chapter One

Poitiers, France

September 19, 1356

               

Cries of the injured and dying French men-at-arms filled the air as Welsh bowman cut down the initial enemy onslaught. The vibration from the second charge toward the English lines traveled up through Arthur’s powerful legs, the tremor slight against Stephen’s armored calf.

“Be still,” he ordered as the warhorse stamped his impatience.

His friend and baron he served, Guy Guiscard, said something indistinguishable over the noise.

Stephen leaned closer. “What?”

“We cannot hold them here, even on the high ground, not with their superior numbers.” 

Both eyed the grassy gap between theirs and the French held plateau. Unfurled enemy banners flapped in the breeze, a colorful swell that continued up the expanse.

“Maybe not but we can blanket the field with their blood,” Stephen said, exchanging a smile with Guy.

Black-robed priests, who had earlier busied themselves blessing bows and swords now busied themselves taking confessions, offering prayers, and the Holy Eucharist. A decade before, at Crecy, he believed himself invincible—a young man’s arrogant mantle. Today’s hard battle would leave few unscathed. When the fattest of the churchmen approached, Stephen looked to the dying below. They’d prayed too. He turned to the priest and waved him off. 

On the other rise, squires stood and took the reins from a contingent of French cavalry who’d dismounted. They retained their arming swords, axes, and morning stars. Behind them, line after line of mounted knights amassed on the grassy gap.

“They’re saving the best horsemen for the initial cavalry charge,” Stephen said.

He and Guy were in Edward of Woodstock--the Black Prince’s column. They’d be the first to challenge the cavalry charge.

“I’m tired of watching the devils parade around foolishly thinking they cannot lose,” Guy said.

Stephen flipped his visor down, the sound of the battle dimmed by the drone of his rapid breathing inside the steel helm. The waiting was worse than fighting. He glanced over at Prince Edward. “Let us be done with this. Give the order,” he said low.

The prince straightened in his saddle as more of the enemy climbed the hill in front of their column. Then, the French cavalry charged. No longer a mere tremble of vibration, the ground quaked with the bruising the soft earth took from the oncoming horses. They rode over the men on foot and made for the breach in the hedge where Edward sat.

English arrows darkened the sky. A deafening roar rose from below as the arrows found their marks. Horses screamed as multiple shafts pierced their hides. Those who didn’t fall reared, bucking their riders off. Others bolted, crushing French and English alike. 

Edward gave the signal. The prince’s column charged into the butchery. Arthur slid on the grass wet from a lingering morning mist, blood, and the entrails of eviscerated horses and men. To Stephen’s right, Basil Manneville, best friend to Guy, went down. His horse had taken an ax to the chest as Basil leaped the hedge.

Guy, several strides ahead, turned and rode to his aid. Stephen spun Arthur around, spurring him hard to help. His pursuit was cut off by a mounted enemy knight. The Frenchman came at him with his long sword, which Stephen maneuvered away from then quickly pivoted to engage.

The long sword was never his favored weapon and Stephen faced the knight with his shorter arming sword drawn. The Frenchman shielded his sword and drew his morning star. Trained by Stephen since he was a colt, Arthur didn’t flinch or shy from the charge. He bared his teeth at Stephen’s cue, ready to bite either the enemy or his horse. The Frenchman’s mount danced to the left. The knight’s position altered a fraction leaving a vulnerable space open under his arm between the back and breastplates of his armor.

Stephen plunged his sword deep into the Frenchman’s side, striking ribs then soft tissue. The knight swung once with his morning star and then fell from his mount. The strike missed.

Several lengths off, enemy soldiers had Guy surrounded. As Stephen reversed direction to ride to his aid, he caught a flash of orange and black in his peripheral vision. Guy’s warning from Yuletide the year before came back to him. Beware the black cat in a field of orange.

The image closed in on him. He turned and saw the

Frenchman’s surcoat, a panther on a background of orange silk.  Stephen hesitated for a split second as the warning became real. The French knight raised his sword high. Stephen brought his up.

A second too late.

Review: 

            Fascinating story about a time traveling soldier.  Granted it wasn’t on purpose.  I loved the mystery and the romance.  It was a fabulous read.

I give this story 4 out of 5 clouds.

This product or book may have been distributed for review; this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.