The novel describes the fictional story of a young teenager by the name of William Campbell who starts out as a sergeant and later is promoted to a full Knight Templar.

The story of Will Campbell runs parallel to that of Baybars Bundukdari, a slave who rose to become Sultan of the Mamluks motivated purely by his hatred of the Franks.

[2] John Washburn, of on-line review site My Shelf praised Young's "steely depictions" of the action in the novel; her "silky style"; and her "engaging story filled with mystery, romance, courage, abandonment and deception.".

[4] Stephen Hubbard, writing for Book Reporter, praised Young's "perfectly crafted" characters, "the strength of her narrative" in a mainly positive review, stating "The majesty, brutality and romanticism of that time are so beautifully painted on the page that it is often difficult to separate the fact from the fiction, and we as readers are dropped into the very center of history to experience the events from within.".

In addition, the reviewer also criticised the novels levels of historical detail, stating that they found the "history lessons superfluous, out of character and quite annoying interruptions in the story.".