I received a free digital copy of “ The Broken Cross” by Jordan Neary free from Net Galley . Thanks to the author and publisher for offering this book.
The hero of the book is Christo, a young Saxon young man a homeless orphan who decides to “ take up the crusader’s cross. He joins the retinue of a Norman knight , offering his services as a man at arms with the aim of freeing the holy land from the rule of the “ Turks” and establishing Christian rule over Jerusalem.
It is the author’s intent , I think to have Christo tell the story simply. Descriptions of his travels to the far East , of Constantinople, of the brutality of warfare, or of the hardships of a warrior’s life are spare . Christo both dreads and looks forward to battle, hoping to gain honor and renown enough to have his own fiefdom. When battle does come , he fights well enough to gain notice, but he stands apart, simply dedicating his service to god.
“ The Broken Cross” is historical fiction , but not one that develops deep themes. . The reader should not expect a deeply immersive novel. As a reader who enjoys historical fiction I hoped for more from “ The Broken Cross”.
It was an easy, quick read, though.

There are many dry and dusty factual tomes about the First Crusade but it has been almost forgotten by recent historical novelists intent on drawing on the celebrity status of Richard the Lionheart and Saladin in the Third Crusade. Jordan Neary has written an authentic, totally gripping account of one young man's journey to the Holy Land.
The era is brought brilliantly to life with all the religious and political turmoil of the late eleventh century. Cristo is just seventeen as the Crusade sets off, still a boy really, but he is a man of twenty and a Knight when Jerusalem is reclaimed for the Christians. He is the narrator, both visceral and lyrical in his lament for brutal atrocities and the murder of his friend. A fine, rich novel.