Michael Spradlin's Keeper of the Grail

Michael Spradlin has been popular in my library for his Spy Goddess series so his new The Youngest Templar series was a bit of a surprise. Well-researched and full of fighting and adventure, it is a bit of a departure from the humor of Spy Goddess, but every bit as enjoyable.

Tristan, an orphan with a shadowy past, has been raised by monks, but because he knows he must leave them soon, when Sir Thomas offers to take him off to the Crusades, he accepts. Even though the voyage is filled with danger and intrigue, Tristan learns to fight and hold his own. When Sir Thomas realizes he will not survive the next fight, he entrusts Tristan with one of the holiest relics of the Templars-- the holy grail. There are two books yet to come that will explain what happens next!

If your copies of Michael Cadnum's Book of the Lion see lots of wear, this would be an excellent series to purchase.