Of Mortal Fury: A Medieval Romance (The Executioner Knights Book 11)

Morgan de Wolfe has been ordered to undertake a dangerous spy mission. He is to infiltrate and retake Mount Grace, the site of a valuable silver mine, from King John, who himself stole it from Oliver le Marche. Morgan will have to impersonate Gere le Marche, the dead heir to Mount Grace, in order to collect le Marche’s waiting Irish mercenary army. He’ll need to contact surviving le Marche soldiers imprisoned in the silver mines who are ready to mutiny. He is also expected to ingratiate himself to the current garrison commander of Mount Grace, Lord Hollis de la Haye, to determine his weaknesses for an attack. For the latter two, Morgan will need to hide both the de Wolfe and le Marche identities. It’s a busy plot made busier by the beautiful distraction of the commander’s daughter, Amarantha de la Haye.

Although a standalone, “Of Mortal Fury” shoulders a heavy burden of pre-existing lore from the Executioner Knights and de Wolfe series that both number in the double digits. Despite the complexity of this mission, Morgan spends an inordinate amount of time not following the steps of the plan, but rather, procuring himself a wife. Poor Amarantha’s “womanly figure” makes her the object of desire to every eligible knight and mercenary in her vicinity, much to her detriment. While other participants make unilateral changes to the takeover plot, Morgan prioritizes keeping Amarantha away from all harms. With all the deviations from the original scheme, its final success seems random. This one is suspense and romance that feels unevenly combined. Nevertheless, fans will be thrilled by cameos made by other Executioner Knights.

Joan Lai