Colin Falconer

France, 1205. Philip of Vercy returns from fighting the infidel in the Holy Land to find his life in ruins and his only son near death. He hears of a miracle healer, a young woman marked with the stigmata, and sets out to find her, desperate to save his child.

But he discovers that she has sought refuge from the Inquisition in the mist-shrouded mountains of the Languedoc. It’s home to the Cathars, and the Pope has ordered a crusade to crush them. As the south convulses into flame and revolt, Philip and his liege men find themselves in the middle of hell.

Any other man would cut his losses and go home. But Philip is not like other men.