Fate meets fire. The world ignites. 1565. Malta stands on the precipice of one of the bloodiest battles in history. An elite Ottoman army, 50,000 strong, prepares to depart Istanbul, the seat of the Empire. Deeply conflicted, Demir must sail alongside the host determined to conquer his mother’s homeland and crush the Order of St John once and for all. Testing his loyalty is the knowledge that Angelica, the half-sister he has never met, dwells on the tiny island. As the Maltese garrison braces for the incoming storm, knights and civilians stand shoulder-to-shoulder on the walls. Domenicus and Robert volunteer for the ramparts of Fort St Elmo, the most precarious position on Malta. Angelica finds herself locked outside the city gates and scrambles to a hilltop citadel, where she helps establish a makeshift infirmary. Katrina takes up a bow and stands a post, shielding her town as the Ottoman tide crashes against it. For several blood-soaked months, Malta is the stage upon which fierce combat rages. Heads are fired from cannons, field hospitals set ablaze, knights crucified, and soldiers melted where they stand. As the land exhales swirling ash, and narrow streets choke on rubble, no one escapes the fiery currents of war unscathed. The body count surges. Hope scatters with the smoke. Outflanked and outnumbered, can the defence hold out until a much-delayed relief force arrives from Sicily? "Marthese Fenech's Ash Fall is the thrilling finale of her highly praised Knights of Malta series. Like this series's previous novels, Ash Fall has undergone meticulous research. Fenech has stayed true to the historical context and depicted it with her expected writing prowess. The reader experiences the chaos and brutality of siege warfare, witnessing the complete disregard for both life and death. This book is dominated by intense battles, with no relief, as even when the reader is removed from the front line, the makeshift hospitals and the unbearable suffering of the injured and dying persist. There is a prevailing sense of fear among the general population, and the islanders are genuinely concerned about depleting their supplies, weapons, and manpower. Amongst all this chaos, all this bloodshed, there are the characters that have made the first two books so very memorable. In this instalment, there is a chilling sense that they're bound together and would prefer death over separation. Consequently, this amplifies the significance of the narrative. As a reader, we can only hold our breath as the Ottoman Empire strikes at the very heart of the land the protagonists call home. The concepts of duty and love were both brilliantly explored. At times it was difficult to tell the two apart. Not only are the main characters fighting for Malta, but they are also fighting for the people they hold dear." Mary Anne Yarde - the Coffee Pot Book Club