current read

I haven't been reading as voraciously as I was able to this summer, but I'm really enjoying The Religion by Tim Willcocks right now. It is a bit gory in some scenes, but I gloss over those. The story is really compelling. It is set in the 16th century and is more or less set amidst the battle between Christian monastic knights and the Moslem equivalent. The main characters are well written and sympathetic, very human amidst their circumstances. Almost all the scenes are very well done, described in great detail, even the gory ones are written well. The author also has a well-developed vocabulary which I appreciate. He doesn't go out of his way to use fancy words, but knows when a well-chosen one can hit the mark.
for a book picked up at random on the Wal-Mart sale rack, I'd say I hit a winner.