Dear Mr. Cornwell, Im a bit embarrassed to say that until recently Ive never read one of your books. I unfortunately find very little time to indulge in reading, but love to do so. Id like to say that someone turned me on to you, but that wouldnt be quite right. The story of how I got hooked is short, and I think you like it. My Father in-law who is in his mid 80s has quite a library that he is very proud of, and I think he feels that time is growing short for him, and the only person he has to shares his books with is I. So when my wife and our 2 children make our way up to Vermont to visit our families, he is always loading me up with booksbooks that he is just loaning me, but I dont need to return any time soon. Now my father in-law only likes historical books, and focuses on WWII and the U.S. Civil War. Your first 2 Alfred books ended up in his library as a gift by a friend of his. On one of my visits to his library the Viking ships in The Last Kingdom caught my eye. I was told I could take it, but it was a waste of time because some of it was fiction. When I decided to take it any way, he said I should take the The Pale Horseman also. I recently saw a part of Sharpe movie, and liked what I saw. Then when I was at Costco, they had all of the Sharpe movies bundled together. It took me close to a month to convince my wife to let me buy them. Once I got to watch them I was hooked. During the movies I noticed they were written by youand I remember my books. Just this week I had to travel to Atlanta on business, and since I just finished a Blackbeard book, I needed a new traveling companion, and grabbed the book with the Viking ships. I loved it and cant wait to read part 2. Ive never signed up for Author Tracker before, but because of that book I did. Im thrilled you have written so many novels, and thus will keep me busy for quite some time. This all started because my Father in-law had discouraged me from reading your book. If you dont tell him, I wont. Sincerely, Shawn Trahan Stafford, Virginia USA