Brookes, an officer working clandestinely in Fascist Italy, is badly wounded while fighting for the partisans. He regains consciousness only to find himself the guest-or prisoner-of the Baron of Castlemantia and his mysterious family in their hilltop castle. As winter locks them in and conflict escalates beyond their walls, Brookes is drawn into the mystery that surrounds his hosts.

At once a suspenseful period thriller and a gothic jeu d'esprit in the vein of John Fowles, Knight of Swords is a sensational debut.