The Forty-Five

Blood will answer blood-and France will never be the same.

In the stunning aftermath of the Duke de Guise's assassination, France plunges into chaos. The king has struck his deadliest enemy down, but at what cost? The Catholic League cries for vengeance, Paris rises in revolt, and Henri III discovers that killing Guise may have sealed his own fate.

The Forty-Five, decimated by battle and betrayal, must make their final stand. As Henri flees toward an unlikely alliance with his Protestant rival Henri de Navarre, Chicot races against time to prevent catastrophe. The remaining Gascon warriors face the ultimate test of their loyalty-but following a desperate king into his last gambit may mean following him to death itself.

The streets of Paris run with blood, royal ambitions crash against brutal reality, and the era of the Valois dynasty careens toward its shocking conclusion. In this final confrontation, warriors will discover that honor comes at the highest price, that political murder breeds only more violence, and that sometimes the greatest loyalty is knowing when to let go.

Dumas brings his magnificent historical epic to its devastating, unforgettable conclusion-where forty-five warriors learned that serving a king could cost everything, and France discovered that even the death of tyrants cannot guarantee freedom.

Volume Three of The Forty-Five-The Stunning Conclusion