This is what a review on pulp.net said of The Secret Report of Friar Otto: 'A gang of renegade knights take refuge on Lundy island. When the knights are betrayed, captured and condemned, a friar is sent to inquire about the crimes they were accused of — but, confronted by some dangerous ideas, he starts to ask himself some awkward questions. The Secret Report... is Sam Smith's reinterpretation of a real 750 year old manuscript, The Report in Confidence on the Imprisonment and Execution of William de Marisco and Sixteen of His Followers. The original text has been turned into a beautifully written modern novel, utterly convincing in its evocation of the medieval world and mindset. Fortunately, the prisoners spend as much time goading the prudish celibate with stories about 'tupping' the ladies as they do discussing doctrinal niceties. A brilliant book, actually, that deserves a decent readership.'
And this is what Stanley Marris: a Canadian descendant of Sir William de Marisco had to say "...story had me interested from the beginning ... was almost as if I had been party to the events described."
While Merle Jones contributed this: 'I loved it. It was a great history lesson focusing on the politics of the time... the kings, the court and the church, who uses whom and what devices they used to wield that power. It was a dangerous time for people with dangerous ideas. And, it seems, the more things change, the more they stay the same. / Friar Otto is a brave and likable man with strong character and an open mind.'