Crusade [Hardcover]

Let me start by saying I LOVED the "Wicked" series & when I read the reviews on Amazon I am at an absolute loss for how many people either have (a) bad taste or (b) just didn't "get it" because the POV changed or jumped around a bit, I thought it was AWE-SOOOOOME!

However, let's get onto "Crusade"......

I had no idea Nancy & Debbie were releasing this, (epic fail on my part) so when I spotted this on the bookstore shelf I snatched it up like I thought it was a mirage & promptly bought it. I am sooooooo glad I did. FINALLY a vampire series that's about death, destruction & bloodlust with just the perfect amount of romantic flavor. I mean Twilight was great but am I alone in thinking that Bella was kind of an ungrateful flippant brat & that it all ended a bit too "neatly" in Breaking Dawn? Hopefully I'm not, I just CAN'T be the ONLY person who thought this. Stephenie Meyer is good but J.K. Rowling she ain't.

In Crusades you'll meet mean vampires that kill, lie, cheat, have sex and basically run wild. Along the way you are introduced to the "Edward" of the series, that is if Edward actually acted on his more base impulses. Antonio is the "good vampire" in this series & Jenn "the human hunter" his lady love. The book takes place in current day with the premise being what would happen if Vampires living in the world came out of hiding & became our "friends".

But they're not, not really.

You'll meet Jenn, Antonio, Eriko, Jamie, Skye, Holgar & Father Juan, a group as diverse as anything to EVER come through Ellis Island. The aforementioned group are "Hunters", sworn enemies to the Vampires who seem friendly but are dead-set (no pun intended) on using humans as food or pets/amusements. That is IF they don't convert you, muwaaaaaaah ha ha ha!!!

Sorry, back to my point, there is someone for all in this book, no matter what, you'll relate to at least one of the characters. I mean, we've got a brooding love-struck vamp, a sexy haunted werewolf (not a "shape-shifter", a howling at the full moon werewolf), a heroine who doubts herself, a bad-ass Irishman, a white witch, a budding samurai & a priest. It's ALL here! The book is well written & you really get to know the characters and care about them. The POV does switch up a lot but it's easy to follow & it's cool how the book is "set" in several locales, Spain, Cali, New Orleans.

This has lots of action in it, fighting, staking, twisting off heads (of vampires), magic & surprisingly a deep religious element. And let's not forget the forbidden love angle, not a "triangle", just an angle in the story that I am happy to say doesn't overshadow all else. Strange, but it all just *works*! ! !

If you enjoy this genre, vamps/love story/action, you will LOVE Crusades! I cannot WAIT for Book 2! ! ! Thank you Nancy & Debbie!!!!

I do a little jig every time I read a book where the vampires don't glitter and have blood lust. Can I get a heck yes for a story that evokes Buffy? I won't lie, I love a good kick butt story. I enjoy a whole lot of action, especially when that action involves stakes.

Crusade by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie is set in the future. Sort of like the Sookie Stackhouse books, vampires have revealed their presence to the world at large. However, the vampires don't want to make nice and they do not have an artificial blood substitute like TruBlood. The vamps are known as The Cursed Ones. Some of the humans have decided the acquiesce to the Cursed Ones and let them do whatever they want for the illusion of safety. Other humans, however, have decided to fight back. They are known as hunters. In my mind, I call them slayers. You know why.

There is quite a large cast of characters in Crusade. This has the potential to be confusing, as the book, while told in third person, often jumps in scenery. For example, I was reading about a fight going down in Spain, then the book would jump to a character in New Orleans. I did not really mind the jumping, as I felt it kept the story fresh. As for the characters, it was give and take for me. There is a priest named Father Juan, who is the teacher of the slayers. I thought he was fascinating. Then, of course, there was the main character, Jenn, who I will admit -- I felt was a bit stale. I mean, I have read her character before, girl who thinks she is not unique or special, but it turns out she is a snowflake after all. I thought the side characters were much more engaging. Jamie, one of the hunters, is a former IRA member. He's hot-blooded, quick tempered, and ready to jump into any battle. He's clearly battling with some inner-demons. THEN we have Eriko, who is the Hunter, meaning she got to sip the magic juice. Eriko is Japanese, and the story of why she decides to go to hunter school is fascinating.

As far as the writing goes, the story is very fun and full of action. However, I did not think Crusade was on level with the writing quality of, say, A Northern Light or The Book Thief. Although, I feel when you read a vampire novel, do you really expect a literary masterpiece? I certainly do not. I expect escapism, blood, and perhaps a bit of fun, which is precisely what I got from Crusade.

This book has a very 90s-tastic feeling; it just doesn't feel like a new paranormal book. It may not be as upbeat, but it is predictable and very much following along with the popular themes now, without trying to do anything particularly original.

One of the worst elements of the book was the authors' constant and annoying pretension to being extremely knowledgeable in every foreign language. Very few pages do not include at least one foreign word as an ejaculation from one of the characters. The main character is pretty much the only one who does not drop words of another language at every opportunity.

As with the languages, the diversity of the characters, who are a veritable grab bag of nationalities, should have been fun. But it wasn't. It was just the device whereby the authors could pretend to be exceedingly clever, while writing sentences of low complexity and constructing an even lesser plot.

The whole thing is overdramatic and obnoxious: the diction, the characters and the emotions felt. Poor Jenn whines through the whole book (except the last page) about her lack of awesome; everyone else in her group has amazing slaying skills, but she is a big ol' klutz (the whole Bella Swan ploy to catch yourself a sexy, schmexy vampire). This kind of heroine is so obnoxious; girls should read books by Kristin Cashore, Suzanne Collins and Tamora Pierce to see what real heroines are. The (forbidden!) love of Antonio and Jenn is the other main theme of the book and even that is not done well. It's not particularly sexy or gushy or sappy or intense. The characters have no chemistry. Neither seems particularly to like the other one, despite their constant inner monologue soliloquies to that effect.

I do not recommend Crusade. I am sure it will have dedicated readers, as these authors wrote a popular series on witches. That's fine, but I, for one, am done.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 33 reviews  3.9 out of 5 stars