Book Review- Crusade

By Nancy Holder & Debbie Viguie

Published by Simon Pulse

Released on September 7th, 2010

Source- Simon & Schuster

4.5 stars- Definitely Recommend This Book

“For thousands of years the Cursed Ones hid in the shadows, fooling mankind into thinking they didn’t exist. Then one day they just…stopped. Skeptics turned into believers one fateful dawn. And no one was ever safe again.”

– From the diary of Jenn Leitner,discovered in the ashes

The Cursed Ones have made their presence known, and the world will never be the same.

For the past two years, Jenn has lived and trained at Spain’s Sacred Heart Academy Against the Cursed Ones. She is among the few who have pledged to defend humanity or die trying. But the vampires are gaining power, and the battle has only just begun.

Forced to return home after death takes a member of her family, Jenn discovers that San Francisco is now a vampire stronghold. As a lone hunter apart from her team, Jenn is isolated—and at risk. She craves the company of her fighting partner, Antonio: his protection, his reassurance, his touch. But a relationship with Antonio comes with its own dangers, and the more they share of themselves, the more Jenn stands to lose.

Then Jenn is betrayed by one who was once bound to protect her, causing her to doubt all she has held as true. To survive, Jenn must find the courage to trust herself—and her heart. (Quoted from Nancy's site)

I'm picky when it comes to reading vampire books. Honestly, there's actually very few vampire books I've read and the few I have, I've enjoyed. Crusade is one of those books. In a world being over taken by vampires, humans and paranormals have little places to hide. The few who get turned are the lucky ones. The only hope humans and paranormals alike have, rests on the shoulders of an elite vampire hunting group from Sacred Heart Academy in Spain. Made up of humans and paranormals, they travel the world taking out clans of vampires, but it does come at a cost.

Being on a hunting team with paranormals, Jenn starts off questioning her own human strength and what good she can really do. When she's forced to leave her hunting group and return home to San Francisco due to a family member's passing, she finds herself in the middle of a vampire strong hold. Where a lone hunter should not stand a chance, Jenn fights to protect those she loves and herself. It's during this time that she finds her inner strength and her fierce protectiveness of her sister Heather is one of her most enduring characteristics. When Jenn is betrayed by someone close to her, she starts questioning everything she's been taught and everyone around her. Now she's in a race against time to save her sister, and the ones she loves.

With a traitor in their midst, the whole hunting team starts questioning who they can really trust. If they can't trust each other, then there's no hope for anyone in the fight against The Cursed Ones. In a world where alliance are forged, and dark magic is used, Sacred Cross's Vampire Hunters bring hope to the few survivors left in the world. I really liked Crusade's characters. They are all diverse not only in what they are, but where they come from and their beliefs. Nancy and Debbie have done a fantastic job at introducing some great paranormal characters, and providing a sense of why they have joined the fight.

Some of my favorite characters are Skye the Witch, Holgar the werewolf, and Antonio the ex-preist turned Vampire. Antonio's character has the most history, as he's been around for a number of years. He struggles with the choices he made when he was first turned and the type of man/vampire he's trying to become. Through the flashbacks of each of their back stories, which are intertwined into Crusade's fighting scenes, I was able to understand the heartbreaking reasons that brought them all to Sacred Heart Academy. I also liked getting to know more of Jenn's story through some short snippets of her journal entries. I was thoroughly impressed that I not once felt like I didn't know which character was talking and what was going on.

Crusade's setting is dark and set in the real world. At times I felt like I was reading a great historical fiction, and other times I felt I was reading an action packed book. Crusade's writing and characters were engaging, as I wanted to learn more about them. While I wasn't expecting Crusade to end the way it did, I'm really looking forward to reading the next book in the series. Action packed, dark, twisty, and engaging, I highly recommend picking up Crusade.

Be sure to visit Nancy Holder's new site here http://nancyholder.com/