Customer Reviews

Crusade (Eden Book 2)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The sequel to Eden, Crusade is the second in a planned trilogy of zombie survival horror novels from Tony Monchinski. I came to this book cold, having never read Eden, so I was unfamiliar with these characters. Still, the survival story is more or less timeless, and Monchinski's prose kind of forces you into the flow of the story. It started with a fully armored titan waging all out war with the zombie hordes while blasting a classic heavy metal soundtrack, so I was pretty much guaranteed to love it!

I admit I was a bit lost in terms of the sheer volume of characters and their relationships with each other, but the book was absolutely worth the effort of learning all the new names. Monchinski does a great job balancing complex personal relationships with the greater survival/quest story, and his dialogue is very impressive. And of course there's the gloriously described zombie warfare. Monchinski's depictions are long on technical detail (you're going to learn a lot about armor and weaponry), but also have some great choreographed battle scenes. You can almost see these fights unfold before your eyes.

Obviously you're going to get more out of Crusade if you've read Eden first (and believe me, that one is going to the top of my reading list), but Crusade is a very strong zombie novel that should appeal to just about anyone who is into this kind of tale.

I feel that Eden is one of the best zombie novels I have ever read so I was looking forward to Crusade with great expectations, unfortunately they were not fulfilled. The book opens with a 25 page-long zombie battle that just gets monotonous and maybe a little silly. When that is finally over we get back to our group of friends who had left Eden at the end of the last book. The story from there on is just not very good. What the author does to Buddy, one of the best characters of the original novel is just sad. I won't say anymore but if you (like me) loved the Buddy character you will not be happy. Bear takes center stage and I like the Bear character but he really is not interesting enough to carry the book. Most of the characters meet sad and unhappy ends and it just lacks the depth and excitement of the first book and seems to just kind of ramble around until reaching a depressing conclusion. Don't get me wrong, it is still readable and probably better than most zombie fiction out there. The author can write but this book is nowhere near a good as Eden.

So if your anything like me, after reading Eden, you were like "neeeed mooorrree" well, the wait is over. Crusade is an intensely awesome sequel of our favorite new York stronghold inhabitant, and to top it off, it.opens up with one of the best action scenes one could hope for in a good zombie novel. Bear is a beast of a man with a heart of gold, even if the gold is caked in layers of zombie gore.

I was dissapointed in this book. I really liked the first book and the writing style. The writing is different and at times I was confused about where the book was going and what was being talked about. It took a few chapters for me to start to understand what was going on. It was an interesting book, but just not the same as the fist.

I agree with other reviews that the opening zombie battle was way too long.... really it was probably three times longer than it needed to be. How many ways to explain killing hordes of zombies for 30+ pages. That was probably my biggest problem with the book. Although there were jumps around in time/place, this was told in a much more linear fashion than the first Eden. Once again very solid plotline and interesting turns. I think anyone who liked the first book will like this one as well. I'm looking forward to the 3rd in the series.

Mr. Monchinski's second novelette in the Eden trilogy in this zombie novel lover's opinion was outstanding. I would have to say his style of writing had me staring at my nook for the better part of the 3 days. I love the focus and developments of the main characters. I feel that the time line within book was spaced perfectly, the pace was great. I would love to sit here and spoil the whole book by going on and on but you have to read it for yourself. Keep up the good work Mr. Monchinski. Eden and Crusade (Eden 2) have a place on my book shelf till we have to run for hills because there are too many Zeds in our area of operation.

I literally just finished Crusade ( last night in fact ) and must say I enjoyed it. Here we learn the fate of the group who fled Eden at the end of the first book. The story opens with a very long, protracted battle between two characters and the undead. It may have gone on a bit too long but it is a powerful opening to the book. After that chapter there is no mistaking that we've established the feel of this story.
Many of our beloved characters find themselves in tough spots and have to make tough choices. Happy endings are also a bit hard to come by, which I find I enjoy. In a world where the dead are out numbering the living do you really think everyone will live "happily ever after"?
The chapters do jump back in forth in time a bit, which can make you take pause, only to make sure you know where in time/place you are within the world. But overall, solid story, good character building, nice action sequences and I look forward to reading the 3rd book.
Solid 4.5 rating.

I loved this follow up to Eden....my favorite zombie novel of all time. The story was easy to follow and the character development was great. Heroes make tough decisions in tough times and that's what you'll get here. It's a rollercoaster ride worth taking.

On another note, Tony Monchinski answered an email I sent to him. He tells me he just sent the third book in the series to Permuted Press. Permuted has told him it'll be out in 2011. Can't wait.

Eden: Crusade is the follow up to Tony Monchinski's first popular Eden novel. It features several important and well known characters (big bad Bear, pregnant Julie, feisty Gwen, movie-loving Mickey, and the once proud and strong Buddy) from the first installment as well as the same flesh hungry hordes of ravenous undead. Like the first it is told in a jumbled up sequence that seems a little disorienting until the entire story unravels. The first Eden read like a well written murder mystery set smack in the middle of a devastating zombie apocalypse Crusade is a straight up well told apocalyptic survival story.

Crusade opens with a man in heavy protective gear readying himself for a battle against an entire town full of the dead. He pushes a wooden cart full of enough fire power to make a drug cartel jealous and carries with him a swaddled bundle. Amongst the dead vehicles he places weapons and barrels full of gasoline. A woman joins him and they stand off against a horde of the undead. In my opinion, in the opening sequence Monchinski establishes the nice balance he maintains through out the novel. The action in the opening scene is frantic yet methodical. It goes on for awhile (roughly twenty five to thirty pages) put the pages turn fast and easy.

Once the first chapter is over the story flies back in time and picks up with the aforementioned Eden refugees fleeing through a zombie infested world. They all bare the scars of their time in Eden and in between great zombie action Monchinski delves into the characters and develops each unflinchingly. We are introduced to another ill-fated convoy of survivors that eventually end up meeting the original core group of characters. Here again, Monchinski achieves balance; he introduces a LARGE cast of characters and makes them all real and believable without boring us or depriving us of any good zombie action. From this point the story maintains the split feeling and covers both groups and their hardships and survival.

The convoy slips into chaos following a mysterious nuclear explosion that kills every vehicle in the convoy with a massive EMP wave. The dead attack the living and the crowd thins from hundreds to a few in a matter of frantic blood streaked minutes. A small group escapes the carnage and Monchinski follows Eva, her blind sister Sonja, and Sonja's three children as they flee from the undead. They run directly from the massacre of their convoy to a highway clogged with dead cars. Like the first Eden Crusade features a few evolved smart(ter) zombies known as `brains'. These brains use simple traps and better coordination to terrorize human survivors.

In their travels Bear, Buddy and company weave through pockets of the dead, both normal and the brains, while searching for the city Buddy speaks of. They encounter several living humans on their way, with not many being the friendly type. This is another similarity between the two Edens; the dead are not the most evil or dangerous things in the new world. The first had an evil man and his even worse body guard. Crusade has more characters in a gray area which gives their actions a far more human feel. The characters go through hell and Monchinski pulls no punches in telling their story. The climax comes before you're done flipping pages but it is sustained and powerful enough it will stick with you long after you've finished reading it.

In my opinion Eden:Crusade is even better than the first in every aspect. The story has a far more epic feel and Monchinski rises to the challenge of taking the story in harrowing and violent directions. I think zombie fans will like this if they've read the first or not. Good apocalyptic action through and through.

Well, here's my second review (not so bad for an Austrian, I think..) usually a sequel is a bit dissapointing (especially when you loved the first part as much as i do with Eden). But in this case Crusade is indeed continuing as positively horrifying as Eden ended... (By the way, it is recommended to read Eden first to get in touch with the persons involved)
Tony Monchinski isn't giving you the "happy ending" everybody suspects to happen (just think of "the morning star strain" - last chapter, where a bitten soldier seems to be immune to the virus, and everything seems to be ok...) Tony keeps straight with the fact that there's no cure and no vaccine - the only hope mankind may have is fighting back the infected...

I'm hoping for a 3rd part to come...

7 out of 5 Stars... (140%)!!!