Crusade (Destroyermen: Book 2) - by Taylor Anderson

Into the Storm, the first book in Taylor Anderson's exciting and entertaining Destroyermen series, ended on one hell of a cliffhanger.  An enemy ship is captured and the humans and Lemurians learn, to their nauseated horror, that the Grik see their "enemy" as nothing but food.  They also learn, to their ever mounting terror, that the entire planet is populated by the relentless and almost unstoppable Grik.  The battle between species that is about to be waged isn't one of land disputes or political ideals.  It is a battle to prevent Lemurian and human extinction, by staying out of the stomachs of the Grik. 

Crusade, the second book in the series, starts at that point and, from there, things only get darker - a great deal darker, in fact - for Lieutenant Commander Matthew Reddy and the crew of the USS Walker.  A crew that is now comprised of a mix of humans and Lemurian recruits itching to take the battle to the Grik.

On the surface, Reddy's plan for launching an attack against the all powerful Grik appears both sound and reasonable.  The USS Walker will journey to the neighboring Lemurian city-states that the Grik have yet to attack and recruit them for the battle.  Reddy and company arrive just in time to save the besieged city-state of Aryaal from an onslaught of the Grik.  But the grateful thanks and necessary assistance in the war that they expect for having saved Aryaal is not forthcoming.  Aryaal's ruling class believes that one ruthless invader has been routed by an honor robbing one.  Reddy and the other humans are all given a painful reminder that, while the Lemurians might be a different species, they are not immune from the plagues of arrogance, greed, and ego.  The ruling class believe that the Grik maps are fabrications, fairy tales.  It is not soon thereafter that one clan of Lemurians is preparing to fight another clan of Lemurians, not the Grik.

But that is not even the worst of it.  Reddy also learns that the Amagi, the Japanese battleship that almost sank the Walker and Mahan, has come through the Squall, and that its crew have sided with the Grik.

Strictly for the sake of comparison, if Into the Storm was the "first" Star Wars movie (now referred to as A New Hope) then Crusade is The Empire Strikes Back.  It is a darker, more ruthless, and much more "mature" adventure.  Even though Anderson did not pull any punches in the first book, he really hammers home just how bad the odds of success are for the Lemurians and the crews of the USS Walker and the USS Mahan.  The battle will be long, hard, and no one will ever say that it was easily won.

Many new characters are introduced (some sympathetic, some not) and several familiar characters are lost.  One thing Anderson clearly does not do is play favorites.  The Destroyermen series seems to be following Joe Bob Brigg's most important rule of a truly effective horror movie:  "Anyone can die at any moment."  This approach makes each new battle a truly nerve wracking and thrilling reading experience.  The taste of victory is sweeter, the taste of failure more bitter.

Crusade, like Into the Storm, ends with a cliffhanger.  It's not as strong or as shocking as the first book's (how could it be, I ask) but it promises that the next book will be an action packed and heart pounding read.  It also makes me want to advise new readers that, so far, each of the books in the series have, to date, read like chapters in a single and ongoing narrative.  Although you can jump in with Crusade, you will be missing out on a treat if you don't read Into the Storm first.