‘You need have no fear of Hell
If it’s for God you raise your sword!’

Dramatic, intense and historic, Crusade provides the clash of faiths and cultures. Adam is part of a Crusade to reclaim Jerusalem from the ‘infidel’ Muslims; on the other hand, Salim, from the Holy Land, working in the heart of the mighty Sultan Saladin’s camp, never imagined he would join the battle against the ‘barbaric’ invaders.   Yet the clash of cultures does not rule out the possibility of friendship and Laird plays with the psychology of the characters, delivering her novel with precise historical knowledge.  

Adam is newly orphaned; his mother died unconfessed and he (regarded as failure of a child) believes the holy dust from Jerusalem will save her from perdition. When his opportunity arrives Adam embarks on a dangerous, revolutionary and thrilling journey to rest the cross in the Holy Land. Contrariwise Salim, living in the port of Acre, recaptured by Saladin, has a disastrously uneventful life. His time is incredibly based on avoiding work but when uncomfortable rumours about another Crusade begin to surface his life takes a turn.

However, the two boys seem to be more alike than they thought possible and begin to question if the bloody unholy war is necessary. Laird keeps the novel simple giving a true examination of emotion and passion. The people and situations come alive in her pages, inhibiting a believable world. She uses a deceptive plot to provide moments of suspense, thrill and intensity. Despite this, the novel progresses slowly from the start but looking at the meaning jihad is as admirable as it is forceful.

Crusade is a classy ‘page-turner’ of a novel, exploring meanings of culture and faith, in a believable and powerful historic situation: 9.5/10.