House of Wolves
by Matt Bronleewe
Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2008, 308 pp., hardcover.

House of Wolves is the second in the August Adams adventure series. I anticipated that the series might move towards more serious action adventure, but the opposite occurs in this novel, which is much more Indiana Jones and The Princess Bride than The Bourne Identity. Our archaeobibliogist hero returns with his ex-wife and young son, all of them even more flippant than ever as they battle a Nazi-flavored secret society bent on evil.

Copious violence populates the book, but its cartoonish nature lessens the impact. Still, I'd be careful about allowing pre-high school students to read House of Wolves. The series is not overtly Christian, but rather is made up of action and violent scenes free of foul language or sexual situations. As with Illumination, I enjoyed the historical information about the books in the story. This one focuses on The Gospels of Henry the Lion, perhaps the most spectacular lavishly illustrated work of the 12th century. I was disappointed by the simplistic environmentalism awkwardly tacked on to the end of the plot:

Refining the oil would surely melt the ice of the southern pole, wreaking havoc on the coastlines of the world. Cities would be swept under the sea, and millions of people would lose their homes and businesses, and their lives as well. It would be like Katrina, only on a global scale (288).

Bronleewe can certainly do better than that, and usually does. The key plot ideas in House of Wolves are based in history and popular legend and the disparate elements are nicely tied into a unified plot. Fans of Illumination will want to continue following the adventures of August, April and Charlie as they battle villains for another one of the world's greatest books.

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