Click Here To Purchase House of Wolves 

Author: Matt Bronleewe

ISBN: 978-1-59554-250-2

Publisher:Thomas Nelson

 Mystery, Danger, Intrigue 

Matt Bronleewe’s second novel, House of Wolves, combines mystery, danger and intrigue in a fast-paced story with action on every page. Like other novels of this genre, the plot pulls from history and Bronleewe cleverly incorporates assorted facts, myths and legends into an entertaining story.

The cast of characters carries over from his first novel, Illuminated. August Adam is a rare-book dealer and one such book, The Gospels of Henry the Lion, is at the center of the action in House of Wolves. August is in possession of the rare book but he is not the only one who wants it. And others pursuing it stop at nothing in their attempt to get it. 

August’s father, son, and ex-wife get involved early in the story and even without having read the first novel of the series, it was easy to pick up on the relationships between these people. They are not without problems but their interpersonal issues do not detract from the story line. They find ways to work together and survive.

The evil characters are drawn from a secret society, the Black Vehm, a vigilante society formed in the thirteenth century to protect themselves from marauders in the lawless territory between the Rhine and the Weser rivers in Westphalia, Germany. It became a merciless and violent society and was eventually outlawed. It supposedly came to an end when the Nazis fell in the Third Reich. Bronleewe brings them to life in modern day activity where their goal is to obtain ancient relics and rare artifacts and he reveals they are planning to take over the world by implementing a grand scheme. 

Lukas, a member of this secret society, gives an interesting account of how he became a member. “Lukas had always wanted to belong to a secret society. For some reason, they didn’t exactly advertise their whereabouts. But an online friend of his had had an idea: Have you tried joining the Belegarth Medieval Combat Society?” What follows is a fascinating description of Lukas’s journey from joining a mock-combat society that entertained during sports intermissions to being tapped for a deadly society who directed all of its efforts to implementing their world take-over plan.

Bronleewe makes excellent use of contrast and the location swings from a record-breaking heat wave in New York City to the frigid underground of the Antarctic. Much like National Treasure, clues, maps and mishaps keep the reader swiftly moving from page to page. Readers who are looking for escapist entertainment will find it in this adventure. 

The story takes place in just a few days and therefore the problem and puzzle solving happen a little too quickly for me. In the scene where they are figuring out the meaning of the map, August notes, “There are three flags with poles—which we are setting aside for right now—and thirteen flags without.” “That’s half the alphabet,” Charlie said.” The nine-year-old proceeds to unravel the secret of the map. The reader is advised to suspend his or her logic and simply accept this scenario on face value.

Overall, I appreciated that the violence was relatively tidy and the text was free from profanity. Younger readers who love adventure stories will be as intrigued by this story as adults who enjoy suspense fiction.