The Long Way Home

Let me just say, teenagers need to read this series. I’m hoping that when I put this series in our church library, I can get some to come in and read them. But for sure, I’m going to recommend them to our adult readers too!They are geared toward teenagers and the writing and plot reflects that, but it’s still a great story and pretty exciting. The story continues with Charlie West on the run. It got just a bit slow for a while, but boy did the action and plot come back. I have The Truth of the Matter, Book 3, ready to read and Book 4 is on its way to me.

This is a good book for preteens and adults. An easy read. There’s no swearing or adult situations. If you want your kids to read a book full of action, excitement, and God-fearing America-loving values then this series is for you.

I stepped out of my usual reading genre when I requested a copy of this young adult novel to review. The plot is fast-paced and exciting, and I was surprised to find that I wanted to read more when I was done with the book. Charlie West is a patriotic American teenager who somehow becomes a fugitive from the law, as well as the target of a terrorist organization. To complicate matters further, he can't remember an entire year of his life. During that year, he was convicted for the murder of his friend, fell in love, and he somehow became involved in an anti-American underground group of terrorists. From the beginning of the book, when he outwits the terrorists and is nearly caught by the police, it's obvious that Charlie is intelligent. However, Klavan allows him to make enough mistakes throughout the book to keep the plot jumping. In this book, which is the second in a series of three, Charlie meets the real killer and finds out part of the reason why he was framed. With so much and so many against him, Charlie needs all the help he can get. He has a small but loyal group of friends who risk their own safety to help him, and although the book isn't preachy, Charlie is a Christian who believes God hears him when he prays. He also has a black belt in karate, and uses his skills several times when he's pitted one-on-one against his enemies. Thank you to Thomas Nelson publishers for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book.

Excitement was what I felt when I saw the second installment of The Homelanders Series. In the last book, THE LAST THING I REMEMBER, readers were left with a lot of questions. Charlie West went to bed one night. When he awoke, he'd been captured by a group calling themselves the Homelanders and that wasn't the worse part. A year had gone by and he has no memory of it. If that wasn't bad enough, he's been found guilty of murdering his friend. In book two, Charlie West is still on the run from the police and the Homelanders. He heads back to his hometown where he finds his friends, Miler, Josh, Rick, and his girlfriend, Beth. They believe he's innocent and help him find some answers as to who is behind the terrorist group. Beth fills him in on parts of the year he can't remember. This series is written with a Christian slant. The preachiness seen in many of the Christian YA books is replaced with realistic values and Charlie West is very pro-America. Both this and the first book are packed with plenty of action that had me flying through the pages.

The Long Way Home by Andrew Klavan is the second installment in his Highlanders series for young adults. I wasn't fortunate to read the first but don't feel like I missed any part of the story by starting the series with the second book. This book follows Charlie as he tries to put together the pieces of the year-he-can't-remember. It begins with a high speed chase in which Charlie attempts to get away from the bad guys and the good guys (the police!) and flee to a place of safety. Charlie gets help from unexpected places and reassurance that those he loves believe that he isn't guilty of murder. Charlie then begins his quest to seek the real answers. He follows hints that he found in newspaper articles and tracks down those he thinks may have the answers. This was a fast-paced book that was one adventure right after another. Very enjoyable and sometimes nail-biting. Every young person who loves a good story will enjoy this one (and maybe their parents will too!)

Although it features a fugitive for a hero and the police are generally his adversaries, this book is very conservative. Other characters mockingly refer to Charlie's patriotism and his character as a "True Believer" in home, God, and Country, but the undercurrent of the book is that Charlie is absolutely right to be a True Believer and his faith is what gets him through the tough times. Charlie has no proof for his belief that he is innocent and that he is "the good guy," and his faith suffers sometimes. Ultimately, though, faith is what keeps him going. He believes that proof is out there, and the action-packed backdrop for this crisis of faith drives the narrative. Most readers will only notice the action--my son raved about certain fight scenes and another somewhat spooky scene--but I don't think it's a coincidence that this is published by Thomas Nelson, a traditionally Christian publisher. The moral absolutism behind this book clearly posits that good and evil exist as real entities, that faith is justified even in the absence of facts, and that moral relativism is a slippery slope to terrorism (at one point a character as much as states this as a tautology). Conservative parents will probably applaud these underlying themes, but more liberal-minded folks may take offense. Parents trying to teach that right and wrong only make sense in context and that there are no "absolutely true" things in life may find that this book subverts their point of view. On the other hand, parents who are teaching that some things are just right and some are just wrong will find subtle moral support behind the 24-esque action of this adventure.

The second book in the Homelanders series continues with the main character, Charlie West. Charlie woke up one day as a wanted man and he doesn't know why. Both terrorists and the police are trying to catch Charlie and all he wants are some answers. He goes home to try to find the reason behind the situation he has found himself in. His friends from home join Charlie and his quest for what has happened. The first book in this series was great and this book is a great continuation. It's a fast paced book leaving you wanting for more. Highly recommended.