ALLIANCE

Will West faces old and new adversaries during summer vacation in this sloppy sequel to The Paladin Prophecy (2012).

Several months have passed since Will and his roommates defeated the Knights of Charlemagne, but many questions remain about the Knights, their ties to the monsters of the Never-Was and the disappearance of Will’s parents. A wealthy school donor emerges as a major player in the conspiracy, so Will and his friends develop a risky plan to use their extraordinary abilities—which include superspeed, telepathy and sonic power—to infiltrate and search his island home. Unfortunately, Frost’s everything-plus-the-kitchen-sink approach to worldbuilding doesn’t make more sense the second time around; even with a clumsy extended recap in the first chapter, the mix of secret societies, genetic manipulation, guardian angels and monsters from another dimension is hard to keep straight. The busy plot leaves little space for characterization. Will’s two romantic interests are particularly underdeveloped, making the love triangle feel perfunctory, and Will’s cross-country coach, Jericho, only appears when Will needs a convenient source of generic Native American mysticism and lore. When the obligatory cliffhanger ending comes, it’s hard to care what happens next. This muddled adventure won’t leave readers impatient for Book 3. (Adventure. 12-16)