The extreme energy in “The Wolves of Andover” is a great continuation of “Heretic’s Daughter.” The vicious wolves that are on the hunt are not only the four-legged, but also two-legged. They after their prey and have no intentions of letting it get away or too far out of reach. The wolves will do anything to conquer the next unsuspecting victim.



Kathleen Kent’s book starts off by introducing Martha Allen. Martha is a bright and smart-mouthed young lady who is forced to take care of her pathetic cousin, Patience. While working as her cousin’s care-giver in colonial Massachusetts, Martha meets Thomas Carrier, who is a hired hand with a mysterious way about him. Besides his mysteriousness, he supposedly has a bounty on his head for killing King Charles I.

Life unfortunately, for Martha and the others, in the colonies is terribly difficult. Some of the troubles they come across daily are unfriendly Indians, the plague, and the worst of all, wolves. But for Thomas Carrier the four-legged wolves are the least of his worries. Thomas will have to worry about King Charles II’s vengeance since Thomas killed his father.

Thomas and Martha’s stories are put together and in the long run, have the same message: courage is present even when it can not be felt, it can always be seen. Kathleen Kent shows the darkness that is there throughout the story. She shows all of life’s goodness and also the evil.

Even the love between Carrier and Allen is tried by the elements of nature and man. The strength of love between the two is shown even through all the evil, especially when Thomas says: “however long we walk this earth, we can stand for one another…”
The great thing about the book is that Kathleen Kent is a descendant of the real Martha Allen Carrier, who was hung for witchcraft in the town of Salem in 1692. Kathleen does a terrific job of telling her own version of Martha’s life. Even though Kathleen’s story if fictional it is freakishly hard to put down once the first page has been read.