TYPICAL of Sabitini's general run of novels, this work neither reaches up to the high standard set by "Scaramouche" and "Captain Blood" nor does it approach the level of mediocrity which this author occasionally strikes.

Like almost all of Sabatini's romances, "Hounds of God" is written according to a fixed formula. It follows perfectly conventional lines, bringing forth nothing novel in the way of plot or characterization.

The action takes place during the time of the great Armada when hostile feeling against the Spaniards was at its highest pitch in England. To fit with this setting there is the beautiful and noble heroine the brawny, brave, and confident hero, and last but not least the urbanely smooth Spanish Count who enters the story by virtue of a shipwreck on English shores. This wily son of Spain abducts the beautiful heroine and carries her to his native land. Through all sorts of adversity she is followed by her faithful lover, and in the end, as may well be expected, she is rescued from the jaws of death.

On the whole it may be said that the book provides entertainment of a very agreeable nature for those who like Sabatini and his style, and there are indeed few who don't.