Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“It’s the living who are left to suffer. A hard truth, but that’s the way it is.”

Pray for Silence by Linda Castillo

Breaking Silence by Linda Castillo

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Pray for Silence – 3 stars After an Amish family of seven is discovered slain in their home, chief of police Kate Burkholder investigates, uncovering a dark second life that one of the daughters was leading. The second book in the Kate Burkholder series, this book moves away from the subplots surrounding Kate’s past and lean more into a straightforward police procedural surrounding the murder of an unassuming family. Again I enjoyed following along the investigation and the camaraderie between the police officers, as well […]

“As much as I want to make things right, some chasms are simply too treacherous to traverse.”

Sworn to Silence by Linda Castillo

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Though Kate long ago left the Amish community, her background lends her unique qualifications for her role as the Chief of Police of the mixed culture community of Painters Mill, Ohio – and throws up an obstacle when it seems like a serial killer has resurfaced after sixteen years. I don’t usually read hard-boiled procedurals, as I find they often end up bogged down in technical detail, but I was intrigued by this series’ unusual lead and setting. I thought the writing was fluid and […]

A Question of Compatibility

The Amish Matchmaking Dilemma by Patricia Johns

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When Mose comes to town in search of a wife, the local matchmaker sets him up with his childhood friend Naomi – but only as his speaking tutor, for Mose has a severe stutter. Though the pair feel drawn to each other, they seem too different in their outlooks to ever make a match of it. I’m not religious. I’m certainly not Christian. But I do enjoy reading a wide variety of books, and considering the popularity of Amish romances, I thought it was a […]

It’s getting plainer all the time

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This book is the follow up to Why I Left The Amish.  That book dealt with the author’s “now”, her mature years while confronting her father’s impending death, and her remote past, her childhood.  This book fills in her young adult years. Saloma grew up in an abusive family, physically abused, emotionally damaged, and sexually violated. As we left her in the first book, she was escaping to the real world of her dreams, Vermont. Saloma makes what seems to be a successful transition. She […]

It’s plain to see…

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Working as I do with the Amish, it’s interesting for me to get a look at what Amish life is like when we English aren’t around.  Bearing in mind that this is a different state (and the Amish can differ quite a bit from one church district to another, let alone another state), and a different era, it is still clear that the Amish are just people, dealing with many of the same issues we all do, but in a completely different framework. Saloma left […]

There’s $3.20 I’ll Never See Again

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Amish melodrama set in 1880s Pennsylvania. Convinced by his beard twirling brother that Rachel, the love of his life, was going to marry him instead, Jacob abandoned his Amish family on the day of his mother’s funeral. He returns with twin children  to rebuild his life and re-enter the insular farming community. His evil brother, Simon, succeeded in his nefarious plan and is married to Jacob’s childhood love and doing his best to break her spirit. Rachel is a barren and heartbroken bundle of perfection. […]



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