After the Storm

April 27, 2015
Bestseller Castillo’s seventh Amish novel (after 2014’s The Dead Will Tell) does something remarkable for a thriller. Not counting the gripping prologue, readers are halfway through the book before police chief Kate Burkholder and the town of Painters Mill, Ohio, are threatened by even one violent act. And yet Castillo manages to keep the tension building as Kate and her team doggedly follow leads in the case of 30-year-old human remains uncovered in a crumbling Amish barn. Kate, utilizing her childhood Pennsylvania Dutch to share memories with and interrogate members of the reclusive Amish community, soon realizes the long-ago incident was not an accident. Somewhere within the gentle sect, killers are lurking. After the first shots are fired at Kate by an unknown stalker, the violence doesn’t let up—in fact, it gets grislier and grislier. Personal stress, hidden family secrets, and unlikely murderers—as well as murder weapons—turn the serene landscape into fertile ground for this chilling tale. Author tour. Agent: Nancy Yost, Nancy Yost Literary Agency.

August 31, 2015
Castillo’s seventh thriller about Kate Burkholder (after 2014’s The Dead Will Tell) finds the chief of police of Painters Mill, Ohio, returning to the Amish community from which she was excommunicated as a young adult, after a tornado rips through the state. Reader McInerney’s visceral enactment of Kate’s tense narration adds to the thrilling progression of the storm and it’s aftermath, superbly crafted by Castillo. As a result of the storm, the police chief rescues an injured infant and uncovers the 30-year-old bones of a homicide victim. McInerney speaks Pennsylvania Dutch with the same apparent ease with which she handles the novel’s many voices—tough men and stern women, for the most part. McInerney’s rich portrayal of Kate suits every circumstance: from sharp anger when Kate is challenged, to frustration when the murder clues go nowhere, and, perhaps McInerney’s best accomplishment, to the pain and sadness Kate feels when her personal life is struck by its own romantic tornado. A Minotaur hardcover.

Returning to Castillo's Kate Burkholder series, narrator Kathleen McInerney is unable to overcome the weaknesses of the plot. Her abrupt reading style, combined with Castillo's stiff writing, creates jerkiness in the narration. McInerney also exaggerates the farcical personal drama of Burkholder's character, a seasoned police chief who needs to regularly remind everyone, "I'm a cop." Neither Castillo nor McInerney seem convinced this protagonist is strong enough to lead a police force since both depict her as an indecisive, overly emotional stereotype. Fans who have consistently enjoyed this audiobook series are likely to continue doing so, but newcomers and those noticing a decline in the later installments should pass this one over for a less melodramatic mystery. J.F. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine