WPLongform

Surprising Amish history comes to light

A Good Reed Review Book Review , , , ,

By Ande Jacobson

The sixteenth Kate Burkholder mystery by Linda Castillo is The Burning. This time, Castillo educates the reader on some disturbing Anabaptist history from the Reformation period. While the Anabaptists as a whole are pacifists, during the Reformation when the Anabaptists were persecuted by the mainstream Christians of the day, a sect arose that embraced violence when necessary in defense of the community. This sect was known as the Schwertlers, or loosely translated “of the sword.” Although its members knew that violence was a sin, they saw the need for it when the community was threatened, and as a group would use a particularly nasty ritual to eliminate threats while ensuring those so sacrificed a place in heaven as martyrs. While it’s thought that this group ceased to exist, an unusual and disturbing case sends Kate down an investigative path that includes digging into the details of this outcast group’s practices. Continue reading →

What you see is not always what you get

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By Ande Jacobson

Linda Castillo’s fifteenth Kate Burkholder mystery is An Evil Heart, and it starts with a horrific murder. An Amish man is murdered on his way to work when his assailant lies in wait along the side of the road where Aden Karn commutes on his bicycle each morning. Aden sees the man and stops. What follows is a horrific and graphic murder at the heart of the story. The obvious question beyond who did it is why would anyone do such a thing? Continue reading →

AI, ghostwriters, editors, and authorship

A Good Reed Review Commentary & Pubs , , , , ,

By Ande Jacobson

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the use of AI, ghostwriters, and editors, and what authorship really means. Having written a book myself, I know the kind of effort that goes into such an endeavor, even when you know the material extremely well. Getting the wording right, making sure that your ideas come across the way you intend, and even the aesthetics of the prose are all of concern. Writing an essay requires a similar amount of polish as well, although it’s significantly shorter and quicker to write compared to a book. One could even apply the same considerations to something as mundane as an email or a personal letter. All that said, what exactly is authorship? Are you technically an author if you use a ghostwriter to write your manuscript for you, or are you committing a type of fraud by taking credit for something that you didn’t actually do? Is the manuscript still your work if an editor changes it, or is that a matter of degree? Continue reading →

You cannot escape your past

A Good Reed Review Book Review , , , ,

By Ande Jacobson

The Hidden One, is the fourteenth Kate Burkholder thriller. Once again Kate’s past is the reason she’s sought. Three Amish men (a bishop, a deacon, and a minister) from a small Pennsylvania village show up in her office asking for her help for one of their flock. Jonas Bowman has been arrested for a murder that occurred almost two decades ago, yet the victim’s remains, the former bishop of the church district Ananias Stoltzfus, have only recently been found. How much the Diener (elected church officials) know of Kate and Jonas’ past is unknown, but they specifically sought her out because they don’t know how to help Jonas. They don’t think he did what he’s been accused of, and they claim to have no idea who committed the crime. They offer to pay Kate for her time, although because she’d be out of her jurisdiction by far, she’d have no official authority which will make it much more difficult to get the information she needs. The men ask her to sleep on it before giving them her answer, though she knows from the start that she has to go. She owes it to Jonas. Continue reading →

Following your dreams can be rough

A Good Reed Review Book Review , , , , ,

By Ande Jacobson

Fallen, is the thirteenth Kate Burkholder thriller, this time exploring the dangers of following one’s dreams. Kate isn’t the only one who left the Amish community when she approached the critical decision point of whether or not to be baptized. In Kate’s case, she never was. Rachael Schwartz was another young woman facing that difficult decision, and she too left the community, but under very different circumstances from Kate’s. Still, when she turns up murdered in a dreary motel room in Painters Mill, Kate catches the case, and it stirs up memories of her own past. She recognizes that she and Rachael never fit in, although their rebelliousness manifested in very different ways. Kate knew Rachael as a child, and she saw that even then Rachael followed her own mind in ways that Kate both admired and knew would cause her trouble as she grew older. Continue reading →

The past matters

A Good Reed Review Book Review , , , ,

By Ande Jacobson

The twelfth Kate Burkholder novel, Outsider, delves into Kate’s more recent past. The Prologue starts with a deadly and graphic raid where the target, Gina Colorosa, barely escapes. Gina is the person who helped Kate the most when she first left the plain life. At present though, Gina has troubles, and she quickly brings them to Painters Mill. She’s a detective with the Cleveland PD, but there’s far more than readers are aware going on with the raid. She’s badly injured and barely gets away, but as she gets to Painters Mill, she encounters a horrific blizzard, and crashes her truck into a tree. As Gina comes close to freezing, Adam Lengacher happens by in his sleigh with his three young children. Adam is an Amish man who lost his wife only a couple of years before and is doing the best he can. Their initial meeting is less than ideal, but despite Gina’s off putting manner, he rescues her and brings her to his home to get her out of the freezing cold. She tells Adam to contact Kate Burkholder which he does. So begins a convoluted and dangerous adventure. The trouble that Gina left behind eventually follows her putting Adam and his children at risk, but Adam is model of Amish good will. When somebody needs help, he doesn’t judge them. He helps them. Continue reading →

Writing can be therapeutic

A Good Reed Review Commentary & Pubs , ,

By Ande Jacobson

I’ve kept a journal since I was a child, although in recent years I’ve not made many entries. In some ways, the essays I write have taken its place helping me delve into things that I’m thinking about. Sometimes that means writing up thoughts on books I’ve just read or delving into a concept that intrigues me. Often though it involves taking a step back from current events and sorting out something that’s bothering me. That last category has covered a lot of ground over the last several years. Along with an increased focus on politics and the historical significance of various policies and actions, it drove me to add a history and politics page to my commentary library. Continue reading →

Gossip and faulty assumptions can backfire

A Good Reed Review Book Review , , , , ,

By Ande Jacobson

In Linda Castillo’s eleventh Kate Burkholder novel, Shamed, the Amish don’t always get it right even when their intentions are noble. Seven years before the main story takes place, something happened in the middle of the night that would later haunt a family in Painters Mill although the story doesn’t start there. This time, the story begins with what should be a happy fall afternoon when Mary Yoder takes her two granddaughters, Elsie (age 7) and Annie (age 5) Helmuth to the abandoned farm down the road where Mary had played as a child to pick up fallen walnuts. Mary and the girls begin their task picking up walnuts that have fallen from the trees, the girls playing some along the way. After a while, Mary notices some movement in the house that should be empty, so she goes to investigate. The girls eventually follow her into the house, and unfortunately for Mary, it doesn’t end well. Beyond her demise, Elsie is taken by the perpetrator leaving Annie screaming and running from the scene. Continue reading →

Vigilantism is not the way to go

A Good Reed Review Book Review , , , ,

By Ande Jacobson

Linda Castillo’s tenth Kate Burkholder novel is A Gathering of Secrets. This time the Amish community goes full vigilante trying to right a horrible wrong. The prologue begins with the suicide of a young woman on the cusp of adulthood with her whole life ahead of her, though it takes some time to link it to an even bigger wrong in the community. The story begins in earnest six months after the suicide with a dramatic barn fire. It takes some doing, but the authorities eventually identify the one victim from the fire, a young Amish man just finishing his rumspringa. By all accounts, the young man was a pillar of the community. Initially, everyone Chief Kate Burkholder and her team talk with sing his praises saying what a tragedy it is that he died, how hard-working he was, and how nice and helpful he was. Despite the praises, Kate senses there’s more to the story of how and why Daniel Gingerich died in that fire. The investigation shows that his death wasn’t an accident. He was locked in the tack room with no way out when the fire was set. The big questions are why anyone would do something so horrific, and who was involved? Continue reading →

Childhood impressions stick around

A Good Reed Review Book Review , , , ,

By Ande Jacobson

Linda Castillo’s ninth Kate Burkholder novel is Down a Dark Road. This time, Kate finds herself face-to-face with an old childhood friend in a desperate situation. The Prologue starts out two years earlier detailing the commission of a horrific crime. Kate’s childhood friend, Joseph King, was tried, convicted, and sent to prison for the crime of brutally murdering his wife, Naomi. Joseph was Kate’s neighbor for a time during their childhood. She and her siblings were close to Joseph and his family enjoying various summer adventures together. Kate really liked Joseph, and it was reciprocal, although neither expressed anything more than youthful friendship at the time. As a kid, Joseph was responsible, imaginative, and had an easy, carefree manner. Everyone liked him. That all changed when his father died in an accident when he was a teenager. He struggled with that loss, became somewhat distant, and the family moved away to be closer to extended family. Kate hadn’t thought about him for many years until she gets a call from the deputy warden at Mansfield Correctional Institution notifying her that Joseph has escaped and is at large. Continue reading →