Pray For Silence

Pray for Silence is the second book in the Kate Burkholder series that focuses on a police chief in a small town with a large Amish community. But don't let the images of bonnets, buggies and corn fields give you the impression that this is a sweet cozy mystery. This is a gritty thriller that doesn't hold back - particularly with its opening scene that describes the brutal and violent murders of an Amish family. The graphic descriptions put me well outside my comfort zone.

I read and loved the first book in the series, Sworn to Silence a few weeks ago but Kate came off as more wooden this time out and made some unbelievably bad decisions which felt out of character for her. This plot was also reminiscent of the first book and I hope that Kate doesn't find herself in a situation where she needs to be rescued again. Not much has changed with her relationship with Tomasetti which continues to be complex - I love how they support each other but they both have some staggering baggage and alcohol dependency which isn't being dealt with.

This thriller had enough going in it to keep me turning the pages, but it lacked the same tension and twists of the first book. Readers are given a small group of culprits, but they blended into each other making it hard to distinguish one from the other. It was just a little less satisfying compared to the first book and it felt like Kate backtracked in her professional and personal lives.

This book and series would be a good pick for fans of Karin Slaughter and Jeffrey Deaver who don't mind graphic violence and who enjoy their main characters with a healthy dose of demons but it is not a book for the faint of heart with its dark and violent scenes. This wasn't quite the book I was expecting but because I enjoyed the first book, this series' high ratings received from other readers and the common sophomoric slump of a second book in a series, I plan to read Breaking Silence soon to see how this series progresses.

My Rating: 3 stars

Author: Linda Casillo

Genre: Suspense, Thriller

Series: #2 in the Kate Burkholder series

Type and Source: Hardcover from public library

Pages: 304

Publisher: Minotaur Books

First Published: June 22, 2010

Opening Line: Officer Chuck "Skid" Skidmore wished 

he hadn't indulged in that last cup of coffee.

Book Description from GoodReads: The Plank family moved from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to join the small Amish community of Painters Mill less than a year ago and seemed the model of the Plain Life—until on a cold October night, the entire family of seven was found slaughtered on their farm. Police Chief Kate Burkholder and her small force have few clues, no motive, and no suspect. Formerly Amish herself, Kate is no stranger to the secrets the Amish keep from the English—and each other—but this crime is horribly out of the ordinary.

State agent John Tomasetti arrives on the scene to assist. He and Kate worked together on a previous case during which they began a volatile relationship. They soon realize the disturbing details of this case will test their emotional limits and force them to face demons from their own troubled pasts—and for Kate, a personal connection that is particularly hard to bear.

When she discovers a diary that belonged to one of the teenaged daughters, Kate is shocked to learn the girl kept some very dark secrets and may have been living a lurid double life. Who is the charismatic stranger who stole the young Amish girl’s heart? Could the brother—a man with a violent past, rejected and shunned by his family and the Amish community, have come to seek out revenge? As Kate’s outrage grows so does her resolve to find the killer and bring him to justice—even if it means putting herself in the line of fire.