Blood of the Prodigal (Ohio Amish Mystery Series #1) | P. L. Gaus

Blood of the Prodigal (Ohio Amish Mystery Series #1) | P. L. Gaus | Great

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Blood of the Prodi...

	Blood of the Prodigal (Ohio Amish Mystery Series #1) P. L. Gaus Ohio University Press, 1999 - 235 pages average customer review:based on 9 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

From the choppy waves off Lake Erie's Middle Bass Island to the too tranquil farmlands of Holmes County's Amish countryside, mystery and foreboding lurk under layers of tradition and repression before boiling up to the surface with tragic consequences. For Jon Mills, the journey begins with his decision to retrieve his ten-year-old son from the hands of the Bishop who bad ten years earlier cast Mills out of the Order, the same Bishop who is Jon Mills's father. When Mills turns up dead, dressed in Amish garb, and with the boy missing, Professor Michael Branden plunges headlong into the closed culture to unravel the mystery and find the boy.

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A Fantastic, Captivating Read!

I could hardly put this book down! I read it entirely in two evenings and enjoyed it immensely. This author knows all the details of the Amish lifesyle and has a way of putting it into words that can really peak your interest! Get you hands on it as soon as you can...you won't be sorry!

Great

Although I haven't had a chance to read it yet; can't wait to get started.

Quick and Intriguing book

I bought the book yesterday after hearing the author give a speech at the library. He entertained us royally with stories of the Amish lifestyle and I knew that I just had to buy his books. So far, I've only read one (it sure is a quick book!) and I had to force myself not to cheat and figure out the ending before the end of the book.

It was worth the wait.

This is a novel that I am proud to say is from Ohio. I have been in Holmes County but not to gawk at the Amish. We have Amish living near by just half an hour away. We see them all the time on our way to Indiana.

This book, Gaus' debut novel, is about the father/son relationship in an abstract way. Branden, a professor at a local college, was called upon to find an Amish bishop's grandson who was kidnapped by his father. The search leads to murder and suddenly, the hunt for the missing boy becomes urgent. With detective reasoning by the young sheriff deputy, Branden and Branden's wife, the race to find the boy intensifies.

This is a gripping novel and it is surprising that it hasn't been moved up the bestseller's lists. It really is a well-written novel and intense. If you are interested in learning more about the Amish, this is an excellent novel to start with. It gives you the basics of the Amish faith and why they do the things the way they do.

It is a great read for summer if you're looking for something quick to read.

4/21/08

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Amish Tale

I found this a very interesting book with many insights into the Amish of the Ohio. It was well written and flowed easily. It had a bit of a bash at the end.

Will the prodigal son return home?

Although I enjoyed the premise of the story (Amish Bishop Eli Miller's son, Jonah, disappeared 10 years from when the story is being told and now Jonah's son, Jeremiah, has been taken... the bishop has the Amish community's support to approach Pastor Cal Troyer, who highly recommends Professor Branden - then the story of the search for Jonah and Jeremiah unfolds), I was disappointed to not hear Jonah's voice at all in the story. I got to know and like the professor and his wife, the sheriff and his deputy, and somewhat Bishop Miller himself (I thought the author did a good job of portraying how private and humble these people are - you don't get as familiar with or "close" to any of the Amish characters as you did the English) - but everything I learned about the prodigal son was from others - I wanted to hear part of the story from Jonah's point of view. This may have helped the conclusion flow more smoothly without losing any of its surprises. Also, Jeremiah's voice begins the story, but is cut off abruptly - which makes sense considering the circumstances... however, I would have enjoyed hearing his thoughts, his perspective, his feelings more throughout the story - but maybe the author chose not to let either Jonah's voice or Jeremiah's voice (beyond the story's introduction) be heard because it would make the Amish seem less private, as if they blended in more with the English, and the story seemed to want to illustrate how Amish people, though trying to trust and get along with the English, don't want to be seen as "the same" as the English - they want to be the same as other Amish in their community, but their sameness is very different from the English.

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reviews: page 1, 2

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