Novels Now

Sworn to Silence by Linda Castillo
Kate Burkholder, book 1

Pages: 321
First Published: Jun. 23, 2009
Genre: thriller, mystery
Rating: 5/5

First sentence:

She hadn’t believed in monsters since she was six years old, back when her mom would check the closet and look beneath her bed at night.

Reason for Reading: I’m always looking for new (or new to me) thriller authors who can live up to my high expectations. The synopsis sounded intriguing.

Comments: Kate Burkholder has been the Chief of Police for the small town in which she grew up for two years now. Kate is Amish, or more correctly was Amish, so she understands the large Amish community and fits the role of small town Chief perfectly. Then one day her world comes crashing down. A body is found, murdered, brutalized from torture and immediately a connection is made to a set of four murders which occurred in the area sixteen years ago. Kate, however, around fourteen at the time, knows it cannot be the same man as she knows who that killer was and had been sworn to silence by her Amish family never tell the events of the terrible night. Can Kate continue to do her job when more and more bodies turn up with the exact same MO as the former “Slaughter House Killer” and not give away the secrets of her dark past or her former Amish community.

This was a fabulous read. It had all the ingredients that I love in my thrillers: a vicious serial killer, gruesome details, heart-pounding moments, a cast of possible suspects, and a fabulous main character. Kate is a character I can’t wait to read more of. She is fascinating and totally unique. With her Amish background she is unlike any detective I’ve met before in my reading, but don’t let that fool you, Kate is all cop. In fact she’s as tough as it gets; yet off work she shows a vulnerable, feminine side as well. An intriguing character, whose personal storyline is left with dangling threads to be picked up in a sequel.

It took two days to read this. Darn life kept interrupting me. I just couldn’t stop reading. There was a point near the end, about three chapters left, that I had to put the book down just to catch my breath. Plus I actually didn’t want the book to end, so I purposely stopped reading! Don’t you love it when that happens?

Looking for a page turner, a can’t put down, stay up all night type of thriller? Then this is your book. Linda Castillo is currently working on the next book in the Kate Burkholder series. Yeah!