Samyann
Written by Jane Jensen, the unabridged audiobook is 7.5 hours of listening and narrated by Rachel Fulginiti. This version released in early 2016 by Blackstone Audio.
The story begins when a former NYPD detective, the beautiful Elizabeth Harris, investigates a murder scene in the barn of an Amish farm. A dead girl is provocatively posed, legs splayed, head bashed in – not Amish. No spoilers, but Elizabeth has a gut feeling that the doer is a member of the Amish community. She’s open to the hypocritical. Her boss, given his understanding of the local culture, disagrees. Thus is the thrust of Kingdom Come.
Why I liked. Kingdom Come is a good mystery and a look into Amish life. Lancaster County, PA is the setting and although Elizabeth spent many years in New York, this area is her childhood roots. She brings big city homicide experience to a rural world of fruit stands, horse and buggy, and the elders of the Amish. An interesting premise. The author portrays the Amish as I have seen them: mysterious, polite, quiet. There is a realism to the portrayal that lies at the heart of the discontent in the Amish world, in my opinion. Amish women are extraordinarily subservient to Amish men – be it elders, husbands, even male siblings. Women exist to serve and protect their men and make Amish babies. This inequity is a big part of the story.
I learned a bit reading Kingdom Come – like the population density of Amish in the area – 50,000. The Amish are truly in their own world, no birth certificates nor social security cards. Interesting detail and well researched.
Not so hot. Kingdom Come is not a romance, it’s a terrific crime thriller/murder mystery. However, sex sells, and the author found it necessary for the main protagonist to have the hots for an Amish farmer, gorgeous of course. The characters are put through the requisite “romance” of wet-panties-weak-knee-ogling nonsense that adds nothing to the story. *Sigh – fast forward*
It is possible to write crime novels without mawkish sex scenes, but that’s just me – you may think it’s peachy.
Given the main protagonist is a female, Rachel Fulginiti’s interpretation is fine – comes across well. Male and female voices are good. A little slow for my taste, bumped it up to 1.25. That and fast-forwarding through the eye-rolling parts had me finish in a day.
Worth the read.
