Outsider

Outsider by Linda Castillo, 320 pages

On the run from the crooked cops she works with (and who framed her for murder, among other things), Gina Colorosa can think of only one person to turn to: her former roommate Kate Burkholder, who is chief of police in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere Ohio. Unfortunately, before she reaches Kate, Gina gets caught in a snowstorm and ends up rescued by an Amish widower and his children, who are out on a sleigh ride. Thankfully, he knows Kate and pretty soon these two outsider women are snowbound with the Amish, attempting to sort out Gina's escape to safety before she's caught.

This wasn't a great book by any means, though it's also the twelfth in the Kate Burkholder series, so perhaps I would have appreciated it more if I'd read those first. But reading about a snowstorm as I'm sweating my way through July? That was a nice way to cool off. So there's that.

When the English Fall

When the English Fall by David Williams, 242 pages

When a celestial event knocks out all the modern technology, Jacob and his family are personally unaffected — they are Amish, after all. However, as the English (as the Amish call the rest of us) continue to slide away from civilization, they bring their needs, fears, and hostility to the Amish, forcing Jacob and his community to confront their fears and their faith as they move forward. This is a new twist on apocalyptic novels, though it's incredible that this hasn't been covered before. An excellent examination of the heart of religion, community, and humanity in the face of the unknown.

When the English Fall / David Williams, 242 pp.

An Amish community in Pennsylvania watches the night sky dance with angels on the horizon, like the Northern Lights, and then strange things begin to happen.  Planes fall from the sky; the roads go quiet; the 'English' neighbors' tractors and refrigerators no longer work.  When the English Fall tells a story of the apocalypse in the form of a massive solar flare and its aftermath from the point of view of those who are at first only minimally impacted by the events.  But as food grows scarce among 'the English,' the community is forced to reckon with danger and violence that no longer respects the Amish boundaries.  A first novel that is remarkably good: eerie, suspenseful, believable and smart.