Paperback, 311 pagesPublished September 25th 2012 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Katie is on the verge of her Rumspringa, the time in Amish life when teenagers can get a taste of the real world. But the real world comes to her in this dystopian tale with a philosophical bent. Rumors of massive unrest on the “Outside” abound. Something murderous is out there. Amish elders make a rule: No one goes outside, and no outsiders come in. But when Katie finds a gravely injured young man, she can’t leave him to die. She smuggles him into her family’s barn—at what cost to her community? The suspense of this vividly told, truly horrific thriller will keep the pages turning.
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Laura Bickle has worked in the unholy trinity of politics, criminology, and technology for several years. She and her chief muse live in the Midwest, owned by four mostly-reformed feral cats.
Her work has been published in Midnight Times, Down in the Cellar, MicroHorror, Theaker's Quarterly Fiction,Ballista , Byzarium, New Myths,a Blog-O-Novella office soap opera for True Office Confessions, and Aoife's Kiss. Her most recent project is the Embers series of urban fantasy novels for Juno-Pocket Books.
Incredible, Creepy, Fantastic, Unable to Put down, read in
one day, one of my favorite books yet……Those are just some of the words that
came to mind as I was reading this book. This book was so unlike what I had
imagined….It was BETTER!!!!! The Amish VS vampires was just so mesmerizing…The
power of faith in this book was just incredible. I had chills the entire time I
was reading this book. I am a sucker for survival stories and this may have
been one of the best ones I have read this year. Not only is it about survival
but about faith and I just absolutely loved every moment.
The book begins with a young Amish girl Katie and her
friend, Elijah just spending the day performing their daily chores. Katie and
Elijah are very excited about what the Amish people call Rumspringa. This is when the young people get to spend time on the “Outside”
before choosing the Amish way for life. Katie was very excited about the chance
to live life normally and enjoy simple things like drinking a coke and going to
the movies. Little did they know what
the future held for them and the experiences that were headed their way. They
would not be experiencing Rumspringa anytime
soon……
A helicopter crashes into their little community and Katie
runs to it to try and save any survivors. She does find a survivor but as she
tries to save him someone or something pulls the man back into the fire….and
all Katie can see is glowing red eyes as they disappear. It is at that moment
that Katie realizes that something is really wrong…..
News from the Outside claims that there is an unrest
happening and people are dying all over the world. The radio does not describe
what is causing it but Katie knows…m for fear of what She has feared the worst
and she uncovers the horrible secret with the help of a mysterious stranger
that she saves from death.
The stranger, Alex, was discovered on the outside of the
community fence and the Elders wanted to kill him for fear of the Outside but
Katie insisted they leave him and let God decide his future. Later that night
Katie comes back and takes Alex to her barn where she gives him medicine and
brings him back to health.
Alex and Katie discover the true secret of the unrest…They
discover WHAT the evil is….they discover what is causing millions of people to
die and they know they have to fight for their survival.
“Something roiled in the grass. I could see it moving toward me, at
terrible speed, zigzagging violently through the stalks. It kept low as it
rushed toward me, but I spied a glimmer of red, like the eyes of the terrible creatures
in the Laundromat, sliding through the shadows. I ran.”
This book is by far one of my favorite survival books that I
have ever read. I usually take about 3 days to read a book but I read this one
in one day and could not put it down. This book was incredible. Laura Bickle
weaves a tale that will keep you in suspense, have your hair standing on ends,
and turning pages long into the night. If you are a fan of supernatural and
suspense then you have to read this book. It is just phenomenal. By far a 5
star book and I am DYING to get my hands on the sequel…I can’t wait to see
where Laura takes this story……
The Sequel to The Hallowed Ones
The Outside
Releases September 2013
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Katherine Nicole Jamison never imagined when she took a job at a prestigious auction house for the summer, that one moment of
