Sworn to Silence

A Thriller

By: Linda Castillo

Narrated by: Kathleen McInerney

Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

Now the subject of the Lifetime original movie: An Amish Murder

A killer is preying on sacred ground....

In the sleepy rural town of Painters Mill, Ohio, the Amish and "English" residents have lived side by side for two centuries. But 16 years ago, a series of brutal murders shattered the peaceful farming community. In the aftermath of the violence, the town was left with a sense of fragility, a loss of innocence.

Kate Burkholder, a young Amish girl, survived the terror of the Slaughterhouse Killer but came away from its brutality with the realization that she no longer belonged with the Amish.

Now, a wealth of experience later, Kate has been asked to return to Painters Mill as Chief of Police. Her Amish roots and big city law enforcement background make her the perfect candidate. She's certain she's come to terms with her past - until the first body is discovered in a snowy field. Kate vows to stop the killer before he strikes again. But to do so, she must betray both her family and her Amish past - and expose a dark secret that could destroy her.

©2009 Linda Castillo (P)2009 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Deeply flawed characters in a distinctive setting make this a crackling good series opener, recommended for fans of T. Jefferson Parker and Robert Ellis, whose books take place in very un-Amish settings but who generate the same kind of chills and suspense." (Booklist)

Loved this

Certain parts of this book really reminded me of Clarice from the silence if the lambs. I loved that this book was easy to follow right from the start. Some authors start off a book with so many characters, and so complicated, that when listening to the audio version you have to go back and rewind or start over to understand what's going. Not the case with this one.
I was able to figure out, or at least suspect, who the killer was earlier than the author made the reveal, but that ended up adding to the suspense versus taking away from it.
Excellent book, excellent narration.

Pronunciations

I think that a reader of any audio book should do some homework and learn how to pronounce the localities featured in the book. I cringed each time I heard the reader say Coshocton or Newark (New-Ark???) when referring to Ohio places.

An incredibly imagined and tightly paced thriller!

An incredibly imagined and tightly paced thriller thst is sure to leave you at the edge of your seat! My favorite read of the summer! Highly recommended!

Scary with a Capital S

Would you listen to Sworn to Silence again? Why?

Suspenseful, Scary and amazing.

What does Kathleen McInerney bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I love listening to the same reader with every book. Kathleen does great.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Something wicked shows up in Amish country

Terrific series!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I listened to the entire 9 books in the series (so far) one after another. I love books that teach me facts (in this case about the Amish culture) while I enjoy a good story. Linda Castillo is an excellent writer. The characters are likable. The narration is excellent. The only downside is that the protagonist a little too often over the course of the series knows she shouldn't enter the dangerous situation but (of course) goes in anyway. Still, I can't wait now until the next in the series comes out -- I will purchase it the day it's available!

An unexpectant thriller

It was a bit graphics in horror details, but the story was so thrilling it did not destroy my interest in "need to know what happens next". Very good thriller.

GREAT THRILLER Keeps you engaged...

Definitely adults audience only. Language and adult situations are very descriptive and gruesome in latter chapters

Passable, but Marred by Shifts in Person & Tense

"Sworn to Silence" has a passable mystery with somewhat of a surprise in its resolution, but the author uses a bizarre narration style that shifts from first person present tense when the main character is speaking to third person past tense when someone else is the focus of the action. Because most novels are written in the past tense, there's something unsettling in those passages written in the present tense to begin with, but this book compounds that sense of oddness with these arbitrary shifts depending upon which character is involved; in fact, occasionally, the same scene is told twice from the point of view of different characters (in different tenses, of course). It may have worked for William Faulkner, but this isn't experimental fiction, and when the plot is the main thing carrying a story like this along, these shifts are nothing but a jarring distraction.

The author's narration style is also little overblown -- though perhaps that's not surprising from someone who started her career writing romance novels. Almost every description of a scene or a feeling has to involve some kind of flowery metaphor, when for this kind of story -- essentially a police procedural -- a straight description would often be more appropriate. It's too bad, because she isn't bad at plotting or weaving a story. While I'd rate the story as passable therefore, I grew tired of being jolted back and forth between the past and the present (occasionally for the same scene) -- and I won't be exploring any of the author's other works involving this character.

Kept my attention...

Finished it. Thought the story was good but not surprising or original.

Entertaining...and it kept my attention.

Whodunit with an Amish twist

The novel starts with a graphic description from the victim’s point of view as she was tortured, hung upside down with a chain around her ankle, and then her throat slit. Then it turns to the chief of police who must investigate this case. But, this victim won’t be the last one and they suspect that she is not the first. It fits the pattern of a killer whose killing spree in the same community stopped suddenly 18 years earlier. Kate is the chief in a small Ohio town that has a significant Amish population. Kate herself was from an Amish family, but left the faith and her family as soon as she was an adult. When asked to take the job of chief, she took it partly for the chance to return to her hometown. This is a typical detective novel with a twist. Kate herself had almost been a victim of the killer 18 years earlier, and there are secrets from the past that now risk being exposed. But, otherwise it is not that much different than others. There are times when you can guess what i happening next and there are times when you’re thrown off guard. There are times when you wonder how anyone in real life could really be so stupid as to do something, and times when you wonder how come no one can see the obvious. There is a gratuitous love scene that fortunately is not too graphic. There are some politicians who are caricatures. But, it is interesting and still keeps you wanting to keep reading.