THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Bestselling author Linda Castillo returns with Outsider, an electrifying thriller about a woman on the run hiding among the Amish. While enjoying a sleigh ride with his children, Amish widower Adam Lengacher discovers a car stuck in a snowdrift and an unconscious woman inside. He calls upon Chief of Police Kate Burkholder for help, and she is surprised to … Burkholder for help, and she is surprised to recognize the driver: fellow cop and her former friend, Gina Colorosa.
Years before, Kate and Gina were best friends at the police academy and patrol officers in Columbus, but time and distance have taken them down two very different paths. Now, Gina reveals a shocking story of betrayal and revenge that has forced her to run for her life. She’s desperate for protection, and the only person she can trust is Kate–but can Kate trust her? Or will Gina’s dark past put them all in danger?
As a blizzard bears down on Painters Mill, Kate helps Gina go into hiding on Adam’s farm. While the tough-skinned Gina struggles to adjust to the Amish lifestyle, Kate and state agent John Tomasetti delve into the incident that caused Gina to flee. But as Kate gets closer to the truth, a killer lies in wait. When violence strikes, she must confront a devastating truth that changes everything she thought she knew not only about friendship, but the institution to which she’s devoted her life.
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I had a chance to read this as an Advance Reader Copy and it was my first by Linda Castillo but it defiantly won’t be my last. It’s set in an Amish community and did a great job illustrating worlds colliding. The level of suspense was medium, which is exactly what I enjoy.
This is one of my favorite series. I loved getting to know a little bit more of Kate’s past. I also liked getting to know more of the Amish day to day activities. The mystery had me up late into the night. I can’t wait to see what is I store for Kate and Tomasetti next.
I received a digital arc from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you.
Outsider by Linda Castillo is the 12th A Kate Burkholder Novel. It can be read on its own for those new to the series, but I recommend reading this suspenseful series in order. I thought Outsider was well-written with developed characters and it moves along at a fast pace. Outsider starts off with a bang in the prologue with Gina Colorosa, a vice unit cop from Columbus, on the run after a no-knock warrant is executed at 3 a.m. on her home. Gina was prepared for this action and was able to escape, but she was shot in the shoulder. Gina knows only one person whom she can trust and that is Kate Burkholder. Adam Lengacher, an Amish widower with three children, rescues Gina and takes her into his home. Kate is shocked when she sees Gina because it has been ten years since they parted. Kate would not have become a police officer if not for Gina. Gina tells Kate about corruption within the police force in Columbus. There is suspense, action, mystery, and intrigue in Outsider. You wonder if Gina is disclosing all the information to Kate, who is involved in the corruption, and what will happen next. There is graphic violence in Outsider and along with an extensive amount of foul language (fair warning). I thought Outsider was more violent than the earlier books in A Kate Burkholder series. I like that we get to learn more about what happened to Kate after she left home, her time at the academy, and her early years on the force in Columbus. We also discover why Kate has not spoken to Gina in ten years. There are some cute moments in Outsider as well. Adam’s three kids are sweet. Sammy was my favorite. He is a curious boy. There was a calf who had been spurned by his mama that needed nurturing. I like the relationship between Kate Burkholder and John Tomasetti. They manage to balance their work and their private life. I liked the author’s descriptive writing which brought the scenes to life. I enjoyed the vivid word imagery of the sleigh ride especially. I like the glimpses of Amish life which felt authentic. Outsider is a suspenseful novel with a cute calf, a well-proportioned widower, a friend on frightful footing, substantial snowfall, corrupt cops, an auto accident, and a barrage of bullets.
Kate Burkholder Series is up to book twelve with Outsider by Linda Castillo. I haven’t read all of the series but it is one I have not tired of which often happens when there are many books in a series. This one stays fresh and always gives more insight into the complex main character, Kate. The police chief is reunited with a former police academy classmate, Gina. All is not well.
The danger follows Gina to the Ohio Amish countryside. The writing is beautiful while the thrill of stopping danger is exciting. Such a contrast between the ones who follow Gina and those on Adam Lengacher’s farm. As always the truth is hard to swallow where corruption can be found wherever you find people. One of the best of the series.
An ARC of the book was given to me by the publisher through Net Galley which I voluntarily chose to read and reviewed. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This series simply keeps getting better.
She was lucky to have escaped with her life when the intruders came for her that cold and snowy night. She had been ready and had a plan, but as often happens with plans, things went sideways from the point her door crashed inward. She fled into the night and by sheer luck survived and got to the vicinity of Painter’s Mill, Ohio. There is one person there she knew long ago that might help her now: Kate Burkholder.
That one person is Chief of Police Kate Burkholder. Many years ago, Kate Burkholder and Gina Colorosa were friends. Good friends who first met by happenstance, bonded, and soon went through the academy and joined the force together. Once employed as police officers, their inner natures took over, and what had been a close friendship frayed and then broke irretrievably.
All these years later, Gina Colorosa is a wanted fugitive and in a world of trouble. She desperately needs Kate Burkholder’s help. Can Gina be trusted?
Outsider: A Novel Of Suspense by Linda Castillo is the latest in her long running series featuring Kate Burkholder. It is also a heck of a good read with a lot going on at different levels. Part mystery, part police procedural, and with a lot of reflection about how our inner nature as well as our experiences shape us to be the people we are now, the read powers along at a steady pace to the inevitable violent conclusion deep on a snowy winter night.
Even when you see it coming one hundred pages out, that final confrontation is very intense. Outsider: A Novel Of Suspense by Linda Castillo is an intense very good read and is strongly recommended. Unlike earlier books in the series where it was best to have read the preceding books, this one can be read and enjoyed by readers new to the series.
Outsider: A Novel Of Suspense
Linda Castillo
https://www.lindacastillo.com/about_linda.html
Minotaur Books (Macmillan Publishers)
https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250142894
ISBN#: 978-1-250-14289-4
ARC (available in hardback, eBook, and audio)
320 Pages
I received an ARC of this book by way of winning one in a Goodreads contest.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2020
Outsider is a great read. The suspense will keep you reading to find out what happens with Gina. This series has such an interesting twist because not only does it center around the Amish community but Police Chief Kate was formerly a member of that Amish Community. Adam and his family are so kind and you can’t help but love his kids. Tomasetti adds another twist to the story since he is also law enforcement. He proves his love for Kate as he trusts her despite the situation. Looking forward to Kate’s next adventure.
The latest in Castillo’s long-running series about Kate Burkholder, the police chief in fictional Painters Mills in Ohio Amish country. When a woman Burkholder served with on the Columbus police force arrives in Burkholder’s community in the middle of a blizzard, wounded and on the run, Burkholder must confront the ugly past of their friendship as big city dangers threaten to invade her bucolic world.
This Kate Burkholder story was a little different than her normal routine of crime she gets caught up. This story has more of Kate’s past and how she got to where she got. She has a history from when she was in the police academy and someone from her past unexpectedly shows up and needs her help.
Kate gets a call from an Amish widow. He has found a woman who has almost dead in a snowbank. She is asking for Kate personally and says she is a police officer. Can Kate come see what she wants, as she won’t talk to Adam really… Kate heads towards Adam’s house in the midst of a blizzard that is bearing down on the small town. Gina is the last person Kate could have ever imagined showing up.
Although Gina is being quite guarded Kate knows something is going on. She wrecked her truck into a ditch, seems scared and on edge, and has a gun shot wound that she at first would not admit she had. What did Gina get her self into, and what is she doing out here asking for Kate’s help? But can Kate help her, or is this bigger than Kate as well. Along with Gina’s appearance, a lot of their past comes coming back and old memories are shared – good and bad.
I enjoyed reading more background on Kate and her time after she left the Amish as well as how she got connected to become a police officer. As most of her books, this can be read as a stand alone but reading the others gives a lot more information on the characters background and pasts that are mentioned throughout the story.
Great book
Another in Castillo’s Kate Burkholder’s Amish mystery series. This one was especially interesting because it dealt in Kate’s past after she left her family, and brings in one of her first friends and colleagues. Friendships are tested again.
Castillo’s books are ALWAYS good! The Amish community is depicted in an interesting, and, I think, honest way.
This is a slight departure from the other books in the Kate Burkholder Amish series in that the Amish have not committed a crime. Instead, in this book, an old friend of Kate’s, Gina Colarosa, is a cop on the run, when an Amish man, Adam Lengacher, and his son, Sammy, find Gina injured and nearly frozen in a snow drift. Gina claims to being framed by other cops in Columbus, OH, but Kate isn’t sure whether or not she should believe her.
The setting of being stranded due to a snowstorm adds to the tension, but it is balanced by the simplicity of the Amish life. Always enjoyable
#Outsider #LindaCastillo
I have read all of the Kate Burkholder books and this was a real thriller with intense emotion, drama and some really scary scenes. With the premise that Kate’s good friend Gina is running from corrupt cops in the city where she is a cop, the drama started out with a bang. Add an innocent Amish family caught in the crosshairs and it was absolutely hair-raising. I thought this was the best Kate Burkholder book so far, and I highly recommend it. You do not have to read the series in order, but the interactions between the characters will make more sense if you do.
Disclaimer
I checked this book out from my local library using the Overdrive App. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own.
I love the Kate Burkholder Series by Linda Castillo. Have read every one as they have come out. This one bothered me. I think the “bad cop” plot just hit a wrong chord right now. Also the danger the Amish family was put in – I thought that was just wrong. I’ll still look for the next one to come out.
Castillo’s Kate Burkholder series never disappoints. In this 12th riveting installment Kate’s past comes back to haunt making her question everything she thought she knew and loved about her job.
Brilliant as always
I enjoyed Outsider as I have all of Linda Castillo books. However I felt like this one was written on a deadline. There were to many scenes and thoughts repeated and drawn out.
This book kept me on the edge of my seat until I finished it at ten-thirty at night! The characters were very well developed and the plot had many twists and turns which lasted up until the very last page! The reader is led down several different paths during the course of the story and the ending is a shocker!
Really enjoyed it, enjoy reading about the Amish life style