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Abandoned Prayers: The Incredible True Story of Murder, Obsession and Amish Secrets (St. Martin's True Crime Library)
 
 
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Abandoned Prayers: The Incredible True Story of Murder, Obsession and Amish Secrets (St. Martin's True Crime Library) [Mass Market Paperback]

Gregg Olsen (Author)
4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (68 customer reviews)

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Book Description

St. Martin's True Crime Library April 1, 2002
On Christmas Eve in 1985, a hunter found a young boy's body along an icy corn field in Nebraska. The residents of Chester, Nebraska buried him as "Little Boy Blue," unclaimed and unidentified-- until a phone call from Ohio two years later led authorities to Eli Stutzman, the boy's father.

Eli Stutzman, the son of an Amish bishop, was by all appearances a dedicated farmer and family man in the country's strictest religious sect. But behind his quiet façade was a man involved with pornography, sadomasochism, and drugs. After the suspicious death of his pregnant wife, Stutzman took his preschool-age son, Danny, and hit the road on a sexual odyssey ending with his conviction for murder. But the mystery of Eli Stutzman and the fate of his son didn't end on the barren Nebraska plains. It was just beginning. . .

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Abandoned Prayers: The Incredible True Story of Murder, Obsession and Amish Secrets (St. Martin's True Crime Library) + A Season of Darkness (Berkley True Crime) + Blood in the Snow: The True Story of a Stay-at-Home Dad, his High-Powered Wife, and the Jealousy that Drove him to Murder (St. Martin's True Crime Library)
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A searingly tragic look behind the headlines that broke America's heart. Brilliantly researched, wonderfully written."--Anne Rule

"A riveting and deeply disturbing chronicle of true crime. Olsen has done a superior job."--Cleveland Plain Dealer

"Among the top true crime books published. Once picked up, it's hard to put down."--New Philadelphia Times Reporter

"A superior true crime account that should not be missed."--Jack Olsen, author of Doc and I: The Creation of a Serial Killer

"A tough new voice rises in the ranks of true-crime writers. Even the reigning giants of the genre are taking notice and offering praise."--Seattle Post-Intelligencer

From the Inside Flap

"A tough new voice rises in the ranks of true-crime writers. Even the reigning giants of the genre are taking notice and offering praise ." -Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Acclaim for the True-Crime Classics of Gregg Olsen

Abandoned Prayers
"An absorbing, sobering, disturbing book."--Omaha World-Herald

Bitter Almonds
"Absolutely fascinating...One of the most devious female minds in crime history. Stella Nickell has won her dubious spot in the annals of crime-thanks to Gregg Olsen's research and reporting."--Ann Rule

"[A] truly remarkable book. The trailer park babes of Bitter Almonds leap off the page, fingernails sharpened and aimed for your eyes...meticulous reporting and engrossing, vivid detail plunges the reader into a world of schemes and dreams. This is one of the best true crime books of the '90s."-Jack Olsen, author of Son: A Psychopath and His Victims and "I": The Creation of a Serial Killer

"A real page-turner...a compelling and fascinating tale of family psychopathology taken to the extreme."--Jonathan Kellerman

"Masterfully written...a tale of intricate suspense."-Rod Colvin, author of Evil Harvest

Confessions of an American Black Widow
"More interesting than the crime itself is Olsen's portrait of Nelson as a brash, trashy, manipulative sexpot...watching Nelson as she almost gets away with murder will fascinate long after the last page." -Publishers Weekly

"This time Gregg Olsen has given us a very sexy book that is as disturbing as it is seductive. One reads it compulsively and wonders afterwards 'Why did I like this so much?' as if one had not so much read it as had a very destructive affair with it. A dangerous and informative book, as irresistible as its painfully, wonderfully vicious heroine-or villain, whichever she is. This book might make some moralists more humble." -Darcy O'Brien, bestselling author of Two of a Kind: The Hillside Stranglers and Murder in Little Egypt

"Gregg Olsen's standing as one of America's finest crime journalists will rise even higher with The Confessions of an American Black Widow. Here are all the ingredients of a great crime story-murder, infidelity, greed, nymphomania. But the main element is Olsen's skill at describing and explicating human misbehavior. A must read!" -Jack Olsen, bestselling author of Doc and Predator

"What a combination! God, Mammon, carnality, all rendered vividly under Olsen's assured touch." -Stephen Michand, bestselling author of The Only Living Witness and Murderers Among Us

"Gregg Olsen introduces the reader to a character so mesmerizing, so frightening and so evil that one has to keep reminding himself that this amazing fast-paced story is true."
--Carlton Stowers, bestselling author of Careless Whispers

"This brilliant true crime story deserves acclaim and thunderous applause." -Elizabeth Loftus, co-author, The Myth of Repressed Memory and 1998 President of American Psychological Society

"That rare book that is at once a page-turner and an important chronicle of true crime. An enlightening and devastating read." -Steve A. Eggar, PhD., author of Killers Among Us: An Examination of Serial Murder and Its Investigation

"This is probably Gregg's best work yet. Sharon Lynn is the kind of woman-and this is the kind of book-that people will talk about. Gregg Olsen shows us just how chilling it is to realize what might be going on in the house next door." -Clark Howard, bestselling author of Love's Blood

If Loving You is Wrong
"Gregg Olsen's If Loving You is Wrong is a wonderfully researched book that makes the tabloid stories about Mary Kay Letourneau and her forbidden love sound like comic book stuff. Everyone who wants to understand the back-story of the child-woman and her overwhelming passion for a man-child must read If Loving You Is Wrong. Olsen's books is both gossipy and sympathetic, searing and brilliant. If Mary Kay is the Humbert Humbert of the female sex-and she is-this book is her Lolita. A must-read for both true crime aficionados and students of abnormal psychology! I read until 3 a.m.!" -Ann Rule, author of Bitter Harvest and A Rage to Kill

Product Details

  • Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
  • Publisher: St. Martin's True Crime (April 1, 2002)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0312982011
  • ISBN-13: 978-0312982010
  • Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 1.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (68 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,538 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I live in rural Washington State (about a mile as the crow flies from Starvation Heights). I've wrapped up my fifth novel -- a serial killer thriller coming out in April 2011. It's called Closer Than Blood. I've been a guest on Dateline NBC, NPR, Good Morning America, The Early Show, FOX News; CNN, Anderson Cooper 360, Entertainment Tonight, Inside Edition, Extra, Access Hollywood, Snapped, Deadly Women, William Shatner's Aftermath, and A&E's Biography.

 

Customer Reviews

68 Reviews
5 star:
 (40)
4 star:
 (12)
3 star:
 (5)
2 star:
 (6)
1 star:
 (5)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.1 out of 5 stars (68 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars God Bless the Danny Stutzmans of the World, September 21, 2003
By 
Mark A. Smiddy (Benton, Kentucky United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Abandoned Prayers: The Incredible True Story of Murder, Obsession and Amish Secrets (St. Martin's True Crime Library) (Mass Market Paperback)
The author, Gregg Olsen delivers with this one! Well written, researched and crafted, Olsen weaves a tale that will pull the reader into a world (thank God) most of us will never see. I don't want to give away any surprises but I will say that in the end I began to wonder if its possible that some people are born without a soul much less a conscience. Go ahead, buy it and read it, I highly recommend it, but be prepared this Amish tale aint about quilts and growing corn.
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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars One of my top picks of 2004, December 20, 2004
This review is from: Abandoned Prayers: The Incredible True Story of Murder, Obsession and Amish Secrets (St. Martin's True Crime Library) (Mass Market Paperback)
This is probably My top pick for the best true crime book of 2004..It is equaled only by Jack Olsens~I~Which I read this year as well..This was a very well written book My True crime book club on yahoo groups all talked alot about this one..I have enjoyed reading Gregg Olsen over the years and he is getting better with each book. I wont give the story away here but it tells the story of the death of "little Boy Blue" with an Amish twist,..Great True Crime! Keep em coming Mr Olsen.
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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Sad, but good story, October 24, 2004
By 
Amy Shank "Amy" (Lancaster County, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Abandoned Prayers: The Incredible True Story of Murder, Obsession and Amish Secrets (St. Martin's True Crime Library) (Mass Market Paperback)
Being an avid researcher of the Amish, and also living in Lancaster County, PA, my interest in the Amish cultures and traditions have grown immensely. In reading this book, though, it shows that there aren't any cultures in the United States that are void of sick, twisted, & demented individuals. There are always those few people that are just evil in actions and life. It's just so unfortunate that this little boy and his mother were the innocent victims of this horrible individual. The book itself was an excellent read, and I would recommend it to everyone. It's just horrible that there were so many innocent victims and it's unfortunate that Mr. Stutzman was released.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
It was time for a haircut. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
blue sleeper, milk house, barn fire, state patrol
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Eli Stutzman, Wayne County, Danny Stutzman, Gary Young, Denny Ruston, Dean Barlow, Little Boy Blue, Travis County, Amos Gingerich, Glen Pritchett, Margie Barlow, Christmas Eve, New Mexico, Banton Road, Four Corners, Ida Stutzman, Moser Road, Sam Miller, Stoll Farms, Ted Garber, Chuck Freeman, Liz Chupp, Sheriff Young, Eli Byler, Pizza Hut
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