Anathema [Hardcover]

Colleen Coble (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 13, 2008

When Hannah refuses to forgive a terrible sin she becomes anathema--shunned. But the real question is, can she forgive herself?

Visitors come to Parke County, Indiana to enjoy the lush farms, to buy the Amish quilts, and to experience the peaceful ways of the Amish families who live there. But when a double murder rocks this quiet community, the Amish residents resolve to forgive even this unfathomable offense.

Hannah, however, finds forgiveness out of reach--both for the murderer and for herself. She harbors a secret shame: while the crime was committed in her own home, she was out meeting with her forbidden love, her English beau, Reece.

The elders of the community insist that Hannah must forgive her family's killer or be shunned. When Hannah refuses, she runs away with Reece, leaving behind the only life she's ever known.

Years later, Hannah must journey back to the place she no longer calls home. Can she find the forgiveness and belonging she so desperately desires?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Although Coble, a veteran novelist of inspirational romantic suspense, has not tried her hand at Amish-themed fiction, the Amish setting is the most compelling aspect of this disappointing suspense novel. Not only does Coble lace the story with the kinds of details that fans of Beverly Lewis and Wanda Brunstetter will love, she sets the novel in a northern Indiana Amish sect with some unique quirks not seen in Lancaster County-based fiction. The plot, however, is predictable-Hannah, a young Amish woman, leaves the community for love with an Englischer but finds the outside world fraught with menaces and trials. Dangers lurk back at home, too, where various members of Hannah's Amish family turn up dead. This book doesn't showcase Coble's usual daft hand with suspense: several attempts on Hannah's life arise, play out, and are dispatched with in as few as ten sentences each, scarcely permitting readers to believe that real danger is afoot. Although the story has a first-rate setting and some thoughtful musings on Christian forgiveness, the plot is often hackneyed, the scene changes abrupt, and some of the characters-including a stock-villain abusive husband-one-dimensional.
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson (May 13, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1595542477
• ISBN-13: 978-1595542472
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,250,098 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Colleen Coble is the author of more than forty books, most of them bestsellers. Some of her most recent novels are Lonestar Angel, The Lightkeeper's Ball, Blue Moon Promise, and Anathema, an Amish suspense. One of her most popular series is the Rock Harbor mystery series featuring Bree and Samson, a search-and-rescue dog team. She has won the Carol Award numerous times as well as romance and mystery awards. She lives in Wabash, Indiana with her husband Dave.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Page-turning Suspense at Its Best, June 2, 2008

By 

Cara Putman (Lafayette, IN) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Anathema (Hardcover)

In Anathema, Colleen brings her fiction to Indiana for the first time, this time in the heart of Parke County and a close-knit Amish community. This book is richly layered with conflict. But it's not all external conflict related to finding the killer and staying alive.

Hannah is so conflicted about the Amish faith she abandoned and the problems that she created for herself when she left. She has a hard time separating those she controlled from the ones she didn't ask for...and is left paralyzed. She's also running scared from her abusive husband, but he's found the one tool that could drag her back to him. Matt hides a secret from Hannah that can only destroy the relationship they may have. But he doesn't see that he has a choice. He's also torn between duty and the past.

Add in a host of supporting characters, and the texture and twists of the plot form a tangled weave that pulled me through the pages and chapters. I have to admit, I did not fully guess the killer. I was close -- only the person I thought was the killer was the accomplice.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Amish Story Like No Other, September 28, 2008

By 

Nora A. Stlaurent "TBCN Founder" (Georgia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Anathema (Hardcover)

This is definitely not your typical Amish Story. I didn't think I would make it though the first chapter. The decisions that Hannah Schwartz had made when she was younger, made things turn from bad to worse for her. Hannah soon discovers that it's better to look before you leap into a big decision like marriage. Things are definitely not what they seemed to be at first.

She is thrown into a world so unlike her own, it's disturbing at best. She thought she knew what she was doing. She had entered a nightmare she never dreamed possible. God would understand her wanting out. She had tried her best to get out for many years. She was trapped and just can't live like this anymore. She gets a chance to escape this nightmare and she takes it.

After Hannah escapes she discovers that life could be so freeing, so full of hope. With a successful book completed and another one in the works, Hannah seems to have it all. But in order to complete her book, she has to go home - that's where this second book is leading her. "Home" -- a word that brought to mind dread of her past but yet a desire to belong again, all at the same time. She knew that she could never go home and be accepted; too much has happened in her life. She left after she was baptized into the faith, so she knew what she was doing when she walked away from the church and the Amish way of life.

She is home in the Amish community for such a short time and a murder occurs. She goes to the police and says "We are Amish. We abhor violence. If you look through your files, I doubt you'll find a single case of one of us breaking the law. No one is our community kills.." This can't be happening again she thinks after saying this to the officer. She thought the worst was behind her, and now she is back and trouble is starting again!!

The theme of forgiveness runs through this book for Hannah and the other people in her village. Hannah and the others soon discover, in a huge way, that forgiveness truly sets you free. When you forgive someone, you are not bound to that person anymore; the pain is drained from your heart, mind and emotions, and you can truly begin to live life free of the pain that bound you.

This story was full of mystery, suspense, murder and betrayal. On the flip side it was full of love, intrigue, forgiveness and redemption. This book has it all! Not what I expected in an Amish story. I was delighted!!

I LOVED how Colleen wrapped this story up in quilts. I LOVE quilts. Each chapter starts with a quote from Hannah Schwartz's book called "The Amish Faith Through Their Quilts". By the end of this book, I really wanted to look in Hannah's 'fictional' book she wrote. I wanted to see this book that was filled with the amazing quilts mentioned at the top of each chapter. Hannah is also in search of a special quilt that will lead to her family's killer. I haven't read a story like this ever. I know the quilts and a love that Hannah discovers, helped me to keep reading through the abusive husband parts.

This book will also inspire you to make some of the quilts and perhaps do a Google search on Amish quilts. The characters in this story will stay with you for quite some time after finishing the story. So treat yourself to a very different and amazing story by Colleen Coble. You won't be disappointed!

Finding Hope Through Fiction
[...]

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great read!, May 4, 2008

By 

Denise Hunter - See all my reviews

This review is from: Anathema (Hardcover)

Amish fiction is very popular right now, but Coble has a fresh take on it that shouldn't be missed. There's something very disturbing about murder in the peaceful Amish community, and that juxtaposition is a great hook.

Coble writes a page-turner here, one also filled with a sweet love story, great characters, and stellar writing. Amish suspense at its best!