The Disappearances

Disappearances

Sadie's Montana #3 

Paperback, ebook, audio

September 1, 2012

by Linda Byler 

• Paperback: 313 pages
• Publisher: Good Books 
• ISBN-13: 978-1561487752

Sadie may be married now, but she's as spirited as ever, and her life is no less tame. In fact, soon after she and Mark are settled into the farmhouse which Mark is renovating, she's visited by three FBI agents who question her about the two children who mysteriously appeared one day at the Ranch. 

Before the agents leave, they warn Sadie that her beloved horse, Paris, is highly valuable, and that she and Mark may be in grave danger because of Paris.           This news, on top of Mark's unexpected black moods, leaves Sadie sometimes wishing she could go home, "lay her head on Mam's shoulder, and ask why she hadn't warned her." 

But when Sadie is kidnapped at gunpoint by two men in ski masks, her stubborn strength is tested beyond her imagining. Mark disappears emotionally without warning. Now Sadie has disappeared, leaving Mark and her family wracked with worry. And Anna, Sadie's youngest sister, desperate for Neil Hershberger's attention, refuses to eat, plagued by an eating disorder as she fades away. And yet, Mark's younger brother Timothy appears, bringing unexpected life and hope to the family. Mercifully, healing and courage reappear in unexpected times and places in this concluding volume of the Sadie's Montana series.

My thoughts: THE DISAPPEARANCES is the third book in Sadie's Montana series and I suggest readers read these books in order, Wild Horses, Keeping Secrets, and then THE DISAPPEARANCES. Ms. Byler is not my favorite Amish author and I have read quite a few of her books, mainly because she is currently Amish. But while truth is stranger than fiction, I am finding it hard to find her plots even remotely believable.  

The story is not purist, as in told in one point of view. Ms. Byler head-hops quite nicely, going from whoever's head she wants to be in at the moment. And it says multiple times no one ever warned her about Mark and she wished they would've -- but since I read all three books, I know she was warned multiple times about Mark and refused to listen. Of course that is normal, but it made me want to shake her and say "You were warned, honey. Many, many times." 

The mystery of the wild horses begun in the first book, continued with the snipers in the second book, is continued even farther with Sadie's disappearance in THE DISAPPEARANCES. Who is behind all this horse drama and why?  If you are interested in Amish stories written by a real life Amish woman (and not those written by distantly related to the Amish or neighbors of the Amish) then books by Ms. Byler should be considered. They are certainly high in drama and action.