Dangerous Amish Showdown by Mary Alford is unlike any Amish book I’ve ever read. It’s a Love Inspired Suspense, and was the suspense ever high!
But first, the photo and scripture. The first time I read that verse, it answered a question for me–why did I wake up so early every morning? All my life I’ve been one of those people who awaken naturally at an hour most people would look askance at. 🙂 That’s when having my quiet time right after I got of bed became important to me. That has been many years ago, and most days that’s what I still do. Get up, feed the kitties, grab a cup of coffee and read my Bible. It starts my day off right. The days I get caught up (and they do happen) and don’t have the time, my days are off-kilter.
Now onto the first line of Dangerous Amish Showdown by Mary Alford.
“Miles of pitch-black lurked outside the interior of the unmarked police vehicle.”
Here’s the cover and back cover copy: 
From USA TODAY Bestselling Author Mary Alford
Under siege in Amish country…
She must fight for their lives.
Gunshots shatter Willa Lambright’s placid Montana evening—and that’s before she discovers on-the-run lawman Mason Shetler on her doorstep. Willa hadn’t glimpsed her childhood friend since he’d turned his back on Amish country years before. Now the US marshal’s returned with an injured partner, a young witness he must protect at all costs…and vicious Mafia agents dead set on making sure none of them survive.
My take:
I have to go ahead and give you the rest of the first paragraph:
“Rain peppered the hood and roof. The back-and-forth whooshing of the windshield wipers grated along US Marshal Mason Shetler’s nerves. Tension wound tight in his stomach. He leaned forward and watched the road through the headlights. Relaxing wasn’t an option. Somewhere out there Lucian Bartelli’s people were doing everything possible to find Mason’s young witness and silence her before Bartelli’s trial began in a week…”
I’m telling you, Mary Alford outdid herself on this one. The tension is high, there’s a ticking clock, and the bad guys will stop at nothing to silence the six-year-old girl in the backseat of Mason’s car.
This is unlike any Amish story I’ve ever read. US Marshal Mason Shetler was raised Amish and left the community to become a Marshal. But when everything goes wrong and he’s near the people and faith he grew up with, he turns to those he knows he can trust.
Unfortunately, that involves an innocent family. Willa Lambright and her mother, Beth who has Huntington’s disease. Both prove to be brave and strong. The story is fast-paced and has huge stakes–the life of a small, but brave child. I really enjoyed watching Willa and Mason’s love story unfold–both thought they would never marry and are given a chance to change that.
I highly recommend Dangerous Amish Showdown.
Many readers would pass over this story because they think they won’t like an Amish book, but I’m telling you, it’s a great book! Leave a comment with the first line of the book you’re reading…or have handy.
Dangerous Amish Showdown by Mary Alford is my First Line Friday review. Leave a comment and I'll enter you in a September drawing for a book from my library! Share on X
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Comments 42
I recently got that book in paperback and am looking forward to reading it. Here is the first sentence in the second paragraph: This last move marked the third in the two months Mason and his partner, Erik Timmons, had been assigned to protect Samantha King.
This comes from Cold Case Double Cross by Jessica R. Patch: Dread burst in Mae Vogel’s gut, mimicking the intensity of the red, white, and blue fireworks exploding over the lake on this Fourth of July night.
Diana, I recently finished “Cold Case Double Cross”, and it was great! I’ve always enjoyed Ms Patch’s books.
Author
Diana, I just finished Jessica Patch’s (who I call Robin for some reason) book and it is excellent. I’m reading a lot of LIS books while I’m writing my proposal for them. 🙂
“It was a little thing. Stupid really. Colleen Decker had already made it through six hours of her ER shift at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis without any problems.” This comes from the exciting new addition to the Deep Haven Collection, Hangin’ by a Moment by Susan May Warren and Andrea Christensen. I haven’t yet finished it, but I’ve really enjoyed reading it thus far.
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I must read that one, Linda! Susan May Warren is my hero. 🙂
Oh, Patricia, what a fabulous opening paragraph, Alford can write! I can’t share the first sentence of my current read because the dang thing is full of naughty words. Even the book title is rude. (It’s a best selling debut by Rachel Yoder.) I’m reading it for research in prep for a spooky art story.
Author
That’s the only thing I don’t like about reading general fiction. And I’ve never thought those words added one thing to the book. lol And I’ve read many books for research! Glad to see I’m in good company. And yes, Mary Alford can write!
“The cabdriver cast a nervous glance at the alley’s unlit street lamps and blacked-out windows.” from James R Hannibal’s wildly exciting book Chasing The White Lion. He has an incredible imagination for weaving complex plots within plots that all flow together and keep you guessing.
Have to admit to being one of those not particular toward Amish stories but you make this one sound very good so I’m tempted to give it a try.
Author
I’ll definitely have to check out Chasing the White Lion, Toni. I think you’ll really enjoy Mary Alford’s book. I couldn’t put it down.
Some engagements and in happily ever after‘s, and some just end …on social media. Undercurrent of Secrets by Rachel Scott McDaniel
Author
I love this, Lucy! I’ll have to find this one, too!
Love the photo and verse. Awaken ready to be instructed by God is so good. And I can appreciate getting up to feed the kitties. Mine are feline alarm clocks without a snooze button!
“He should never have left Alaska.” from “The Way of the Brave” by Susan May Warren, a book I just started last night. She’s a new author to me.
I also just finished DiAnn Mills’ “Trace of Doubt”. I highly recommend this book. Solid characters, and some very unexpected plot twists.
Tim, I think you will enjoy Susan May Warren’s books. I haven’t read her latest books because of other commitments, but the series you have just started was excellent.
Author
Tim, you will really enjoy Susan May Warren’s books. She and Rachel Hauck are the reason I’m published. Back in 2010 I went to her first retreat in Florida, then went back three more times. It was like taking a college course in writing. Thanks for stopping by.
“It was a long way home.” The opening of At Lighthouse Point by Suzanne Woods Fisher.
Author
That sounds like a good book, Delores. Will add it to my TBR table!
The package was ticking. First line of Point of Danger by Irene Hannon.
I’m off and on with Amish fiction, but this does sound intriguing. Thanks for sharing about it.
Author
That sends chills down my back, Barbara. Another one to add to my TBR pile! I think you’d enjoy Mary’s book!
I would love to read it, sounds so interesting.
Author
It is a page-turner, Judy! Thanks for stopping by.
I tightened my grip on the black trash bag slung over my shoulder containing the personal belongings—parole papers, a denim shoulder bag from high school, a ragged backpack, fifty dollars gate money, my driver’s license at age sixteen, and the clothes I’d worn to prison fifteen years ago. Trace of Doubt by DiAnn Mills
I like the picture and verse but struggle to relate. I can’t say I enjoy sleeping late because it feels like too much daylight has passed, but I struggle to get up early. I can do it but it’s not as pressing as it was before retirement. I also tend to get engrossed in whatever book I’m reading and stay up too late.
Author
Edward, I know what you mean about staying up too late reading…I do it often, only my body clock wakes me at the same time every morning no matter how late I sleep. lol Love that first line. I think I have DiAnn’s book on my Kindle.
Good Morning, I think Amish books are great books. Thank you for sharing about this book. This is the first line from the book by Tracy Clark it is”Runner” “I yanked the door open and all but flung my half-frozen self into the snug White Castle, the hawk clawing up the back of my neck , my lungs shocked rigid by the sub zero wind chill.” Have a great weekend and stay safe. God Bless you and your family.
Author
Oh, wow, Alicia, that’s a great first line. I’ll have to check the book out. And Blessings to you, too!
I have enjoyed many of Mary’s books, she really knows how to write a tense suspense! I also need to catch up to her books, it’s been WAY too long 🙂
I, too, need that quiet time in the morning before anyone is up and about (except for my husband who works early) to have a cup of coffee & read the scriptures and daily devotional. It sure does start the day off right!
The first few lines of a book I’m about to start is from Shelley Shepard Gray’s novel “An Amish Surprise” (I love Amish fiction!):
“Sarah Anne Miller often wished she had two more hands and another set of eyes. Well, that wasn’t exactly the truth. She only wished she had such things when Ruth Schmidt led her brood into the bookmobile.”
I’m really looking forward to this one!
Author
Love Shelley Shepard Gray’s books, Trixi. She’s represented by the same agency that I am!
Sounds quite interesting, thanks for sharing.
Author
You’re welcome, Megan. I think you’d really enjoy it.
I enjoy Amish fiction sprinkled in with other reads. My first line is from Autumn by the Sea by Melissa Tagg.
Chapter 1
October 2018
For once, Chicago’s heady, heavy wind–stubborn and pummeling and rife with autumn cold–came to Sydney’s aid, pushing her from behind as if aware her taut lungs and straining legs might give out at any second.
Author
Melissa Tag is a friend from way back, Gloria. We attended Susan May Warren’s first Deep Thinker retreat together. Such a sweet person and an awesome writer!
I’m not one for Amish fiction personally, but this sounds good.
“The long ago moment danced and breathed and lived inside her.” First line from “A Distant Shore” by Karen Kingsbury. I haven’t read her other books, and I understand this is very different from her usual fare. I enjoyed it!
Author
Elizabeth, it’s been a while since I read Karen Kingsbury, but she’s a great writer! Amish isn’t my first go-to book to read, but I really enjoy them when I do read them. Especially Dangerous Amish Showdown…it’s a little grittier than most and absolutely a page-turner.
Homicide investigator Ryan Parker flashed a thumbs-up to his dive buddy and fellow homicide investigator, Gabe Chavez.
book is Beneath the Surface by Lynn H. Blackburn
Author
I loved that book, Shelia! So glad you mentioned it.
I enjoy Mary Alford’s books, but do not start them just before bedtime! 🙂
Author
Absolutely, MS Barb! And not just because they can be so chilling, but because you will not be able to put her books down!
How could a man buy a new suit with a dozen eggs? From Carved In Stone by Elizabeth Camden. It’s a great book so far. Dangerous Amish Showdown sounds really good. I have never read any of Mary’s books. Beautiful picture! The verse fits it so well.
I can not get this first line out of my head, lol. I’ve bookmarked the book for later, looking forward to reading it!
Author
Erika, I love this first line. Will have to check it out!
My current fist line: He hadn’t ranched in four years, but the tug of cowboy life always beckoned. The Rancher’s Mistletoe Bride by Jill Kemerer Making Amish suspenseful always intrigues me!
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I have that on my TBR list, Sally Jo. Thanks so much for stopping by!