Abandoned Prayers: An Incredible True Story of Murder, Obsession, and Amish Secrets (St. Martin's True Crime Library)

I totally loved this book. I have lived along side the Amish, and this was an eye opener to how they live their lives. The man was obviously cruel and heartless, in that he could callously kill his pregnant wife and child. He was gay, and could not openly come out with this in the Amish community. His family, after the tragic death of their daughter in law did nothing to save the life of their little grandson, who was only 3 at that time. Neither did hers. They always felt it was God's will. How tragic. There was no one to help this boy, although many saw what a horrible father he had, and the brutality he lived under, but did little to save him. They all looked the other way. If not for the person who found his body, and the relentless pursuit of the police, to find out who he was, and who killed him, his would remain unknown. His father was a master manipulator, and his conviction, or lack of it, will shock you.

I picked this up because I really liked Gregg Olsen's work on the Sunshine Mine disaster (The Deep Dark.) This doesn't live up to that, but they were written nearly two decades apart, and he's had a lot of time to hone his skills since he wrote this book, so I suppose I'm not surprised. That said, he did an update in 2003, and I honestly wish he'd taken the time to tighten up the entire book instead of just adding an update to the end of the book. The book as is, is bloated with extraneous information, some of which seems like bile fascination with lurid details of the extreme parts of the 'gay scene' that embraced a denial of AIDS and carried on with wild, drugged up, debauched parties.However, it may simply be that when this book was written (1989), the average reader knew very little about the gay scene, and the author felt he needed to give them extensive setup and lush detail to understand how twisted Eli Stutzman was. Unfortunately, it gives the impression that this WAS the gay scene, when it is actually a fairly extreme gay lifestyle that Eli Stutzman engaged in. I wish that the author might have explained how far off the beaten path Eli really was -- he suggests how far out Eli is, but he never comes out and says that even people who were into alternative lifestyles may well find themselves surprised and even a little disgusted by Eli. I'm going to count this as a swing and miss, since the author also shows a great deal of tact and even sympathy for the lover Eli jilted thoughtlessly.The timeline jumped back and forth quite a bit and I did sometimes find it difficult to track the story, but the truth is, the number of people Eli swindled or involved in his crimes is staggering and I don't see how even the most careful narrative could have kept it completely together. The most important parts remained clear, which is key. But again, I think details could have been trimmed to create a clearer narrative.Finally, it's very clear that a tremendous amount of research went into creating this book, and it's impressive, especially for the time. Remarkable even. However, I'm not sure the book has aged as well as it could have. Some rewriting, especially now that Eli is dead, is probably in order.

This book held my interest throughout. I have to agree with other reviews, it flip flopped around and I would get confused on who and where he was talking about. Prepare to be introduced to some graphic description of gay lifestyles. I love Greg Olsen's books and have never been disappointed. Sometimes a story has to be told just the way it is. He does that with this one. My heart ached for Danny. No child should be exposed to what he had to endure! I do not believe justice was served but it's all about the evidence. You need to Google after you read to find out what eventually happened to Eli.

This is a heartbreaking story of a deranged man. It was hard to read due to the content and the crimes hecommitted. Not your typical Amish story. I remember "The Little Boy Blue" story in the Reader's Digest, and it was interesting to see how that story played into the solving of this crime.

The story in its entirety is a fascinating look into the life and mind of the killer. The research and work that went into this book was by itself a major effort well done. Maybe because most of us are used to the "beginning, middle, and end" to a plot more neatly put together in any crime fiction, I had a hard time keeping up with the cast of characters that were unfolded almost constantly. Some were to come back later in the storyline and some were not. I found it difficult to keep track of the various names... some often alike..... so as their lives became tangled together I thought it was confusing to follow, therefore hard to read. The depravity of Eli was horrific and worse for the effect it had on his son. The author gets 5 stars for his hard work... but the book was not an easy read.

It was okay, I have read a lot of true crime and didn't find this very well written. A lot of stuff that could have been left out and more that could have been added.

the book arrived it great shape considering it was just put in a thin bag. this book is a replacement to the one i had since my other one got ruined. loved this book such a sad story. i recommend this book to anyone who loves true crime :D

Crime book at it's best.

5 Stars! Thank you!

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