Book Review II: Paradise Valley

I just finished the last Game of Thrones book. I now have to wait until 2015 for the next one which means that in the mean time, I will probably read just about anything that lands in my phone's Nook app. I don't know why I am so loyal to Barnes and Noble, but I am, so Nook App it is. Which means I will download whatever shows up free.

Paradise Valley

Dale Cramer

This was one of those books that you get to the end, and you are actually sad to see that it's over. I even went and looked up the sequels online. I didn't buy them though because they are $6.99 and the plot lines were unappealing.

The premise is a pioneering Amish family flees from Ohio to avoid sending their children to the local public school in Ohio. Being Amish the main character is of course a steadfast farmer who of course embodies a pure "Moral Good" unable to commit violence even when his family is threatened. His daughters are all obedient. His sons are all hardworking.

I think I sort of loved this book because it was just so calm. It was nice to descend into a world where the cares were about farming and sure there were bandits threatening the family every so often, but it still all seemed to take place within a cocoon of safety. If George R.R. Martin had his way, everyone except two daughters would have been dead by the time the rest of the families arrived in Mexico. One would probably have run off with a Mexican though. Actually, that sounds like a better story.

In all seriousness, it wasn't a bad book. It had it's genuinely enjoyable bits. Nice scenery. Gentle characters. I read it in about two days and was totally entertained most of the time. Maybe I just needed to get out of NYC.

My biggest problem was that the POV's shifted constantly and without warning. Mid chapter. This is a pretty basic writing no-no so I was kind surprised. I guess there's a reason it was a free Nook Book and not released by some big publisher.