Simply put, this book is amazing! As a true lover of horror and the like, I think I love the end of the world, dystopian zombie/vampire tales the most. It has been done many times...probably not much better than Matheson's I AM LEGEND, but let me tell you...THE HALLOWED ONES ranks pretty high, in my opinion. What made it so good was introducing the phenomenon from the Amish community's point of view. Bickle has done a terrific job introducing the reader to the Amish world and then illustrating how they might react if something terrible did happen in the English (what they call us) world. And then she goes one better by creating some of the most creepy and frightening creatures I've read in awhile. As I was reading, I kept trying to visualize what they would look like. Every horrifying image I've ever seen in movies or read in books came to mind, but I still couldn't quite settle on the terrifying image my mind was seeing. Not only do we get all of this from the book, but we get a well-written book to boot. No cliche or run of the mill stereotyping. Also, the characters, namely Katie, are wonderful. When Katie goes against the Elders to help a young English man who is injured or ventures into town--alone--to get medicine and supplies, it's not hard to believe. Early on we learn that Katie is head strong and of her own mind. A girl on the verge of Rumspringa (a time when Amish teens get to go off and experience life in the English world), she is ready to explore and set out on her own. She just didn't intend for it to occur in quite the way it did.I am so pleased with this book. It's not often that I come across a book in this genre (meaning horror/dystopian, although it is classified as YA) that is so well constructed and exciting and engaging as well. I highly recommend it.
