ARC Review: Outsider by Linda Castillo

Outsider
Author: Linda Castillo
Series: Kate Burkholder Book 12
Publication: Minotaur Books (July 7, 2020)

Description: Linda Castillo follows her instant New York Times bestseller, Shamed, with Outsider, an electrifying thriller about a woman on the run hiding among the Amish.

While enjoying a sleigh ride with his children, Amish widower Adam Lengacher discovers a car stuck in a snowdrift and an unconscious woman inside. He calls upon Chief of Police Kate Burkholder for help, and she is surprised to recognize the driver: fellow cop and her former friend, Gina Colorosa.

Years before, Kate and Gina were best friends at the police academy and patrol officers in Columbus, but time and distance have taken them down two very different paths. Now, Gina reveals a shocking story of betrayal and revenge that has forced her to run for her life. She’s desperate for protection, and the only person she can trust is Kate—but can Kate trust her? Or will Gina’s dark past put them all in danger?

As a blizzard bears down on Painters Mill, Kate helps Gina go into hiding on Adam’s farm. While the tough-skinned Gina struggles to adjust to the Amish lifestyle, Kate and state agent John Tomasetti delve into the incident that caused Gina to flee. But as Kate gets closer to the truth, a killer lies in wait. When violence strikes, she must confront a devastating truth that changes everything she thought she knew not only about friendship, but the institution to which she's devoted her life.

My Thoughts: This is the twelfth Kate Burkholder mystery and this time an old friend with a big problem comes to visit.

Gina Colorosa is on the run from a bunch of her police colleagues who are into all sorts of illegal activities. Gina isn't so clean herself. When she has to run, with a bullet in her shoulder, she finds her way to Amish country where Kate is the Sheriff.

A car accident puts her in the way of Adam Lengacher who was a childhood friend of Kate's. Now he is a widower with three young children. With a blizzard on the way and no way to get Gina somewhere where she won't endanger the Lengachers, Kate is forced to hear her story and decide what she can do to help her.

The problem is that, while they were good friends from the time they met and all through their time at the police academy, their paths took radically different turns once they were on the job. Gina was always an adrenaline junkie and had a more flexible set of morals than Kate had. That caused a break in their friendship that was never healed.

Kate calls in her boyfriend John Tomasetti who works with the BCI to try to find out the true story since neither she nor John think that Gina is telling everything she knows. Meanwhile, two of Gina's fellow officers want to find her and kill her before she can get her version of the facts out in public.

This was a fast-paced and action-packed thriller. Fans of the genre and fans of the Kate Burkholder series won't want to miss this one.

Favorite Quote:

He starts to open the door, but I stop him. "Joe, you know you can't talk to anyone about this, right?"

"I talk to my cats, mostly. I've got five of them, you know. Feral, or so they think. Unlike most of my human friends, they never repeat a word."

I grin, liking him. "Thank you."

"I hope your friend finds peace."

"Me, too."

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.