The second book veers quite a bit and unfortunately spends too much time bible thumping and sermonizing.

She even randomly memorized her friend's phone make/model upon one viewing - which came in handy afterwards when she was at an abandoned drug store and decided to get a charger.

As well, the language and dialogue used by Katie didn't sound believable as an Amish - calling a phone a 'device' and 9/11 by that name - supposedly she only had been out of the compound a few times. It worked for the story, especially given that the old 'magician' hexenmeister knew from past histories of vampire infestations, but at one point I had to stop and roll my eyes at the clear lack of coherency or believability of the vampire plague. I was admittedly disappointed that the vampires followed the cliche rules: use garlic to ward them off, stake the heart/cut off the head to kill, glowing red eyes, damaged by holy water or holy things (regardless of the holy - from Stonehenge to a witches coven in NJ), able to hypnotize from a distance, etc. Of course, it makes for great reading as we follow her and discover more about the vampires and what has happened in the outside world. Katie is a bit rebellious and this will be both her boon and her downfall. She's given a love interest in the form of the boy outside and together they will philosophize a lot - he loves Egyptology and she has her Amish beliefs. The writing flows well and Katie is a likeable, even relatable, character. I am not a horror fan and tend to avoid the genre however, this was highly recommended for being different and I can see the appeal. With only an elderly 'hexenmeister' and a boy she saved/is hiding, Katie will have to find a way to get the Elders to accept the truth - especially now that the darkness has found a way into the community. Katie learns that the world has devolved into vampirism but the Elders won't listen to her, claim the problem is random wolves, and even Elijah, who lost two brothers in an outside City, is trying to shut her down. But then the apocalypse happens and the Elders close the community down to prevent outside contamination.

Story: Katie prepares for Rumspringa with her best friend Elijah it is a time she will get to experience the outside world and decide where she wants to be. But it is an easy read and I did complete it through to the end. A lot just didn't make sense and honestly even seemed kind of silly. The author does a great job of ratcheting up the terror and unease but at the same time, lack of an original type of vampire/zombie made this somewhat of a let down (e.g., garlic, invite them in, etc.). The Hallowed Ones is an old fashioned YA horror story with a twist: adding in the perspective of a slightly rebellious teen Amish heroine.

The hallowed ones by laura bickle