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Abandoned Prayers

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

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Abandoned Prayers

By: Gregg Olsen
Narrated by: Kevin Pierce
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About this listen

On Christmas Eve in 1985, a hunter found a young boy's body along an icy corn field in Nebraska. The residents of Chester, Nebraska buried him as "Little Boy Blue", unclaimed and unidentified - until a phone call from Ohio two years later led authorities to Eli Stutzman, the boy's father.

Eli Stutzman, the son of an Amish bishop, was by all appearances a dedicated farmer and family man in the country's strictest religious sect. But behind his quiet façade was a man involved with pornography, sadomasochism, and drugs. After the suspicious death of his pregnant wife, Stutzman took his preschool-age son, Danny, and hit the road on a sexual odyssey ending with his conviction for murder. But the mystery of Eli Stutzman and the fate of his son didn't end on the barren Nebraska plains. It was just beginning....

Gregg Olsen's Abandoned Prayers is an incredible true story of murder and Amish secrets.

©1990, 2021 Gregg Olsen (P)2021 Gregg Olen Murder True Crime Amish Crime Amish Nonfiction
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I’m not sure I can say that I enjoyed this book - the story is so twisted and grim. I did find it interesting and well told although I slowed the narrator down a bit. Not for the feint hearted.

Complex and sad story

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3 stars

The first half of this book was really interesting. I enjoyed reading about the Amish life and how they tried to keep troubled youth in the nest. I really feel for the family of Eli Stultzman and his late wife. They were honestly good people who didn't know how to deal with a troubled man. I wonder what would have happened to Eli if he was able to express his sexuality. Would he still have left a trail of destruction and bodies in his wake?

I feel terribly for Danny, Eli's family and his late wife's family were desperate to give Danny a happy life. Instead he ends up alone in a frozen ditch. There were so many people who would have loved and taken Danny, instead he died cold and alone. If he was murdered or died of neglect, doesn't really matter at this point, if he was not with Eli Stutzman he would still be alive.

I listened to this book on Audible, and I did struggle to keep al of the different people straight. Particularly all of the Eli's.

I am not really sure that this story was about "murder" or "obsession".

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This was such a boring story, to much about gay sex, it went on and on about it and really overshadowed the actual story, don’t waste your audible credit. I was waiting for more of the story to kick in but gave up halfway through the story.

Ugh!!! Don’t bother

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I chose this book because the author had written another title I’d enjoyed. I shouldn’t have though, because it was so boring. I don’t know whether it was the narrator or the writing or a combination of both, but I just couldn’t get into this, and I really wanted to given my credits had run out so I paid actual money for it. I managed to get through 8 chapters before I couldn’t tolerate any more. Felt like the narrator droned with details that didn’t move the story forward at all, the actual story felt very slow and didn’t hold my interest even a little bit. I tried to focus but it was just too boring and sounded like a story an old man would tell to nobody in particular that had no point or ending.

Boring, slow, dull and difficult to stay focused on (due to being boring)

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