Dark Angel » (Reprint)

Karen Harper is a New York Times- and USA Today- bestselling author whose novels, both historical and contemporary, have been published worldwide. A former college and high school English instructor, Harper frequently travels to promote her books and speak about writing.

A dark secret hides in the heart of Maplecreek's Amish community.

One morning Leah Kurtz goes to wake her adopted infant daughter and instantly knows something is terribly wrong. She is convinced that her baby has been switched with another child. Afraid that no one will believe her, Leah turns to an unlikely ally, despite the fact that her Amish community frowns on its members seeking help in the outside world.

Dr. Mark Morelli studies the genetic illnesses that plague the Amish, but he has other, private reasons for coming to Maplecreek . . . reasons that may be tied to the mysterious disappearance of Leah's daughter. Together, Leah and Mark must uncover a conspiracy — before there are deadly consequences.

Publishers Weekly

Well-researched and rich in detail, this addictive follow-up to 2004's Dark Harvest transports readers back to the peaceful Amish community in rural Maplecreek, Ohio. Young spinster schoolteacher Leah Kurtz becomes involved in a conflict between her horse-and-buggy culture and futuristic genetic research after she agrees to adopt the infant daughter of a friend dying from one of the hereditary diseases that plague the Plain People (in real life as well as in fiction). Vicious graffiti targeting "English" outsider Mark Morelli, a doctor researching disease cures, sets a sinister mood that grows darker when his ultra-responsible, teenage Amish assistant mysteriously vanishes. After someone switches Leah's adopted baby in the cradle for another infant, Leah and Mark team up to investigate a series of unsolved disappearances that may lead back to Leah's former fianc , who abandoned her at the altar years earlier. With its tantalizing buildup and well-developed characters, which ensure that the burgeoning romance between Leah and Mark is as potent as the book's suspense, this offering is certain to earn Harper high marks. (June) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.