There’s nothing more deflating than reading a series and getting to the book with a favorite character who has peeked in and out of the previous books and have the book not live up to your expectations. That’s how I felt when I finished The Survivor.

In the first book in the series, The Caregiver, readers were introduced to Mattie Lapp, a young Amish woman fighting breast cancer. The caregiver of the title arrives to help take care of Mattie as she goes through a mastectomy and chemotherapy.

Also helping Mattie is her neighbor and best friend, Graham Weaver, who stands by her, sometimes going to doctor visits with her, sometimes holding her while she vomits, but no matter the circumstance always supportive. He may not profess his love in words, but he certainly does in deeds.

When I learned the book after The Protector was going to be Mattie’s story, I was intrigued. Obviously she was going to end up with Graham. Their love was a slam dunk. So where was the story? But the promo said that another Amish woman would claim that Graham impregnated her. How could this be? So primed for the story, I eagerly awaited the book.

True to the promo, Jenna, whom Graham took out once or twice when he thought Mattie only saw him as a friend, declares to his family that he is the father of her upcoming child. Graham vehemently denies this.

He is still reeling from Mattie’s asking him to introduce her to some of the Amish men he works with at the garage door factory. Although he promises that he will, in his heart of hearts he balks at doing so.

On her side, Mattie has given up on Graham ever declaring himself to her and wants to be “normal,” something she hasn’t felt since her initial diagnosis. She wants what all the other women of her age group have: A husband, a house, and children. She sees her life slipping away with her battle against cancer.

When Jenna makes her declaration public, everyone, including Graham’s family, is stunned and it is only gradually that his family begins to believe him although the rest of the community doesn’t. In fact, he seems almost condemned because he doesn’t agree to marry the woman.

This is one of the biggest stumbling blocks for me. Graham and his family are well respected in the community, a family in good standing, friends with everyone. Although the community condemns Jenna for her part in the pregnancy, they are quick to include Graham in her shame. Oddly, it is only the non-Amish Christian pastor and his wife who don’t look down on the woman.

Equally odd to me is the fact that no one in Graham’s family and close friends wonders who the real father of Jenna’s child is. While they finally believe him innocent, no one challenges the woman to reveal the real father’s name. Nor do they make a concerted effort to clear Graham’s name with the rest of the community. The prevailing attitude is pretty much “the scandal will die down,” which translates to mean that no one need speak up and champion him.

This attitude was very unsettling to me. While I don’t think the Amish are all angels by any means, I can’t believe that when one of them is accused of fathering a child out of wedlock, a child to whom he denies any relationship, that his family and close friends wouldn’t make an effort to clear his name, if not for their sakes, but for his.

Consequently, The Survivor grew more and more unbelievable as I kept reading, and ultimately the book I looked forward to reading disappointed rather than entertained.