Stray Voltage

by Karen Garloch

Hillie Schumacher has spent her life being the perfect farm wife and mother—keeping the household running, attending church, and helping work the land. But when a mysterious illness strikes the family’s dairy herd, threatening their livelihood, Hillie discovers a possible cause that is linked to the farm’s electrical supply. Her solution could save the farm, but her husband resists, the preacher urges her to trust God’s plan, and the electric co-op dismisses their concerns. With the farm on the brink of foreclosure and her family’s future at stake, Hillie must decide whether to speak out and risk everything she loves—or stay silent and lose the life she’s worked so hard to protect. Stray Voltage is a gripping story of marriage, resilience, and the fight to hold on to home.

290 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 22, 2026

Reviews

[Lisa Kline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I attended one of Karen Garloch’s presentations for Stray Voltage and when she said, “My book is about a farm wife who thinks she knows what’s wrong with their cattle but she can’t get the men to listen to her,” I was totally hooked, and started the book as soon as I got home. I admired Garloch’s precise and vivid writing, honed by her years as a reporter. She depicted the rural Indiana farm community with total authenticity. The main character, Hillie, is a family-oriented, church-going woman who nevertheless asks the questions, why is the management of the electric cooperative stonewalling us? Why did the newspaper’s editor kill the story about stray voltage? Why can’t a woman be an elder in our church? It’s satisfying to see traditional, low-key Hillie start pushing back against the patriarchy. I loved the fact that a female reporter is a key character. And the solution of the mystery of the dying cows has unexpected twists and turns. This will be a great book club book. Highly recommend!

[Linda K. Sienkiewicz · Rating 4 out of 5]

No one ever said farm life was easy, but Hillie’s life on a Holstein dairy farm in a strict Evangelical Lutheran community in the mid-1990s becomes downright treacherous when their cows start dropping dead. Her so-called Christian friends gossip behind her back. The reverend tells her to pray because, as a woman, her place is to listen to her husband. Meanwhile, her stubborn husband sinks into a deep depression, and someone accuses her son’s prize cow of spreading a contagion.

I admired Hillie’s determination to challenge tradition and search for answers on her own, even if it cost her friends, her standing in the community, or possibly even her marriage. I couldn’t put this book down.

[Denise Cline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the pleasure of reading an advanced review copy of this book and highly recommend it. It’s easy to pull for the Schumacher family, especially the protagonist Hillie who has dedicated her life to her family’s dairy farm. When the Indiana farm’s dairy herd begins to die, Hillie must challenge community leaders, her own husband and dear friends to save the farm from an unknown threat. Along the way, we glimpse the power dynamics between rural residents, utility companies,and even religious institutions. This page turner will have readers cheering for Hillie and her resilience in the face of formidable threats to family, farm and even friendships.

[Neel Stallings · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having grown up on a farm in Georgia, I can well appreciate the joys and heartaches Karen Garloch’s beautifully written novel describes. In Stray Voltage, the Schumacher family is facing the heartbreak of possibly losing their farm as their dairy cows are acting strange and mysteriously dying off. Hillie, the family’s devoted wife and mother, struggles with confronting those dear to her – husband, friends, preacher and local electric co-op – to get answers as her strength and spirit are constantly tested. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is a page-turner that kept me captivated through the last sentence!

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

FINALLY! A compelling story about everyday life challenges, a triumph of truth over the lies of the powerful....AND a setting in the country's heartland. Midwest-raised Karen Garloch creates a story set in rural America with all of the elements of a page-turner novel: unique and interesting characters, a strange affliction that has the potential to ruin a family's legacy farm, and a determined wife who won't quit asking questions and seeking answers. If you're a farm kid at heart, you'll enjoy every word. If you've never seen a cow's eyelashes or listened to farmers (and their wives) discuss the price of corn/wheat/soybeans or fertilizer, you'll learn a lot AND enjoy a great story.

[Pam Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

The setting is rural Southern Indiana in the mid-1990s, and the main character, Hillie Schumaker, is a God-fearing dairy farmer's wife. But don't be fooled. This book may feel like a cozy read, expertly conjuring a world of county fairs and Lutheran church suppers, but it's also a story of rebellion. When her family's cows keep dying mysteriously, Hillie must stand up to her husband and a deeply entrenched patriarchy to save both farm and family. In the process, she finds her voice. The writing is propulsive, and the ending is very satisfying.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I devoured this novel about the small devoted Schumacher family in little more than a day -- they and their friends and their world of farming happily took over my mind. I rooted for them in their trials and struggles and the awful difficulties of discovering why their cows are dying and then the impossibility of having someone believe and help them before it is too late and what they most cherish is destroyed. The author has created a whole world in her pages. Loved it!

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful story about multiple sides of family and community! Congratulations Karen on your first novel!