Harm None: A Rowan Gant Investigation Book 1 -- BOOKRING
21 journalers for this copy...
MURDEROUS SATAN WORSHIPPING WITCHES
When a young woman is ritualistically murdered in her Saint Louis apartment with the primary clue being a pentacle scrawled in her own blood, police are quick to dismiss it as a cult killing. Not one for taking things at face value, city homicide detective Ben Storm calls on his long time friend, Rowan Gant- a practicing Witch- for help.
In helping his friend, Rowan discovers that the victim is one of his former pupils. Even worse, the clues that he helps to uncover show that this murder is only a prelude to even more ritualistic bloodletting for dark purposes.
As the body count starts to rise, Rowan is suddenly thrust into an investigation where not only must he help stop a sadistic serial killer, but also must fight the prejudices and suspicions of those his is working with--including his best friend.
http://www.bookcrossing.com/forum/20/1071185/ for details and links to each individual title in the series.
This book is traveling along with Never Burn a Witch, Book 2 of the series. Books 3 and 4, Perfect Trust and The Law of Three are traveling together as a separate ring.
Current ring participants (last modified 08-Jun-2007):
· dufffy, CT, USA (ship Intl)
· mysterylady36, MO, USA (ship Intl)
· BrynnSC, SC, USA (ship Intl)
· BountifulPots, KS, USA (ship Intl)
· Metropolitan, Brazil (pref US/Canada)
· catsalive, Australia (ship Intl/surface)
·
· Alithia, New Zealand (ship Intl)
· cathepsut (formerly SpottedDolphin), Egypt (ship Intl)
· Kislany, Cyprus (ship Europe)
· CandyDarling (formerly Candy80), Finland (ship Intl)
· dodau, UK (ship Intl)
· NeedSun, Ontario, Canada (ship Intl)
· Heaven150, Alberta, Canada (ship Intl)
· MollyGrue, WA, USA (ship US)
· adrienne10, NE, USA (ship Intl)
·
· innae, CO, USA (ship Intl) (already read Harm None, book 1)
· schoolinathome, AL, USA (ship ?)
· huntersmith, GA, USA (keep towards end)
· octoberskye, MA, USA (ship Intl)
· Morgaine77, Switzerland (pref Europe)
· morpha, NY, USA (pref US) <== book is LOST here
· explorer1118m, NJ, USA (pref US)
· Shawnna, TN, USA (pref US/CA, Intl if nec.)
· MaplesFlowers, TN, USA (ship Intl)
· boogal, NY, USA (ship ?)
· CheriePie, MA, USA <== returned to me
- Send me a message if you'd like to be added to the ring. I don't mind adding participants after the ring has begun, but your place in the list will be determined based on your geographic location in conjunction with what is most convenient for the other participants.
- The above list order may be amended to accomodate new participants or those who wish to leave the ring. Because of this, you should always check this journal entry, which will contain the most up-to-date version of the list, to verify whom you should send the book(s) to when you're done.
- When ready to send the book(s) on their way to the next member, you should message the person following your own name in the list and request their mailing address. If that person doesn't respond to your messages within 2 weeks (to allow for vacations), skip over them and message the person after them instead so the book can continue to move along. Make sure to let me know if this happens so I can follow up with the skipped member to determine if they should be readded to the end of the list or removed completely.
- Please post a journal entry here (1) when you first receive the book so we can keep track where it's at, and (2) after you've finished reading it and are ready to send it along. Of course, please include your thoughts and opinions on the book itself too. :)
- For courtesy sake, please try not to hang on to a single title for more than a month as others are also waiting to read it. Since this book is traveling in tandem with another in the series, you could reasonably have them in your possession for up to two months. However, you should definitely be able to begin reading the first title within a month of when you received it. If you don't think you can get to the book in that timeframe, you can request to be skipped over and added to the end of the ring instead. Just use your best judgement so as not to hold up the ring.
- Remember that at the end of the list, THIS BOOK SHOULD BE RETURNED TO ME, not released into the wild. I enjoy rereading my favorite books over time, and lend them out to other people in my life too, who are not necessarily members of BookCrossing.
THANKS AND ENJOY THE ROWAN GANT INVESTIGATIONS!
Released 19 yrs ago (10/4/2004 UTC) at
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
Released to dufffy as first person in bookring. Packaged up on Saturday to be put in Monday's mail pickup.
The story itself was very good. It held my interest and made me want to keep reading to find out the outcome. The characters and their relationships are developed in a way that made me actually care about them and the mystery kept me guessing. I did finally figure out where he was going with it, but it did take me almost until the end to get there.
As soon as I finish book 2, I will send them on together! Thanks for letting me experience these books!
Rowan isn't an all powerful witch defending off the baddies; he's a regular sorta guy who faces the expected difficulties of everyday life. When his previous pupil turns up murdered in a ritualistic way, he knows that it'll take a witch to find the murderer. Being able to 'tune' (for lack of a better word) himself in to the crime and with the help of his former pupil's spirit in nightmares giving him clues, Rowan slowly starts to unravel the mystery and convince his best friend/investigating officer of the truth of Wicca.
I was hooked on this book from the very beginning. I thought at first that Rowan's relationship with his wife was a little too perfect. Later I felt that their religion had caused them to be closer and more understanding of each other. Ben was a great authoritive character and friend to Rowan. While not, at first, believing in the things that Rowan could do, he stood by and trusted him. I only had 2 things that I didn't like. One was that a major suspect was named RJ. My son's name is RJ. I kept picturing a younger version of my hubby and thinking "RJ wouldn't do that!" lol Alright, I know that's not really justifiable. ;-)
For spoiler reasons, you'll have to highlight below to see what else bothered me:
We never find out what the killer is trying to accomplish. The murders were all leading up to something big, and I felt left hanging on that account. Maybe it'll come up in the next book...
Thanks for sharing your books, CheriePie! We have such similar tastes, that I know that I can trust a recommendation from you. ;-) On a side note, I was so engrossed in the book that I *had* to stay up to 4AM to finish it last night. LOL
It had me on the edge of my seat in many parts. I found the characters well described and the language easy to understand.
The book is already on its way to catsalive in Australia.
I swear if had I read one more bloody epithet to describe Felicity O'Brien’s head I would have screamed. We get the idea OK. She's a red-head. In fact, she's red-haired, fiery-tressed & auburn-maned. Aaarghh!!
The caring & sharing gets a bit cloying too. The characters seem to be trying to outdo each other in the who-cares-for-who-most and who-can-be-most-abject stakes. The author seems to be trying too hard both here & with the dialogue. Do we have to add ‘man’ to every other sentence? And if we do, shouldn’t it continue throughout the book & not stop half way through? Make up your mind Mr Sellars. Maybe these are just a result of first-book-nerves, and poor editing.
OK, having said all that, the story itself was very entertaining, if fantastical. As a suspense thriller it drew me in so I had to stay up late & finish it. I like the main characters, most of the secondary characters, and the cats and dogs, although the dogs seemed to have been slung in just for the hell of it. I like Rowan very much even if he is a bit slow on the uptake. Ben Storm is a great character too, if surprisingly sceptical of non-mainstream spirituality given his supposed Native American background.
My overall enjoyment of Harm None has me looking forward the the 2nd book, Never Burn a Witch, with great expectations. I’ll just have to put my inner pedant to sleep before I begin.
CAUGHT IN CHRISTCHURCH NEW ZEALAND
I did enjoy this book, although I do agree with catsalive in that a little more care could have been taken by the editors. It was a good story for a stress release after exams.
I don't know why, but I was surprised that the main characters were guys, guess I brought into the stereotype that witches are women... naughty me, I should know better.
I am in the middle of a another book, will get to Harm None in a week or so....
UPDATE 24/06/05 - just finished my current book, will start this now! Sorry, I am not as fast as you other guys...
UPDATE 01/07/05 - I finished it yesterday and will send it on to kislany, as soon as I finished Never Burn A Witch.
I wasn't really sure, what I was getting. Witches, magic, something like "Charmed", but on paper? It turned out to be a pretty good crime novel with an alternative religion as a backdrop. The main character, Rowan Gant, is a Wiccan - a witch. Not one with a broom, not even an electrified one, but someone believing in a pagan religion. And Sellars makes it feel like the most normal thing in the world, even when it turns supernatural.
The characters are well drawn, Rowan is a nice guy - Sellars' alter ego, I am sure -, his police friend Ben Storm is a nice guy, the bad guy is really evil - perhaps a little one-dimensional and too sugary on occassion. And the style is a bit flowery for my taste. A lot of adjectives and the first sentence of the book made me scream and almost throw it into a corner in disgust, but the story is so good, that already during the first chapter I decided to ignore that and get on with it.
Very good, I am looking forward to the next one. Although the sometimes convoluted style and grammar make me cringe, it's worth it!
I am wondering the same thing as BrynnSC, but will not elaborate on it for spoiler reasons.
Linkage:
Official website of the author
Introduction to the Wiccan religion
Released 18 yrs ago (7/18/2005 UTC) at mail in By mail, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
Will have to finish both books by the end of next week and send them on, as I'll be away for most of August abroad on holidays, and I don't want to hold up the books for the entire summer.
Since I see that everyone so far had a petpeeve with the book, I'll add mine too. It was the continuous use of the word 'slash'. Like in wicca slash witchcraft, etc. At first I found it midly amusing, but by the 20th occurance, amusing turned to irritating. Nevertheless that didn't spoil the effect of the book on me, which was great. I will start today on the second one (what else is good a Saturday afternoon if not for sitting in balcony reading a good supernatural mystery), and will post both books sometimes next week. Will go in separate envelopes to CD (I already have her address), as the shipping costs increase here exponentially with the added weight per package...
Released 18 yrs ago (7/25/2005 UTC) at
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
Sending it to CD. Enjoy :)
I'm looking forward to reading the next books in this series. Sent to dodau August 22nd.
Released 18 yrs ago (9/13/2005 UTC) at To the next participant in Bookring/Bookray, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- Canada
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
I have Heaven150's address so I can get this in the mail today.
Update November 1: Sent surface mail today to Heaven150.
As catsalive mentioned, the constant describing of Felicity's hair did get annoying. It seemed almost every new female character was introduced by her hair colour - strawberry blonde, auburn, fiery-tressed, etc.
And I found the dialogue between characters a little unnatural. They would get mad at each other and in the next sentence all is forgiven.
Besides that, I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
I have a book for a relay that I'm almost done, so I will save myself a trip to the post office and mail them both out together in the next couple of days.
Reserved for the next reader.
DC# 03041070000256435273
Released 18 yrs ago (3/4/2006 UTC) at In The Mail in Bookring, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
Happy reading!
While I have read crime novels before, they are not my novel of choice. I did like the twist of how the crimes were being committed and how Rowan Gant, who makes his living doing something with computers (it was a bit vague), gets sucked into helping his detective friend solve the crimes.
MR Sellars loves his descriptions with his adjectives and flowery words. The constant addition of "man" at the beginning of the novel to all the dialogue lines drove me a little batty. I don't know people who talk like that, so it seemed forced to me, not natural.
I enjoyed this novel. I look forward to reading the next novel, which is sitting right here. I also have the next reader's address, so as soon I as finish Never Burn a Witch, I can pass both books along.
Thanks for sharing these books!
schoolinathome advises she has found other copies and already read these, so...they will be headed of to huntersmith soon!
I already got morpha's address and I will send both Rowan Gant books to her during my US-vacation in July to save some postage. (gotta take advantage of that... ;-))
Released 16 yrs ago (7/4/2007 UTC) at BookRing in ☑ 'Controlled Release' > Country > Province > City, .---controlled release---. Switzerland
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
Shipped off this morning from San Diego with Media Mail.