Customer Reviews

Perfect Trust: A Rowan Gant Investigation

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was in the middle of one of Patricia Cornwall's Kay Scarpetta mysteries when I picked up "Never Burn a Witch," the second book in the Rowan Gant series. After only a few pages, I put Cornwall aside until I finished it - and didn't go back to it until I'd finished "Perfect Trust" and "The Law of Three."

With each book, the stakes grow higher for Rowan Gant. There is a real sense of place in the St. Louis setting. The positive portrayal of pagan religion makes it a fascinating read, but Sellars never lets the religious aspect overshadow the mystery. This is a more personal story than the first two books in the series. When the danger comes too close to home, it impacts Gant with crushing realism, and we hurt with him. It takes a stellar storytellar to make that kind of impact on a reader.

I cannot recommend the Rowan Gant series highly enough.

M.R. Sellars made a strong start with "Harm None", the debut of the Rowan Gant series. The first book was a very good read; an eerie and exciting mystery, well written and full of suspense, made even better by the added dimension of modern witchcraft entwined with police investigation. I absolutely loved "Harm None".

The second Rowan Gant book, "Never Burn a Witch", was also a very good read. Although not quite up to the toe-curling evil of "Harm None", I still found it very engrossing. I was delighted when the third book of the series, "Perfect Trust", arrived last week. I settled down for what I expected to be a great night's reading.....

I found this book to be a disappointment. In contrast to the previous books, there is very little character development, the crimes themselves are quite mundane, and Rowan's main claim to fame - that of being a psychic/witch - really has very little to do with the crimes at all. Despite the introduction of a red herring and many attempts at misdirecting the reader, the eventual ending (and the killer) is painfully obvious from the first 50 pages.

When "Perfect Trust" finally limped to its unsatisfying end, I was left feeling like the story never really got started. Although I had known exactly who the killer was for over 300 pages, I still had no real reason WHY.

This is not a terrible book, and is still worth a look, but don't judge the series by this entry! Read "Harm None" instead - or at least, first!

This is the third volume of the Rowan Gant occult detective series. It opens just before Christmas almost a year after the dramatic bridge scene that ended 'Never Burn a Witch.' Rowan is still haunted by his close brush with death, and is unable to shake the belief that Eldon Porter, the witch hunter, still lives. Because of this, Rowan is having a great deal of difficulty remaining grounded. Already experiencing chilling nightmares, Gant is on the edge of being overwhelmed spiritually. He is even beginning to sleepwalk.

Inevitably, Rowan's sleepwalking (actually, sleepdriving) leads him to the site of a death, one which the police are still investigating. This puts him in conflict with his wife Felicity, and his friend Ben Storm. Both of them have watched Rowan gradually deteriorate, and have agreed to keep him out of any further 'investigations.' When Rowan starts automatic writing on top of everything else, Felicity and Ben insist that the witch seek psychological help. The stress is inescapable though, and Rowan realizes that he has become connected with a dead rape victim, and his nightmares are visions of the crimes of a serial rapist.

Rowan is clearly out of control, and the resistance from his wife and friend make things only worse, cutting him off from support when he dearly needs it. Instead, his closest human contacts become the demonic cheerleader who is haunting him as she seeks her own brand of justice and with the mind of the rapist himself. But the clues refuse to gel, and soon even more is at stake. Rowan is beginning to succumb to compulsions set by the victims. With his own sanity at risk, is becomes more and more clear that, lacking a solution, Rowan will face overwhelming loss and pain.

The plot is fairly complex, and would have been a complete puzzler if a tiny snippet of conversation in the last third of the book blown the killer's cover for me. This is one of those things I hate as a reader - when you know who did it, and the sleuth is still clueless. I also find Rowan's habit of seizing disaster whenever the opportunity presents itself makes him a bit unsympathetic. The man has a suicidal heroing complex. Of course, the personal issue here is Rowan's self-destructiveness, so this is forgivable -- this time.

Sellars writes well, although his characters are a bit too uncomplicated for the circumstances. This plot has some imaginative twists, and the story arc about Rowan's nemesis, the witch hunter, is beginning to develop as well. If Rowan will grow up a bit, and Ben Storm figures out how to stop acting like a cigar store Indian, there is great potential for a long-term series. Of course, if Rowan doesn't get it together, there won't be much more of a series anyway, just a ring side seat at the next witch's funeral. I heartily recomment acquiring the early volumes in the series. They are good fun, and will explain some of the events mentioned in 'Perfect Trust.'

The editing hasn't gotten any better than it was in the first 2, the writing is a bit better but still clumsy, and the author still has a tendency to preach. That said, I still like it, rather a lot.

It's the most realistic portrayal of Wicca I've seen yet. I get the feeling he's sort of writing a character loosely based on himself and his own wife. It makes a real change from the other stuff out there, and while I mentioned the editing and stuff, all that's not really a flaw. The only thing I really consider a flaw is the lack of a sense of humor in the books. Yes, grim situation and all, but humor is still a good thing.

For the fantastic element, I'd recommend .. in adition to these... the Weetzie Bat books, which have a terrific sense of humor, and are generaly less grim.

But if you like grim, I'd say go with Andrew Vachss, who does grim better than anyone, only with funny bits too.

Remember: your mind is like soup. What ingredients you put in affect the flavor of the whole thing.

Perfect Trust by M.R. Sellars

This is the third of the Rowan Gant series. It's different from the first two; there's more psychology and high weirdness, and less action. It took me til about 2/3 of the way through the book to really get into it, but it was worth it.

It's fun getting into a character's head--in this case, Rowan--and seeing just how close to insanity he can get without falling over the edge--or knowing the reason.

The thing I've learned, though, with mysteries in general, is to pay attention to detail. I won't say anything more than that. But with this one, everything snapped into focus within the last couple of chapters. There's one detail that'll throw you for a loop, though!

Overall, another good book! Not as easy for me to read as the others, but still, worth the money.

This book was as good if not better than the first. Still as horrifying and with twists and turns that a good mystery should have. A wonderful chance to delve into a Wiccan mind and worldview!

Want a book that you can't put down? Grabs you by the arm and plunges you into the drama? Perfect Trust is it! M.R. Sellars is a brillant writer who can thrust you into his world and carry you to the end! This book keeps you guessing to the end. Now M.R. Sellars, how will you top this??

M.R. Sellars does it again. Perfect Trust is a great read. In this one you get a mystery and some great character development of Rowan and friends. If you enjoyed Harm None and Never Burn a Witch you will love this one. If you have not, then you really need to pick this up. M.R. Sellars is an exceptional writer with realistic characters and very intense story lines. All his books are like this.
Warning, once you start to read this book you won't be able to put it down.

This is a great series of mystery books that deal with Witchcraft in a very respectable way. The main characters are witches who help the law decipher occult symbols found at a St.Louis murder site. It's a fairly realistic portrayal of wiccans. Christians won't approve, but the book gets heavily into the craft and it's tenants.

Check this one out, it was a rollercoaster ride.

In the third of the RGI series, poor Rowan is overwhelmed, and out of control, driven by his psychic connection the dead. His gift, his "calling" hinders him as much as it may be helping his friend, Ben, solve murders. This book is a rollercoaster ride of creepy, chills and whodunit!
This installment is more enjoyable if you have already read the first two books in the series, Harm None and Never Burn a Witch, but if you haven't, that's okay too. The characters are compelling and Rowan's fear and angst, his struggle to save his sanity, his self, his very life will keep you on the edge of your seat!
Mr. Sellars has given us yet another gripping read about our favorite pagan/occult police consultant!