#4 Rowan Gant investigation, in which Rowan is once again stalked and terrorized by religious nut Eldon Porter. Eldon thinks of himself as God’s helper and is on a witch-hunt, and Gant is a self-professed Witch. When a member of Rowan and Felicity’s coven is found dead—tortured and disemboweled with a personal note for Rowan, he once again goes into high gear to try to figure out Porter’s next move and prevent any more loss of life. With the help of his good friend Ben Storm, a St. Louis detective on the Major Crimes Squad, Rowan has a leg up—however, Ben is teetering on the edge of respectability himself, especially with his new boss, “Bible Barb,” a right-wing Christian who, like the crazy Mr. Porter, has no knowledge of Pagan beliefs and thinks Rowan is a devil worshiper.

With plenty of fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat action, this book definitely classifies as a thriller and was hard to put down. Where it falls down is with believable dialogue and character development and a certain repetitiveness of themes. Much of the conflict and dialogue seems to be a re-hash of previous books and the dialogue always manages to sound somewhat stilted to my ear. And the constant and frequent descriptions of Rowan’s migraines and ‘seizures’ wore thin after awhile. I was a little confused (as a nurse) as to why no one suggested Rowan have a CT scan and get himself on some anti-seizure medication at some point. That, coupled with his crippling headaches, could easily signal a brain tumor or other serious physical abnormality—yet it’s always written off as just part of his psychic abilities manifesting itself. Still, it is refreshing to find at least a somewhat realistic picture of Pagan belief and practice portrayed. ( )