Harmless

by Ernie Lindsey

There's someone for everyone...even Steve.

Steve Pendragon is an eccentric (and sometimes delusional) used car salesman in love with Kerry, the quiet, secretive girl next door--only she doesn't know it. When the would-be love of his life turns up dead, all signs point to Steve.

Once the detectives hit a dead end in their investigation and he becomes the prime suspect, Steve is left with only a reluctant police officer and a crooked private investigator to help him prove his innocence. Could a kindhearted homeless woman and a cryptic note in Kerry's diary provide the key to the mystery?

Genres: Mystery, Amazon, Humor, Romance, Fiction, Mystery Thriller

395 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 16, 2013

About the author

Ernie Lindsey grew up in the Appalachian Mountains of southwest Virginia, working on the family farm and reading, and has spent his life telling stories to anyone that will listen. He currently works as a freelance writer and is the author of five Mystery & Suspense novels and numerous short stories. When he's not writing, you can find him tackling the gigantic To Be Read list on his Kindle or the never-ending stack of books in his office.

Ernie and his family live in Oregon, along with a multi-fingered Hemingway cat named Luna.

Head over to Ernie's site where you can pick up some free Kindle books. Join him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ErnieLindseyFiction.

Reviews

[Steve · Rating 2 out of 5]

Definitely not in the mood for this type of book. DNF@17%

[Dale · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Review of the Audiobook

Published in 2013 by Ernie Lindsey
Read by DJ Holte
Duration: 10 hours, 34 minutes
Unabridged

First things first - this is a weird book. It was written to be that way. The author, Ernie Lindsey, set out to write a book in which the main character is totally unlikable but by the end of the book the reader will be rooting for this unlikable fellow.

Did he succeed?

Well, Steve Pendragon is certainly unlikable. It's not like he is an evil man. Rather, he is a clueless, thoughtless man. He keeps on flirting with his neighbor long after he should have gotten the clue that she did not want him to flirt with her any longer (in an office environment it would have careened into sexual harassment territory long before). It's not like he backs her up in the corner and puts his hands on her. He just does creepy things like have her mail delivered to his house so he has to walk it to her door every day. He stares at her from his window as she sunbathes. He gets into her car to roll her windows up when it is starting to rain and also uses the opportunity to dig through her mail.

Plus, he is clueless about all of his relationships. He is Herb from WKRP in Cincinnatti. He knows he is awesome but everyone else knows he is at best average and certainly annoying. He talks non-stop about stuff that nobody cares about and he never listens.

One evening Steve's world is turned upside down. His neighbor is shot and thrown from her upstairs window. Steve tries to catch the murderer before he escapes from her house but he is knocked out. He digs through her belongings before he calls the police (why? Because he's an idiot, as noted above) and when the police rule that it is a suicide he knows that he has to solve her murder himself. Once he heads off on this quest, Steve is going to learn as much about himself as he will about his murdered beautiful neighbor...

Read more at: http://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/2015/...

[Randy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Protagonist Steven Alistair Pendragon is certainly a character in HARMLESS. He's a narcissist that believes everything he does is perfect, his whole family line actually, and if you speak with him more than a minute, you're bosom buddies. Author Ernie Lindsey has accomplished something here: he's taken a character unlikable on the surface and made the reader accept him as sympathetic.

Steve, with a V, has fixated on his new neighbor, an early thirties beauty, and built up a budding relationship with her. She ignores him and it doesn't slow him down a bit.

And then he hears a gunshot and sees her body come hurtling out of an upstairs window. He rushes down, sees she's dead, and goes into the house after the killer, only to be knocked unconscious. Coming to, he searches the house and learns the neighbor may have had a bit of a fixation on him as well. Some of his clothes, magazines, and pictures printed up from his cell phone were found.

And her diary.

It hadn't been written in in years until one entry in the back. A letter to him explaining her circumstances and telling him that if he's reading this, she's dead.

At first the cops rule it a suicide, then all of a sudden, they are after Steve for the murder. He's on the run with only a patrol cop, one of those instant buddies, believing his story and helping him

Ernie Lindsey throws several twists into the story along the way and kept me guessing to the end. The best kind of fiction.

[Lana Taylor · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not impressed

I did not like this book and don’t consider it a psychological thriller at all. It was full of empty phrases and a great deal of rambling. I forced myself to read it to the end so that I could leave a fair review. It may be that I am just not a fan of this particular style of writing and if this author writes his other books in this style then I will not be reading them. I don’t like leaving bad reviews as all books are mostly personal preference anyway.

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read. That's what I do.
I haven't read a book I've enjoyed more in a long time.
I hate to admit this, but, I know someone who is kinda/sorta like Steve with a V.
Highly recommend !!

[Tbabe001 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my cup of tea.....too much crazy for me

[Sonja Bristow · Rating 2 out of 5]

the main character was so annoying I was just hoping he would die at one point. the author did an alright job in explaining the character's issue at the end, but it also felt too convenient.

[Rebecca Tutton · Rating 4 out of 5]

An original story

I love stories that are original and this is one. As you follow Steve, the main character, you will learn he is likable, weird and maybe not the sharpest knife in the drawer. He is eccentric and genuinely nice. You like him. As the murder occurs and Steve gets involved, the story takes off and has twists and turns. But you root for Steve because he is weird and really nice. And he truly finds a soulmate in this story which is such a sweet and sad point on homelessness. The end is unpredictable and the bad guys get their just desserts. And Steve wins. The author tells the story thru Steve’s eyes and Steve can ramble and get off mark. Any other way would not work for this story. Read it. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Liz Warwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rare 4 from me. Unconventional? Yes. Well written? Yes. Very enjoyable? Yes indeed.

I didn't think i would enjoy this to start with, but within a couple of pages i was intrigued and in no time at all i was hooked. Thank you Mr Lindsey, Steve is a joy (not to have around for very long of course, i would probably have murderous intent myself after a few m̶o̶n̶t̶h̶s̶,̶ ̶w̶e̶e̶k̶s̶,̶ ̶d̶a̶y̶s̶.) I look forward to reading more of your work. P. S. Your professional proofing and editing is also appreciated; didn't wince once.

[Laurie Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing like I expected!

I got this as a free Bookbub download, because it sounded like something I would like. It didn't start out that way! As the author himself says at the end, the main character is very unlikeable, very strange, but as the story progresses, you find yourself understanding him better and rooting for him.
The books is very well written and I found I couldn't put it down after about half way through. Definitely "an unconventional love story" and ends with a twist. I'd recommend it!

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm honestly so tired of protagonists being mentally ill as the endgame twist. It's overdone. This one gets points for it at least being a different, unusual kind of mental illness with Steve being so confident. The last 20% or so when he randomly meets a homeless woman who has a similar sense of humor seemed out of left field.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good book

You people should just read this book yourselves and write your own review on this novel yourself and I really enjoyed reading this book very much so. Shelley MA

[Meghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this book!

[Penny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting writing perspective. Enjoyed this one quite a bit.

[Carol Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Steve (with a v) is definitely the center point of the novel. While it's a mystery, it's really more about the character than the plot. He's an odd guy: obsessive-compulsive, a bit delusional, a stalker, an ardent admirer of the postal service. He functions in life, holding a job, but doesn't have any close friends, unless you count the mailman or the lady at the Laundromat, or officer Thomas who he tried to sell a car to once upon a time. He's a little nutty - talk about an unreliable narrator. He starts unlikable but eventually you start rooting for him and hoping it won't turn out that he did actually kill Kerry.

The story takes a couple of odd turns and a couple of twists I didn't see coming, given that all I had was Steve's version of the world. He doesn't exactly have a clear grasp of what's going on, although there is definitely maybe a cop determined to prove Steve is the killer, even when Kerry's diary points in another direction.

It's an unusual story, worth picking up.

[Angela Grand · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty good book!! I had a hard time putting it down. There was nothing left unfinished. I hate when stories leave you wondering about any little thing, this book was nothing like that. Everything was explained and descriptive. I really enjoyed reading this story. Love/thrilling it was all in there. Steve is a very descriptive character, there were some things that he would explain that would leave me wondering. The book brought everything together at the end with a twist. Loved it!!!

[Robbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I nearly gave up on this book because the main character was impossible to like. I'm so glad I kept reading; the story was very unusual, sometimes funny, sometimes hard to understand. The character definitely grew on me so much that he became surprisingly lovable. Nice job, Ernie Lindsey. If the rating system would allow it, I'd rate this one 4.8 stars. I'll definitely be reading more of your books.

[Traci Lamothe · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first started reading this book. i was ready to put it up and not pick it up again. Well I kept reading and found out I really wanted to not finish it. The main character Steven is a rambler he talks about stuff that at times has nothing to do with the book at all. Well i did finish it and found out that I felt sorry for him. At the end I was cheering for him. If you read the book be patient with it.

[Linda Ewankowich · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an odd book, with an equally odd, very unlikeable main character. I read an article the author wrote about the character, wanting to "write a book with un unlikeable protagonist, and see if by the end of the book he can make the reader likes the character". Well, for me he succeeded, I liked Steve at the end and wanted things to work out for him. This was an interesting, quick "beach" read.

[Stunatra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was going to quit this, because the main character has diarrea of the mouth (or keyboard, if you prefer), but I checked the reviews and a few of them said to stick with it, it gets better. With some skimming, along with some laughs, it did certainly get better and I enjoyed it. Somewhere towards the end is turned into a real page turner. A great twist ending that I didn't see coming, but I certainly should have.

[Scott Leffler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inner conflict...

Never before have I read a book that had me hating the so-called protagonist ... while wanting to read more. I actually read a few other books in between starting and finishing this one because "Steve" irked me so.

But I kept coming back because as much of a jerk as Steve seemed to be, I wanted to know how things worked out.

Kudos to Ernie Lindsey for creating such confusion in my normally ordered mind. I can't recommend this book strongly enough.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book as a freebie tip from BookBub. I wasn't sure I liked it in the beginning (mostly because I have a really hard time feeling any sympathy for a character who's cheated on his wife), but it got more and more interesting as it went along, and by the end I was (mostly) won over. If you like a quirky mystery with a unique unreliable narrator, you might give this one a try.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The main character is more than quirky. He's an odd duck who is disliked by most who meet him. He knows this because people are completely honest with him about how annoying he is. When I started this novel, I thought I would abandon it at the beginning because I was not sympathetic to the character, but instead I continued reading. He just grew on me.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was carried along mostly by the unique narrator, who is self-absorbed, narcissistic and possibly unhinged. By the end I was genuinely impressed that he develops into a three-dimensional character, one you begrudgingly like and ultimately root for.

[Teresa Lavender · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story. Enjoyed this, but really did not expect it to go where it did.

[Rachelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A freebie from BookBub,this novel was a departure from what I normally read. The main character was pretty weird, but I ended up rooting for him.

[Michelle Bakun]

H

[Harl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it. Pendragon narrates in a quirky way, and I like the break from more normal writing.

[Kara Rebertus · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it!!!!!!! really interesting and good twists

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow

I really like Steve and he meets his new neighbor it's a girl. He likes her and she gets killed, so he gets framed and you got to read this book it's awesome.