What do you think?
Rate this book
Harding #1
This Far, No Further
No boundaries. No limits. No turning back.
His boots are frozen. His hands are covered with the blood and sweat of a trashed motel room where a wealthy Chicago doctor has been on a binge of sex, sadism, and drugs. Harding is just doing his job, an unlicensed PI running surveillance on a cheating husband. At stake is a woman's divorce settlement, two million dollars in a Swiss bank account, and some harrowing videotape. But for Harding, a simple domestic case is about to explode into the Chicago night.
Suddenly, the investigation into Elenya Rosenberg's depraved doctor husband is leading Harding to places he can't afford to go-and to a bizarre killer with a taste for body-piercing and ancient Greek philosophy. And as Harding gets closer to the sordid truth about the Rosenbergs, he collides with a violent chapter of his own past-when Harding made a choice, a bad man went free, and a good man went too far, but also not far enough. . .
His boots are frozen. His hands are covered with the blood and sweat of a trashed motel room where a wealthy Chicago doctor has been on a binge of sex, sadism, and drugs. Harding is just doing his job, an unlicensed PI running surveillance on a cheating husband. At stake is a woman's divorce settlement, two million dollars in a Swiss bank account, and some harrowing videotape. But for Harding, a simple domestic case is about to explode into the Chicago night.
Suddenly, the investigation into Elenya Rosenberg's depraved doctor husband is leading Harding to places he can't afford to go-and to a bizarre killer with a taste for body-piercing and ancient Greek philosophy. And as Harding gets closer to the sordid truth about the Rosenbergs, he collides with a violent chapter of his own past-when Harding made a choice, a bad man went free, and a good man went too far, but also not far enough. . .
384 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
2 people are currently reading
49 people want to read
About the author
John Wessel
15 books3 followersJohn Wessel is the author of THIS FAR, NO FURTHER and PRETTY BALLERINA. He lives with his wife in a suburb of Chicago.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 2, 2018
I don't remember this one at all. I may have kept it due to its unique book jacket design where the title letters were cut out of the dust jacket paper on the front cover. Looks like it was the 1st of 3 Harding novels. Sue Grafton gave it a blurb.
Saying goodbye to several dozen books due to a water damage incident and I thought I'd write at least a little memorial to each of them and about why I kept them around.
Saying goodbye to several dozen books due to a water damage incident and I thought I'd write at least a little memorial to each of them and about why I kept them around.
December 18, 2017
Decent first effort. Needs to be tightened up, too many useless characters and useless pages and stuff that ties together, but shows potential.
May 19, 2020
It's been a long time since I read this. But I remember I liked it very much. Starts off kind of sketchy but it grows on you. Wouldnt mind checking out another one of his books.
May 22, 2020
Intense, twisted, and dark. I could not put it down!!
March 15, 2017
Fast paced, edge of your seat thriller.
Loved it!
Loved it!
March 20, 2014
Dr. Stephen Rosenberg is mistreating his wife Elenya and she wants a divorce. Her lawyer hires a security firm to get some dirt on the good doctor. Harding is a private investigator w3ho lost his license a decade ago over a case that still haunts him. Sometimes his buddy at the security firm throws some work his way and he's hired to tale Dr. Rosenberg and take some dirty pictures. The doctor is into kinky sex often involving the students at Chicago University Medical Center where he teaches. Rosenberg's students start dying and things begin to heat up, but although he's told to stay out of it, Harding can't let it alone...Murder, mayhem and kinky sex...fast paced and exciting!
June 28, 2015
Bit odd in that the story line was so convuluted at times I really wasn't sure where we were or necessarily why, but the constant movement and action, all centered on the "hero" Harding definitely keeps ones interested in how it'll turn out. Good for those that like local based crime/action novels as never goes beyond probably a 30 mile limit for the most part, and helps if you can live with not knowing exactly wtf is going on...
March 17, 2025
This book was recommended in the James Patterson Autobiography. I looked it up and, my local library had a copy. I have to say this book was awesome. John's writing is superb, he wrote a total page-turner for his very first published novel. It took me 2 days to read the book because I picked it up every chance I had, even if it was to read a couple of pages. I will be reading the rest of the books in this series!
February 20, 2011
I really wanted to like this book more than I did--the storyline is interesting and I can appreciate the twists and turns, but the whole book was a little ho-hum to me. The characters were well developed and each brought a uniqueness to the story.
May 14, 2016
Misschien is het verhaal goed, maar dan is het belabberd opgeschreven, of vertaald. Het is rommelig van begin tot eind. Zelfs de intro op het boekomslag geeft foutieve informatie aan de lezer. Ja, dan wordt je op het verkeerde been gezet.
May 6, 2013
gratuitous descriptions of perversion
March 11, 2014
Meh, the over use of "shocking" sex rituals and the poorly developed characters made this a put down book for me. It would be ok if I was on vacation and had nothing else with me.
May 26, 2015
Enjoyed the main character's dry humor.
August 22, 2009
A nice first novel with an intriguing detective set in Chicago.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews