Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: Wolf River Dreams by Patrick Sarver

★★★★

Still reeling from the tragic loss of his girlfriend in an accident in which he was driving, Jesse Hawkins has taken to the road, hoping to exorcise his demons while exploring the endless west on his motorcycle. However, every road comes to an end, and when Jesse finally returns home, he finds that the demons are more real than ever.

Thus begins Wolf River Dreams by Patrick Sarver, a tumultuous novel that blends surreal dream sequences with seemingly waking nightmares, as Jesse attempts to find some sense of normalcy in his haunted days. Regardless of how far he moves […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2017-12-19T13:16:25+02:00November 7th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction|

Review: Love Letters by Shaun Locke

★★★½

In Love Letters by Shaun Locke, the narrator is one of the wordiest protagonists in English literature, and he’s supposed to be. After introducing himself through an archaic tide of words, the narrator’s strange and sordid tale begins.

The narrator’s words continue to stretch the mundane into obscenely long sentences as the story unfolds. He finds his daughter has beautifully mastered the art of curse words. He hits a cat on the way to see the mother of his child, but he can’t see the mother of his child because she is locked away in an asylum for women. […]

Mindy Hood2017-12-18T11:21:14+02:00November 6th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Literary Fiction|

Review: City of Angels by K. Patrick

★★★★

City of Angels by K. Patrick commands a reader’s immediate attention with a riveting story about the triumph of the human spirit.

Almost eighteen years old, Michael Connolly is a product of the Los Angeles child services system after the untimely death of his beloved father and sister had sent his mother on a downward spiral into depression and suicide seven years earlier. Unlike many young men in his situation, Mike has risen above his tragic circumstances and has carried on his father’s legacy as a boxer. Thanks to the devoted ministrations of Jerry, his coach, Mike has earned […]

Marta Cheng2017-11-02T12:04:30+02:00November 1st, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Contemporary Fiction, Sports|

Review: Past Obsession by Richard Keith Taylor

★★★★

In Past Obsession by Richard Keith Taylor, a number of surprising twists, and an entertaining hero, make this novel stand out from other books in the genre. Taylor creates a powerful mood throughout the novel, and readers will be inevitably drawn into this time travel thriller that doubles as a shadowy L.A. noir tale.

Jim Mercer, freelance writer for the LA Times, is handed a puff piece on a gifted artist – Emily Torrance – whose life was snuffed out seven decades earlier. While the story isn’t out of the ordinary, given his professional realm, his instant captivation […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-01-22T05:49:15+02:00October 31st, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Science Fiction, Thriller, Time Travel|

Review: Sanction by William Hunter

★★★★½

Sean Garrett is a British agent on an unsanctioned assignment to retrieve intelligence from a distinguished Cambridge professor, Mohammad Ahmad. It’s not all for the job – Garrett has his suspicions about his target’s involvement in a terror attack that claimed his grandfather’s life and his sister’s health.

Everything goes FUBAR, however, when his target is unexpectedly killed by an assassin – a rogue element in a calculated risk soon to come sharply into focus for every major player in world intelligence. As Garrett begins a desperate struggle for survival against an unknown enemy, old allies become brand […]

James Grimsby2019-05-16T10:44:31+02:00October 26th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Thriller, William Hunter|

Review: iDENTITY by Cynthia Kumanchik

★★★★

iDENTITY by Cynthia Kumanchik brings the reader into a future that feels like it could be any town, state, or country around the world. Set around 2040, a time when science can make you whatever you would like to be, iDENTITY follows a group of hand-picked citizens through their journey of becoming their ultimate self with the help of a little green pill and some sketchy scientists, who don’t seem to be telling the whole truth abut the project.

The reader is introduced to a handful of wayward souls early in the book who attend a meeting at Optimal, […]

SPR2019-01-11T14:52:11+02:00October 26th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Science Fiction|

Review: Clear Quiet Mind: Four Simple Steps to Deep Inner Peace by Kevin Schoeninger

In Clear Quiet Mind: Four Simple Steps to Deep Inner Peace, author Kevin Schoeninger provides techniques for relaxation, overcoming negativity, and welcoming new opportunities in life.

A life coach and personal trainer, Schoeninger brings an impressive degree of expertise and experience to the book, which helps elevate it over self-help books of its kind, as the book feels in part like undertaking one of his personal training sessions. As such, the book isn’t so much “self”-help, as a book with a guide.

The book definitely has a spiritual perspective, so it is best suited to those readers who come […]

Barbara Scott2019-02-11T09:45:48+02:00October 25th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Non-Fiction, Self-Help, Spirituality|

Review: Isabel and Siofra: The Heist of 2098 by K.D. Blackwall

For an adventurous time travel tale for the middle-grade reader, look no further than Isabel and Siofra: The Heist of 2098, written by K.D. Blackwall with illustrations by S. Red Amparo and Oshred Art.

It’s the year 2115 and the first day of the new school year. Isabel (Izzy) Akilina and Siofra (CeCe) O’Malley meet on the hoverbus on their first day as fifth graders at Luna Elementary, located in Luna City on the moon. They’re both in Mr. Saladin’s science class, and during their first day in school both girls discover two important things. The first is that […]