Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: 5 Days to Landfall by Robert Roy Britt

Mother Nature takes center stage, with a bit of help from mankind’s baser instincts, in 5 Days to Landfall, a thrilling novel by Robert Roy Britt. With all of the recent surges in extreme weather around the world, a story like this is not only timely, but should also act as a dire warning for weather experts and governments of the planet. Obviously, disaster movies and television shows fill popular media, but this book hits a bit too close to home to ignore. It’s a tense thrill-ride from start to finish.

Amanda Cole – the single-most qualified person to […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-02-11T07:00:50+02:00November 4th, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Apocalyptic Fiction, Thriller|

Review: The Speaking Ghost of Rajpur by Priyonkar Dasgupta

★★★★

Depending on where a person is born and raised creates a unique perspective of childhood. Therefore, seeing an intimate and vivid depiction of childhood from someone in another part of the world can be a truly eye-opening experience. That is the world inhabited in The Speaking Ghost of Rajpur, a whimsical and memorable novel by Priyonkar Dasgupta. It is a bright and revelatory tale of growing up in a mysterious world, softened at the harder edges by the innocent lens of youth.

Readers who have forgotten the joys of childhood will be thrown back into an age of endless […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-02-21T05:46:38+02:00November 4th, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: International Fiction|

Review: To Never Know by Thomas Duffy

★★★★

It is a curse of memory and recollection that human beings are able to ask themselves, “What If?” For some, this question can be a harmless gateway to nostalgia, while for others, this perfectly natural musing is paralyzing, haunting and life-changing. In To Never Know, author Thomas Duffy initially presents the bleak portrait of a life never fully lived, due to the perennial longing of the main character, Steven. This isn’t a story about the “one who got away,” but rather the “one who he never even took a shot with,” which overwhelms him with uncertainty and the […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-02-12T10:01:46+02:00November 3rd, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction, Thomas Duffy|

Review: Goodbye, Rudy Kazoody by A.A. Freda

★★★★½

Growing up as a teenager in a big city is hard for the youth of any generation, but being an immigrant from Italy growing up on the mean streets of New York City in the 1960s was a bigger challenge than most. In Goodbye, Rudy Kazoody, author A.A. Freda gives us a picture of his own life as an immigrant in the Bronx from that historic time period. This semi-autobiographical tale is strikingly heartfelt and has the ring of deep truth, which makes it difficult to put down.

Joey is an innocent kid trying to make his way […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-01-22T04:36:41+02:00November 2nd, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Coming Of Age, Men's Fiction, Young Adult|

Review: A Killing Too Close to Home by Karen Berg-Raftakis

With a sassy, case-cracking heroine in the form of Arianna Archer, A Killing Too Close to Home is an amusing and suspenseful mystery. Bored from a long break between cases, Arianna is a new consultant for the Meadowville Police Department and eager to sink her teeth into a new case, but what she doesn’t expect is for one of her closest friends to be the next murder victim. This emotional case is fast-paced, like the majority of the prose, and it is important to pay attention to the details, because Berg-Raftakis includes plenty of red herrings and classic tricks of […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-02-11T09:09:15+02:00November 2nd, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Mystery|

Review: Biological Youth by Todd Ewing, Ph.D.

In Biological Youth, the first book of the Total Recovery series, author Todd Ewing, Ph.D. introduces readers to his unique approach for improving overall health. While many health books focus on the dual nature of health – body and mind, diet and exercise, etc. – this book takes those classifications one step further. It combines a wide variety of approaches to fitness, such as the Paleo Diet and other fads/beliefs. The book doesn’t recommend a specific method of becoming healthy, but rather outlines a comprehensive overview of what people should consider with every decision they make regarding fitness.

The […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-02-21T06:37:08+02:00November 2nd, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Health|

Review: Cat Born to the Purple (Yeshua’s Cats Book 4) by C.L. Francisco

Although biblical tales and religious history have been retold many times and in many forms, there are few depictions as unique and insightful as the books written by C.L. Francisco. Cat Born to the Purple is the 4th installment of the series, in which the lives of Jesus of Nazareth, Mary Magdalene, Paul, and other historical/ancient figures are shown through the eyes of cats. While the premise initially sounds strange, the concept works, evidenced by the praise for her earlier books.

In this most recent sequel, readers are introduced to Eliana, a young woman who has been brutally treated by […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-02-11T09:14:29+02:00October 27th, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Religious Fiction|

Review: Tomorrow We Die by E.R. Raabe

In this strange and troubling land, all young men are doomed to turn into dogs and die before they can reach the age of thirty. The curse leaves many with no hope for a future, either hoping for something great at a young age, or simply accepting an empty existence.

Seventeen-year-old Hippolyte Falcor is one such young man, caught up in a life of crime and escaped convictions. When he and his pack of fellows pick the wrong pocket, Hippolyte ends up in the mercy of the law, shackled to bodyguard duty for one Alex mac Fauks. But Alex offers […]

James Grimsby2019-02-11T08:42:44+02:00October 13th, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Dystopian Fiction, Young Adult|