Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: Black River Lantern by Alex Grass

A surreal carnival of horrors, Black River Lantern by Alex Grass is a genre-spanning novel of dangerous powers, cruel fathers, and the secrets that shape our lives.

The Maravicos Carnival is a legendary institution in the town of Kayjigville, but so is the temper and ambition of Papa Maravicos, who will do anything to keep the family business thriving. After escaping from his father’s never-ending cycle of abuse and pain, Eddie Maravicos is dragged back to this torturous circus, armed with the surprising new power to read minds. It doesn’t take long for his father to capitalize on this new […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-10-23T07:13:13+02:00October 23rd, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Alex Grass, Fantasy|

Review: Plagues and Princes: The Great Mortality by Thomas Schultz

Destiny-starred lives collide in Plagues and Princes: The Great Mortality, a dark historical fiction novel set in medieval England. A powerful tale of death and betrayal boasting exquisite language, unforgettable characters, and a tangled knot of a plot, author Thomas Schultz delivers a bold first piece of his new trilogy.

Thomas de Parr is a free-thinking young man in a world that crushes such spirits; he is faithful to his maker, but also insatiably curious, and dangerously independent. Surviving human history’s most horrific plague is only the beginning of this unpredictable adventure, which pits this young nobleman against the […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-11-24T08:05:31+02:00October 23rd, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Historical Fiction|

Review: Just Buy Her a Dress and She’ll Be Fine by Amanda Dodson Gremillion

The emotionally charged yet sensible treatise, Just Buy Her a Dress and She’ll Be Fine by Amanda Dodson Gremillion, is the moving story of postpartum depression and OCD as it played out in the author’s own life, and how that became a medium for guiding others.

Gremillion’s mental distress seemed to begin when she had her first child. She and her husband Jay had met in their early teens, courted for ten years, and married – happily, at first. Both wanted a child and when their daughter Aubrie Lynn was born, she was welcomed.

Soon afterwards, the problems set in. […]

SPR2020-10-19T03:28:30+02:00October 13th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Amanda Dodson Gremillion, Health, Memoir, Parenting|

Review: In the Orbit of Sirens by T.A. Bruno

Readers are thrown into two fascinating futures on a convergence course in author T.A. Bruno’s multifaceted new sci-fi novel, In the Orbit of Sirens (The Song of Kamaria Book 1).

Humanity’s last shreds of hope lie in interstellar lifeboats sailing towards Kamaria, a planet of endless possibility and mystery. Advanced alien races and desperate humans inevitable clash, but must ultimately compromise, if peace can ever be maintained. Denton Castus, a rugged everyman who rises to extraordinary challenges, and Eliana Veston, a proud and brilliant researcher, are forced into the middle of life-or-death negotiations, and a violent crossroads for the […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-11-18T04:57:14+02:00October 10th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Science Fiction|

Review: Summer in Gettysburg by Evelyn Landane

A brother and sister duo find themselves at the heart of their family’s oldest mystery in Summer in Gettysburg, a paranormal, time-jumping whirlwind by Evelyn Landane.

More than a century earlier, Summer Walker is trying to find some sense of peace in the bubbling cauldron of the Civil War, while also navigating the blushing waters of youthful romance. This richly written novel is set in two primary timelines, but the narrative arcs are tied closely by blood and family and an ancient house that holds many secrets, and more than a few ghosts.

The present-day plot feels like a […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-11-17T05:57:53+02:00October 9th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Historical Fantasy, Historical Fiction|

Review: Shaping the Future of Global Leadership by Salar A. Khan, MD, MBA

A well-traveled medical practitioner and executive has created a manual with global conscience for recognizing, training and electing trustworthy, admirable world leaders in Shaping the Future of Global Leadership: Finding a Peaceful Solution.

Author Khan states at the outset that he has religious beliefs but doesn’t wish to “disturb or distract” those with or without such beliefs who read his guide, but it does provide some basis for his treatise, suggesting God can also be referred to as a universal organizing principle (UOP). He asserts that among all great world religions are overarching principles for how we must live […]

SPR2020-11-13T06:04:45+02:00October 8th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Leadership, Salar A. Khan|

Review: Perfectly Round Ripples (Made by a Jagged Stone) by J. Flaherty

In the first, eponymous selection in the engaging collection, Perfectly Round Ripples, poet Johnny Flaherty recalls throwing three objects into a pond—a golf ball, a jagged stone, and “an old sneaker with laces missing.” They all splashed differently, but then, each one

…made perfectly round ripples

that traveled all the way

to the farthest shores

From this Flaherty suggests that our deeds, whether good or bad, will likewise make equal, round ripples in the cosmic sea – a motif reflecting the serene and emotive nature of these poems. He often returns to water, to the sea, for inspiration, as […]

SPR2020-11-09T05:09:07+02:00October 5th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: J. Flaherty, Poetry|

Review: The Curs of Curzon County by Thea Verdak

Thea Verdak unleashes a swirling storm of a story in The Curs of Curzon County, a rapid-fire tale of acute dangers and chronic pain, growing up and leaving home, and all the obstacles along the way that can derail a young life. Richly layered with an original and unforgettable narrative voice, this gritty short story will leave your heart pounding.

All the crises and conditions of Lucretia’s young life distill themselves in this well-penned crucible; the ramshackle pound at the end of the airstrip is the closest thing she has to a home, yet it is also a source […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-11-05T09:58:32+02:00October 4th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction, Short Stories|