Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: The Secrets to Living a Fantastic Life by Dr. Allen Lycka and Harriet Tinka

Two survivors collaborate to tell their harrowing recollections and share their rise to successful aftermaths in the emotive, engaging, you-can-too guidebook, The Secrets to Living a Fantastic Life: Two Survivors Reveal the 13 Golden Pearls They’ve Discovered.

Dr. Allen Lycka was walking into the Magic Kingdom at Disneyland when he was noticed that his foot was, in his wife’s panicked assessment, “flapping.” After extensive testing, he learned he had ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease), and only six months to live. At age 52 with a reputation as a world-class cosmetic dermatologist and a happy family life, Dr. Lycka became angry, […]

SPR2020-08-31T07:40:56+02:00July 31st, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Dr. Allen Lycka, Harriet Tinka, Self-Help|

Review: The Art of Love (& Loathing) by Stephen Daniel Ruiz

Author Stephen Daniel Ruiz dives deep into the mind of a struggling writer desperate for the puzzle pieces of life to fit in The Art of Love (& Loathing). A thoughtful, emotional, and at times hilarious novel, this book is a magnifying glass on modern life with all its unfair pitfalls and daily existential crises, reminding readers of what unifies, rather than divides.

Arthur Kimble is a man whose heart is in the right place, but his mind doesn’t always follow, nor does his luck or behavior. Struggling to keep a floundering literary journal afloat, while also attempting some […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-10-01T06:54:36+02:00July 28th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction, Literary Fiction|

Review: Lost Scrolls of Archimedes by Tom Roberts

A young dreamer is thrown into a life-altering adventure to protect ancient knowledge in Lost Scrolls of Archimedes, the first in the new Lost Artifacts series from author Tom Roberts. Boasting a brilliant blend of historical reference and fictional mystery, this is a feast for the senses for readers who love a free-wheeling escape into the past.

The all-powerful Oracles demand that Hippolytus secure the fabled scrolls of Archimedes, but the scholar’s desire to decode them himself draws enemies in from all sides. The old man entrusts the treasure to his young assistant, Marcus Bassus, who holds his own […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-08-17T08:31:48+02:00July 26th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Historical Fantasy, Tom Roberts, YA Fantasy, Young Adult|

Review: Boardroom M by Gretchen Kirkpatrick

A slow-burning thriller peppered with bursts of violence and brilliant turns of phrase, Boardroom M is the whip-smart opening salvo of author Gretchen Kirkpatrick’s Agents and Assets series.

Misha is a CIA operative whose foundations are shaken after an attempt on her life, sending her spiraling into the heart of a conspiracy to bring down the CIA that criss-crosses the world. Relying on a handful of temporary allies and other tradecraft experts, as well as the tangled histories that accompany them, she must juggle multiple mysteries to keep herself alive, and save the ones she loves. Rich with plot twists […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-08-13T09:21:34+02:00July 22nd, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Spy Thriller, Thriller|

Review: Blood Feud: A Legends of Ansu Novel by J.W. Webb

Steeped in shadowy secrets, buried powers, and richly drawn villains, Blood Feud is the fantastic first book in a new trilogy of the Legends of Ansu saga by J.W. Webb. The lives of three unlikely heroes are thrown together to face a dark evil rising up from the past in this fast-paced and well-penned adventure.

Jaran Saerk is not a Northman to be trifled with – one of the most fearsome warriors under Imperial Shen’s command with a short temper and a mastery of death-dealing. However, the whispered words of a dying man rip Jaran more than 25 years into […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-08-10T02:24:22+02:00July 10th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Fantasy, J.W. Webb|

Review: Demon Heart 3: Year of the Witch by David Crane

Naoko Kitamura returns for a final showdown of good and evil in Demon Heart: Year of the Witch, the epic conclusion to author David Crane’s captivating series. Balancing her halves of light and darkness, this supernatural warrior careens through agonizing emotions and deadly battlegrounds, dragging loyal readers into the fray.

Building on the momentum of the first two books, this closing chapter is another international roller coaster of dark conspiracies, shadowy meetings, and brutal violence. The Katana agents are once more tasked with saving the world, and old favorites like Razor, Hammer, and Aero are as reliable and indestructible as […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-08-12T01:55:45+02:00July 7th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: David Crane, Urban Fantasy|

Review: Regaining Paradise by Paul Corson

Author Paul Corson boldly outlines a path toward enlightenment and spiritual liberation in Regaining Paradise: Forming a New Worldview, Knowing God, and Journeying into Eternity. Part theoretical textbook, part spiritual manifesto, and part scientific storytelling, this is a mind-bending book by a clearly passionate thinker.

Proposing the presence of a causative force in the universe – one whose influence doesn’t upset modern evolutionary models – the author begins to explore our individual consciousness, ways to attain different energetic levels, and the underlying doubts and fears that define human nature. At times, the narrative veers into the realm of self-help, […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-07-07T08:12:11+02:00July 6th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Paul Corson, Spirituality|

Review: Entanglement by C.T. Au-Yang

Two very different minds collide in romance and conversation, exploring the deep themes of love, intellect, purpose and the future in Entanglement by C.T. Au-Yang. Self-described as a unique dissection of love and attraction, this unusual narrative depicts the classic tale of boy meets girl, but their strange connection is unlike any other.

Andrew is an intellectual, an introvert, and an observer – a researcher who has chosen to explore civilizations from the past and present to develop a model about Civilization DNA. He is also performing some personal experiments, namely stacking neural-enhancing supplements and acetylcholine, claiming to be acetylcholinergic, […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-08-12T03:22:49+02:00July 5th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: C.T. Au-Yang, Visionary Fiction|