Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: All Roads Lead to Lawrence by Craig Leener

Readers are welcomed back into the strange world of Zeke and the Seventh Dimension in the wild and wise All Roads Lead to Lawrence by Craig Leener.

A sequel to the acclaimed This Was Never About Basketball, our protagonist is a bit older and wiser, but his heart still beats with every bounce of the basketball. Now the point guard for his college team, he may think he’s done with his extra-dimensional adventures, but his journey is only beginning.

Upon the death of his brother, Zeke’s reality begins coming apart at the seams, and it doesn’t help that not […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-12-20T08:11:58+02:00November 4th, 2019|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction, Craig Leener, YA Fantasy, Young Adult|

Review: Corporate Undertaker by Domenic Aversa

For those readers seeking an inside look at the downfall of business giants, as well as the slow fizzle of smaller companies, Corporate Undertaker: Business Lessons from the Dead and Dying by author and crisis manager Domenic Aversa offers a savage peek behind the corporate curtain.

With big business taking such center stage in the power dynamics of politics and the daily news, it is easy to forget that the majority of businesses still fail, a point that the author makes early on in the book. More than 50% of businesses fail in the first five years, while 70% are […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2023-03-06T09:56:54+02:00November 3rd, 2019|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Business, Domenic Aversa, Memoir|

Review: The Thin Gray Line by Anthony R. Fanning

The Thin Gray Line, Anthony R. Fanning’s emotionally-charged work of women’s fiction, underscores the difference between desire and action, and doing what it takes to survive.

Twenty-six-year-old June Garrett and her younger sister, November “Novie” Ketchum, are as different as two sisters can possibly be. June has spent the last eight years at the construction company founded by her father, working her way through the ranks. June can drink and party with the best of them, doesn’t hesitate to start or jump into a fight and is fiercely devoted to her younger sister and widower father who is slowly […]

Marta Cheng2019-12-12T08:48:15+02:00October 31st, 2019|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction, Women's Fiction|

Review: After Olympus by Santiago Xaman

Dabbling in mysticism, quasi-fiction, conspiracy theories, shadowy geopolitics and a healthy dose of mystery, After Olympus by author Santiago Xaman spans a broad and bizarre gamut of genres, making this an undeniably unique read in an age of carbon-copy thrillers.

The book is largely told directly from the mind of the apparent author, Santiago Xaman, with the novel presented as unearthed journal entries and scraps of memory. A screed of truth from a time in the past, these pages bear a secret that stretches from the 1960s to the modern day and beyond.

A downed Soviet spycraft bearing three mysterious […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-12-11T08:49:10+02:00October 31st, 2019|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Science Fiction, Visionary Fiction|

Review: Holding On: Stories of Furnass by Richard Snodgrass

Brimming with rustic energy and written in an authentically American voice, Holding On by Richard Snodgrass is a surprising collection of stories that capture the rise and imminent fall of Furnass, a small American town like so many others.

In the industrial boom of the 20^th century, mill towns were enjoying their heyday, driving the great machine of the nation forward. Given the perspective of time, however, modern readers know that this would be a temporary golden age, one still gasping out its death rattles to this day. Within this framework of transient prosperity and bold hope for the […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-12-03T10:48:06+02:00October 29th, 2019|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Literary Fiction, Richard Snodgrass, Short Stories|

Review: The Nawie by Alex J. Knudsen

From the twisted depths of memory comes The Nawie, a haunting psychological thriller by author Alex J. Knudsen that will make you keep the lights on.

When Marcelina Bajorek and her boyfriend take a trip back to Poland to reconnect with her family, she has no idea what horrors from the past she is about to unleash. As Marcelina is soon to learn, secrets aren’t the only monstrous things left behind in her childhood.

The opening of this novel sets a tragic tone, with a mysterious midnight terror in rural Poland envisioned through the five-year-old eyes of Marcelina, on […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-11-21T08:01:06+02:00October 23rd, 2019|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Horror, Thriller|

Review: Jacob’s Ghetto by Travis Peagler

Rising above adversity is the powerful theme in Jacob’s Ghetto, the emotionally-charged story written by Travis Peagler for middle-grade and young adult readers.

Ten-year-old Jacob Kingsman was born with the cards of life definitely stacked against him. Living in the notoriously tough south side ghetto of Chicago, Jacob’s mother is a junkie who does nothing to provide the daily necessities for him, forcing Jacob to ask the owner of the corner market for a banana every day so that he has something to eat at night.

He and his best friend, Kenny, are harassed by Ja’heve, second in command […]

Marta Cheng2019-11-19T08:24:04+02:00October 22nd, 2019|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction, Young Adult|

Review: Exploration’s End: A New Orleans Mystery by George Sanchez

Southern charm and an old-fashioned mystery make for a great duo in Exploration’s End by George Sanchez.

After returning home to New Orleans, actor Jeff Chaussier has put his mediocre acting career on hold in order to find out what’s going on with his cousin, Cal. Rumor has it that his cousin is in the theater and is even dating an actress.

After some roundabout digging, Jeff suspects that drugs or sex may be involved but he also has other problems he has to deal with that involve facing the beautiful Bryna – who family and friends call his girl […]

Marta Cheng2019-11-14T08:28:33+02:00October 21st, 2019|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Mystery|