Book Reviews

The latest indie book reviews from Self-Publishing Review

Review: If I Came Back from Hell by Bernie Donnelly

If I Came Back from Hell by Bernie Donnelly

The books of Bernie Donnelly are always thoughtful, and often include spiritual elements that leave readers with hard questions at the end of the story. In If I Came Back from Hell, the author takes another leap forward into the realm of philosophical narrative with a powerful tale that will give you shivers. Looking back on your life is something we often associated with the moments before death, when it flashes by in a mere second, but this story leans to the opposite extreme, making for an unforgettable novel.

Frank McGovern has not lived a traditionally “good” life, being […]

2020-05-28T10:12:04+02:00June 22nd, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , |

Review: Reagan Country (A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel) by Ray Keating

Reagan Country by Ray Keating

If political intrigue and expansive narrative threads fit neatly in your wheelhouse, then the writing of Ray Keating never fails to disappoint. In his new novel, Reagan Country, Pastor Stephen Grant returns in another exceptional story in which he finds himself in yet another international mystery, one that stretches to the highest seats of America’s capitol, as well as the shadowy halls of the Kremlin.

Underpinning this entire novel is a strong political bent, so those readers who remember (and potentially adore) the Reagan years in American history will appreciate the heavy leaning in favor of that president’s policies […]

Review: Caveman by Jeffrey W. Tenney

Caveman by Jeffrey W. Tenney

A colleague goads Archaeologist Trent Marshall into visiting a dig site near Solutre, France, telling the superstar professor that evidence there disproves Marshall’s career-making theories on prehistoric civilizations. But it’s a trick, one that sends Marshall through a time-portal cave and back 40,000 years where Neanderthals and Cro-Magnon tribes struggle to survive.

With Marshall is beautiful linguist Bridgette Genet, who goading colleague Sam Jenkins needs to broker a peace that keeps the prehistoric tribes alive. The disbelief of where and when they find themselves quickly turns to survival and then wonder as Trent and Bridgette adjust and finally help Jenkins […]

2019-07-15T09:21:41+02:00June 20th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , , |

Review: Where Wolves Talk by D.L. Lewis

Where Wolves Talk by D.L. Lewis

In Where Wolves Talk, the first in a two-part fantasy, D.L. Lewis invites young readers to suspend belief in order to take part in an epic adventure to a mystical world of talking animals and grey monsters.

Kitten, an American Shorthair Silver Classic tabby breed, was born deformed, but despite his deformities, he nevertheless lives a charmed life in a mansion in the countryside northeast of London, dining in style on fresh salmon flown in by helicopter from a Scottish loch and poached by his mistress’ own Swiss chef, followed by hunks of blue-veined Stilton served on an antique […]

2018-07-12T11:21:47+02:00June 19th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , |

Review: Beyond Vengeance by Larry Igbon

Beyond Vengeance by Larry Igbon

For anyone who can’t get enough British thrillers, Beyond Vengeance by Larry Igbon is an absolute must-read. As only a true master of action can deliver, this book careens from one wild scene to the next, from brutal murder scenes and vicious gangsters to the relentless hounding of the London coppers. With mystery and suspense tied up beautifully within this fascinating knot of a plot, Igbon has solidified his place among top writers of the genre.

A powerful crime family in England is all but wiped out, and yet someone is coming to exact justice and make those responsible pay […]

2018-07-06T05:50:51+02:00June 18th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: |

Review: Chanting the Feminine Down by James C. McCullagh

Chanting the Feminine Down by James McCullagh

Religion and history are the driving forces behind Chanting the Feminine Down, a novel of psychological awakening by James McCullagh with Roy McCullagh.

Colette McGovern is an intelligent graduate student with a secret. She’s committed a mortal sin in the eyes of God and now she’s plagued by stark, dramatic and disturbing “tumbleweed dreams,” as she calls them. One of them, about the late Pope John Paul II, wearing lace – who slowly sinks into the ground, no less – is particularly powerful and vivid. Colette records all her dreams in her journal, even going so far as to […]

2018-07-05T11:52:57+02:00June 12th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , |

Review: Widow Walk (The Widow Walk Saga Book 1) by Gar LaSalle

Widow Walk by Gar LaSalle

Peeking into the past can provide valuable insight about the present, even if the two time periods and places seem like very different worlds. In Widow Walk by Gar LaSalle, readers are transported into the lives of bold settlers in the Pacific Northwest, determined survivors in the wilderness, who must face seemingly endless trials in their bid to make that land a home.

The brilliant component of this novel is that it doesn’t come across as distant historical fiction for the sake of escapism or novelty – it is packed with timeless life experiences, existential crises, and subjects of sovereignty […]

2019-01-25T12:59:07+02:00June 5th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: , |

Review: The Girl from the Moon (The Elemental Tides Book 1) by Maria Beta

The Girl from the Moon by Maria Beta

When modern authors peer into the future, it often seems that humanity’s destiny is bleak. The Girl from the Moon, the new novel by Maria Beta, is no exception to this trend. After the ozone layer collapses and global society begins to crumble under the weight of human neglect, science must step in to save the species. Constructing a massive artificial shield to block the earth and mimic an atmosphere is a bandage for a bullet wound, however, and life is far from serene.

Cate and Victoria Weelah, the daughters of the scientist who originally created Earth’s protective layer […]

2018-06-08T10:08:31+02:00June 4th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: , |
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