Lead Story | Self-Publishing Review

Review: Salvation Day by RD Meyer

★★★★

Mike Faulkner has just attended the second funeral he never thought he’d have to experience: first, his daughter Samantha, taken far too young, and now his wife, who has taken her own life from grief.

Mike is more than a grieving father, and more than a fresh widower – he’s emotionally detached, yet intellectually brilliant. Currently, he is working as part of the team on the verge of a groundbreaking discovery that could revolutionize energy production forever, and his family tragedy will soon affect his work dramatically.

Despite his colleagues’ hesitance, Mike’s pain becomes fuel for his work, spurred […]

James Grimsby2018-05-09T10:47:52+02:00January 7th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: RD Meyer, Science Fiction|

Review: Carpenter’s Bluff by James Sanders

★★★★

Our adult lives are largely influenced by the uncharted events of our youth and nowhere is this more evident than in Carpenter’s Bluff, James Sanders’ moving literary tale of youthful indiscretions and dark secrets.

Henry “Hank” Anawatty is a young attorney with some serious problems in his life, the most pressing one being that the woman he’s been seeing has disappeared. In desperation, he goes to see a shrink and little by little, her pointed questions chink away at Hank’s armor, revealing a less-than-idyllic childhood spent dodging an abusive father, not to mention harboring lingering guilt over his […]

Marta Cheng2018-01-10T11:03:53+02:00January 6th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Literary Fiction|

Review: The Believers in the Crucible Nauvoo by Alfred Woollacott III

Blending family documents, historical records and a strong imaginative gift, author Alfred Woollacott III depicts the travails of a young woman joining in the founding of the Mormon faith in The Believers in the Crucible Nauvoo.

Woollacott’s book opens in Peterborough, New Hampshire, where one of Mormon founder Joseph Smith’s disciples has converted many townspeople. These believers are caught up in Smith’s challenging and inspiring message. According to teachings from the Book of Mormon, converts must be baptized, and then have the certainty of sharing the life of Jesus while here on Earth. Some feel strongly called to Nauvoo, […]

Barbara Scott2019-02-11T09:15:26+02:00January 5th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Christian Fiction, Historical Fiction, Religious Fiction|

Review: The Colonials by Tom Durwood

★★★★

The Colonials by Tom Durwood is an exciting and ambitious work of historical fiction for young adults, where teenagers come of age during a violent time, ultimately changing the course of history.

The year is 1775 and a large number of complex characters are at play: young Will Oldenbarnevelt is the second-born son to a wealthy Dutch shipping merchant, Jiayi Wei Ying is Yunhe jiating of the Chinese Grand Canal clan, Countess Clotilde Ushakov is the eldest niece of Ekaterina Alexeevna, Empress of all Russia, Leo Krummensee-Grabmaler is heir to the House of Hohenzollern…and many others, giving a sense […]

Marta Cheng2017-12-15T10:34:29+02:00December 14th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Historical Fiction, Young Adult|

Review: Sundown by Carl H. Mitchell

★★★★½

When the world stops working and the oil runs out, no one is exactly sure what sort of chaos will unfold, but author Carl H. Mitchell has a pretty good idea. Sundown: Engineering Gives the Devil a Sunburn is an ambitious and entertaining peek into what lies ahead for the world. A corrupt Supreme Leader is pulling the world’s strings in dangerous directions, the fabric of American democracy has crumbled, and survival is becoming more important than maintaining any semblance of society.

The novel begins with a bang – or rather a strangle – of the vice president of […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2021-06-14T04:56:07+02:00December 6th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Carl H. Mitchell, Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction|

Review: Soul’s Fury by Sattar Memon

★★★★

Blending spirituality, philosophy, suspense and engaging literature can be a tricky challenge for some authors, as it can lean too far in either direction – pedantic prose to promote a belief system or a convoluted narrative that doesn’t espouse a clear message. However, in Sattar Memon’s second novel, Soul’s Fury, the balance is surprisingly well done.

While the author has written a number of books in the past, the majority of these have been directly related to spirituality, healing through faith, or other alternative philosophies. That being said, his 2012 book The Ashram was another fictional narrative and […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2017-12-06T06:34:38+02:00December 6th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Thriller, Visionary Fiction|

Review: Free Will Odyssey by Larry Kilham

★★★★

In Free Will Odyssey, author Larry Kilham imagines a not-too-distant future where humans are able to have complete control of their lives. By enhancing one’s free will, and preventing one’s body from dictating the choices you make, this new technology could usher in a new generation of human achievement and happiness.

Upon that fascinating premise, this short novel weaves the intricate and thoughtfully crafted tale of Peter Tesla, the brilliant young inventor and engineer that is responsible for creating this revolutionary new technology. The plot is highly dependent on certain elements of VR and AI, extrapolating some of […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2017-12-06T05:48:03+02:00December 6th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction|

Review: Shot Down by Steve Snyder

In Shot Down: The true story of pilot Howard Snyder and the crew of the B-17 Susan Ruth, author Steve Snyder tells his father’s story in World War II in a riveting and unforgettable peek into the past. When Lieutenant Snyder and his crew are shot down over Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II, hope of survival is grim, and the brutal nature of wartime is fully revealed.

Based on hundreds of unique accounts, letters, interviews, and intensive research, Shot Down pieces together a profoundly compelling story of survival and perseverance. With such a strong body of material and […]