Lead Story | Self-Publishing Review

Review: City of Angels by K. Patrick

★★★★

City of Angels by K. Patrick commands a reader’s immediate attention with a riveting story about the triumph of the human spirit.

Almost eighteen years old, Michael Connolly is a product of the Los Angeles child services system after the untimely death of his beloved father and sister had sent his mother on a downward spiral into depression and suicide seven years earlier. Unlike many young men in his situation, Mike has risen above his tragic circumstances and has carried on his father’s legacy as a boxer. Thanks to the devoted ministrations of Jerry, his coach, Mike has earned […]

Marta Cheng2017-11-02T12:04:30+02:00November 1st, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Contemporary Fiction, Sports|

Review: Past Obsession by Richard Keith Taylor

★★★★

In Past Obsession by Richard Keith Taylor, a number of surprising twists, and an entertaining hero, make this novel stand out from other books in the genre. Taylor creates a powerful mood throughout the novel, and readers will be inevitably drawn into this time travel thriller that doubles as a shadowy L.A. noir tale.

Jim Mercer, freelance writer for the LA Times, is handed a puff piece on a gifted artist – Emily Torrance – whose life was snuffed out seven decades earlier. While the story isn’t out of the ordinary, given his professional realm, his instant captivation […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-01-22T05:49:15+02:00October 31st, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Science Fiction, Thriller, Time Travel|

Review: Sanction by William Hunter

★★★★½

Sean Garrett is a British agent on an unsanctioned assignment to retrieve intelligence from a distinguished Cambridge professor, Mohammad Ahmad. It’s not all for the job – Garrett has his suspicions about his target’s involvement in a terror attack that claimed his grandfather’s life and his sister’s health.

Everything goes FUBAR, however, when his target is unexpectedly killed by an assassin – a rogue element in a calculated risk soon to come sharply into focus for every major player in world intelligence. As Garrett begins a desperate struggle for survival against an unknown enemy, old allies become brand […]

James Grimsby2019-05-16T10:44:31+02:00October 26th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Thriller, William Hunter|

Review: Clear Quiet Mind: Four Simple Steps to Deep Inner Peace by Kevin Schoeninger

In Clear Quiet Mind: Four Simple Steps to Deep Inner Peace, author Kevin Schoeninger provides techniques for relaxation, overcoming negativity, and welcoming new opportunities in life.

A life coach and personal trainer, Schoeninger brings an impressive degree of expertise and experience to the book, which helps elevate it over self-help books of its kind, as the book feels in part like undertaking one of his personal training sessions. As such, the book isn’t so much “self”-help, as a book with a guide.

The book definitely has a spiritual perspective, so it is best suited to those readers who come […]

Barbara Scott2019-02-11T09:45:48+02:00October 25th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Non-Fiction, Self-Help, Spirituality|

Review: Isabel and Siofra: The Heist of 2098 by K.D. Blackwall

For an adventurous time travel tale for the middle-grade reader, look no further than Isabel and Siofra: The Heist of 2098, written by K.D. Blackwall with illustrations by S. Red Amparo and Oshred Art.

It’s the year 2115 and the first day of the new school year. Isabel (Izzy) Akilina and Siofra (CeCe) O’Malley meet on the hoverbus on their first day as fifth graders at Luna Elementary, located in Luna City on the moon. They’re both in Mr. Saladin’s science class, and during their first day in school both girls discover two important things. The first is that […]

Marta Cheng2019-02-11T09:08:07+02:00October 22nd, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Middle Grade Fiction, Science Fiction, Time Travel|

Review: The Quieting West by Gordon Gravley

★★★★

The Quieting West is a quick-moving novel set against the backdrop of the Wild West. It follows the parallel lives of two cowboys, Thomas and Billy, who find themselves unexpectedly swept up into the world of Hollywood as the more conventional work for cowboys dries up. Forced to move from ranch to ranch in seek of work, Billy and Thomas’ talents for riding are quickly sought out by silent movie directors, eager to exploit the men’s experience to employ them as stunt riders.

Billy is a young, agile orphan, unsure of his exact age and wise beyond his years. […]

Felicity Box2017-09-21T09:49:51+02:00September 21st, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Historical Fiction, Hollywood, Western|

Review: Dennis & Greer: A Love Story, Edited by Molly Gould

Dennis & Greer, a highly engaging and altogether unique book, comprises a love story told with intimate clarity. Their story is comprised of letters and journal entries from the two eponymous characters, who fell in love during the Vietnam war. Edited by Molly Gould, it tells the story of a man her mother loved before her father, which gives the book a wholly unique perspective – not just of Gould’s family, but the timelessness of young love.

What comes through strongest in the book is the genuine humanity of Dennis and Greer – one is tempted to call them […]

Mindy Hood2019-02-11T09:36:44+02:00September 20th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Memoir, Non-Fiction|

Review: Rented Souls by Eirik Moe Dahll-Larssøn

★★★★½

What if all the ghost stories and paranormal events that happened in the world weren’t the result of hoaxes and overactive imaginations? What if otherworldly events and creatures do exist, but science simply hasn’t advanced to the point of understanding what they are? This is the reality posited by Eirik Moe Dahll-Larssøn, the author of Rented Souls, an intensely amusing and clever novel about a world where the things that go bump in the night are actually there.

In a scenario where paranormal believers are not only taken seriously, but represent the majority of the population, a decent […]