Greg Rideout | Self-Publishing Review

Review: McDowell by William H. Coles

In McDowell, tragedy and consequence lead an arrogant and narcissistic Dr. Hiram McDowell to examine his life and search for life’s meaning beyond winning and possessions.

Hiram is first glimpsed leaving his Mt. Everest climbing partner to die. If that’s not enough to establish his unreliability, he goes on to belittle his wife, trick a colleague and ignore his children. Hiram’s the quintessential egoist surgeon: busy, belligerent, brilliant, and self-absorbed.

Author William H. Coles paints a damning picture of the selfish Dr. McDowell. Married for the third time to Carole, he barely acknowledges her and openly cheats on her, […]

Greg Rideout2019-01-22T10:34:18+02:00October 15th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews, Literary Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: The Winner Maker by Jeff Bond

English teacher and football Coach Bob Fiske disappears from Evanston Township High School, and a small group of former students who were “Winners” – a secret group of high-achieving students cultivated by Fiske over his career – attempts to solve the mystery in The Winner Maker by Jeff Bond.

Ten years on, jealousies, rivalries, and old feelings still rise up among Steph Reese, her husband and former quarterback Doug, computer nerd Eric Pinkersby, shy Lydia Brockert and now school counselor Becky Brindle. They all cherish their ties to Fiske, and set out to find him. As before, they don’t want […]

Greg Rideout2019-05-21T09:49:32+02:00October 2nd, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Mystery Book Reviews, Thriller Book Reviews|

Review: Three Days in Autumn by Robert Bartlett

Three dramatic days condense the well-lived life of Cole Murphy, a custom motorcycle builder who reveals his character through a prism of random events that underscore his integrity and goodness in the evocative Three Days in Autumn by Robert Bartlett.

On a ride from Charlotte, North Carolina, to prepare his mountain home for a family visit, an accident blocks Cole’s bike and he’s thrown into a ravine. What comes next is a series of events that tests the big man’s strength as his family and law enforcement search clue by clue to find him.

With a cast of characters that […]

Greg Rideout2018-10-27T12:57:14+02:00August 7th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews, Thriller Book Reviews|

Review: Only Everything by Keith Martin-Smith

Broken dreams shroud middle-aged Logan, once a promising novelist, as he stiffly settles himself into a nine-to-five corporate life. Logan marches forward with a beautiful and brightly positive fiancé. He writes marketing copy. He pays his bills. He lives in a well-appointed home. But Logan feels weighted by a past that might be an anchor or a lifeline.

Only Everything by Keith Martin-Smith is a profoundly affecting work of fiction that explores deep truths. With the narrative opening between the present and twenty-something Logan’s life in New York City as he writes his first novel, we get bright future and […]

Greg Rideout2019-01-22T10:58:58+02:00July 23rd, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews, Literary Fiction Book Reviews, Men's Fiction Book Reviews|

The Cretin Gene by Brendan Ball

When a mad scientist uses television and junk food to stupefy the British populace, cartoonist Al Horowitz must clear his name of murder, and find the cure to the Genome 9X9 disaster. The people have run amok, and Horowitz enlists his genius nephew Dr. Grossman and his colleague, the mysterious and tenacious Dr. Kamaruzaman. Together, they plot, hide, and attack as they cross England to confront the evil Dr. Proctor, and seek the cure.

Author Brendan Ball creates a clever satire that shreds the vapidity of nationalist pride in The Cretin Gene. He takes junk food, television, and the […]

Greg Rideout2018-07-03T07:19:27+02:00July 3rd, 2018|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews, Satire Book Reviews|

Review: 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 […]

Greg Rideout2019-07-15T09:21:41+02:00June 20th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Science Fiction Book Reviews, Time Travel Book Reviews|

Review: Wheels Up: A Novel of Drugs, Cartels and Survival by Jeanine Kitchel

When Layla takes over as head of the Culiacan Cartel with her uncle in prison, she strikes her first drug deal to prove her mettle in the machismo world of the cartels. Things go sideways fast: planes crash, bodyguards die, and a Mariachi band unwittingly fronts for an assassin. Her Canadian partner, Clay, sticks by her side as they face down Guatemalan kingpin Don Guillermo and her uncle’s slimy business partner.

Smart and beautiful Layla tangles with a cast of characters as she and Clay plot their deal, trample through a jungle, and seek revenge on Guillermo. In Mexico, the […]

Greg Rideout2018-07-05T11:52:37+02:00June 4th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Crime Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Space Fandango: Backstabber’s Blues by Henry Mosquera

On the scorching, misfit-filled planet Abraxias, an enigmatic doctor assembles a crew of brawlers, outcasts, and outlaws to deliver a stolen, dangerous payload to the other side of an area known as Freespace. Cops, assassins and criminals give chase, while the crew of the Acheron participate in bar-fighting, starring in a murderous reality show, and competing in brawl ball, the number one sport in the universe.

In Space Fandango: Backstabber’s Blues, an incredibly wild and entertaining novel, author Henry Mosquera conjures up an array of beings for readers to fascinate over, making each character as page-turning as the story […]

Greg Rideout2018-07-05T11:52:22+02:00May 17th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Science Fiction Book Reviews, Space Opera Book Reviews|