John Staughton, Senior Reviewer

Review: Butterfly Hill (A Matthys Rossouw Pursuit Book 2) by Brendan Le Grange

Combining global conspiracies, powerful ancient weapons and complex, unknowable motives, Butterfly Hill is a skillfully penned piece of suspense from Brendan Le Grange. Following on from his debut book, Drachen, this second installment can stand alone, although reading the first book will provide quite a bit more character backstory for the key players, including Hiko, Matthys and Gu.

Unlike many other “good cop chases bad guy” stories, the lines of morality are far from clear in this novel, and in fact, it’s difficult not to like the bad guy, despite his psychopathic tendencies. Hiko Shimuzu may be the antagonist, […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-01-22T10:29:03+02:00December 18th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Thriller Book Reviews|

Review: Daughter of the Damned by J. Boyett

In Daughter of the Damned, author J. Boyett has created a riveting world of intrigue and magic, where mages and demons and monsters are cleverly embedded in a humanistic and believable plot.

Carol, in search of revenge and answers for a tragedy that once befell her mother, has teamed up with Snake, a brutal and talented bounty hunter. Finding Harold, the man who Carol holds responsible for her pain, it quickly becomes apparent that there is a much greater evil to handle than the dark shadows of Carol’s past. Potential enemies become allies, or at least temporary partners, in […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-01-16T08:18:40+02:00December 16th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Fantasy Book Reviews|

Killer Competition by Tom Kranz

In Killer Competition, a new novel by Tom Kranz, the struggle for legitimacy and redemption plays out in dramatic, violent fashion.

Bud Remmick has a short temper and a recent stint in jail under his belt, but after proclaiming himself a changed man, he slides into a position at a Philadelphia news outlet. It doesn’t take him long to realize that his star photographer is also a criminal, committing the very offenses that he then delivers a scoop on. Bud is also battling his demons and fighting for his family, and must find a path through new adversity without resorting […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-12-18T08:25:28+02:00December 12th, 2018|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Thriller Book Reviews|

Review: Krakenscourge (Voidstalker Book 2) by John Graham

In Krakenscourge, the second installment in author John Graham’s Voidstalker series, readers are brought to an imagined world where humanity has breached the boundaries of the solar system, and found that life is not always interested in playing nice. Digging back into truth of the stranded alien vessel that had been savagely attacked in the previous novel, Gabriel discovers that there was a far more sinister reason behind the brutal assault, and an even greater evil lurking in the background of this expansive and enthralling future.

As in the first book of the series, Gabriel Thorn continues to dominate […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-02-21T06:54:49+02:00December 7th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Science Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Devel Django: A Dark Wave Journey by D.S. Quinton

Seeking the ultimate answers to where we came from and why life exists can set a brilliant foundation for any suspenseful novel, and author D.S. Quinton does just that with Devel Django: A Dark Wave Journey. Brilliantly melding elements of sci-fi futurism with ancient significance, alien life and the evolution of humanity, this book is difficult to put down in a way that will stay with you long after reading.

When a meteor storm strikes in the mountains of Italy, the unfortunately named Dr. Brad Bradley, happens to be in the right place at the right time. As a […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2018-12-05T12:12:38+02:00December 3rd, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Science Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: The Yin and Yang of an Electrical Conductor by Jose Scaramanga

A wild, mind-bending tale, The Yin and Yang of an Electrical Conductor proposes a fascinating world where one can have a chat with an eminent scholar from the Age of Reason, or a holy man from thousands of years ago. While the title of the novel might sound like it belongs to a daunting textbook, this is actually a wildly imaginative sci-fi novella that eliminates the boundaries of space and time in search of existential truth, and shares a good bit of knowledge about physics along the way.

In this oddly charming adventure, readers are taken from Neolithic times to […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-01-10T09:49:39+02:00December 2nd, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Science Fiction Book Reviews, Speculative Fiction Book Reviews, Visionary Fiction Book Reviews|

Shifting Sands (A Pastor Stephen Grant Short Story) by Ray Keating

Pastor Steven Grant always manages to find himself in the middle of a thriller, and author Ray Keating has created yet another complicated plot for his favorite protagonist in Shifting Sands.

Although considerably shorter than many of this series’ full-length novels, this quick read features Pastor Grant and a cadre of his old friends taking in the sights of an outdoor volleyball tournament with a deadly secret. As is so often the case with Keating’s hero, it isn’t going to be a peaceful getaway for the intrepid holy man, not with a terrorist plot brewing amidst the sun and […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2018-11-28T11:39:43+02:00November 28th, 2018|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Thriller Book Reviews|

Review: Farewell to Follies by Xingu Fawcett

Farewell to Follies establishes Xingu Fawcett as a formidable short story writer with a firm finger on the pulse of human nature, as well as the natural world.

These stories vary wildly in their subject matter, but the underlying themes are universal – wrestling with death, balancing nature and the city, exploring unknown places, and the long-term impact of trauma. With an artful, yet sensitive approach to these intense issues, the stories are both harrowing and heartwarming. Fawcett understands the dynamic nature of life, and effortlessly embodies characters from different times, social backgrounds and life paths.

What is immediately noticeable […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-01-22T10:30:54+02:00November 20th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Short Stories Book Reviews|