John Staughton, Senior Reviewer

A compelling collection of visionary short stories that flirt at the edge of the miraculous, The Palmse Music Box by Rae Richen is a transportive and insightful work that questions the line between fate and free will. Themes of time, luck, life, death, and their remarkable interplay are peppered across these stories, arising in tales about the redemptive nature of gardens, cruel imbalances of destiny, the double-sided blade of scientific discovery, and the innate human drive to explore beyond what we know. Diverse in style, subject matter, solemnity, and length, these time-spanning stories are a celebration of everyday mysteries and […]

The legacy of ancient alien castaways collides with a contemporary crisis on Earth in Ghost Flower by William F. Merck II, a genre-defying adventure of time travel, love, and destiny. More than 4,000 years after their intergalactic arrival, extraterrestrial descendants must help a team of researchers unravel a virological mystery and stop a devastating pandemic in its tracks, traveling back to the Rennaisance – including a dalliance with Shakespeare – to save the future. Despite some stilted elements in dialogue, the alternating narrative streams, imaginative technologies, and compelling cast of characters both human and alien make this creatively crafted novel […]

A thrilling tangle of ancient traditions, the advance of time, and a non-native lawman trying to keep the peace in rural Alaska, Raven’s Legacy by Charlotte Stuart crackles with originality and small-town tension. When the local arts center is robbed of its priceless artifacts, the divided Tlingit village turns to Jonah St. Clair to find the thieves and return their titular legacy. However, when potential witnesses start getting cleaned up like loose ends, the case takes a murderous turn that threatens to tear the entire community apart. A police procedural steeped in immersive detail and a magnetic cast of believable […]

The breakneck origin story of a cyber-charged vigilante, Neo-Spartans: New Year’s Resolution by Rory Simpson delivers a dark and electrified vision of the future in this first book of the Neo-Spartans series. At the end of the 23rd century, Nick Adams witnesses the brutal murder of his parents at the hands of the Black Death, a globally reviled terrorist regime, led by the enigmatic Thanatos. Embarking on the transformative path of a dark avenger, Nick must become more than human to protect the fragile fate of humanity. While there are familiar echoes of other vigilante superhero characters, and there are […]

A historical thriller laced with Shakespearean twists, Castaway on the Isle of Devils by Elisabeth Carson-Williams is an exceptional tale of murder and madness at the unknown edge of the New World. After embarking on a life-changing journey to the Jamestowne colony, Alice and her parents find themselves storm-tossed onto a mysterious island with the surly and superstitious crew of the Sea Venture, the ship that inspired Shakespeare’s The Tempest. As rations dwindle and tempers flare, the vicious side of survival is revealed, and Alice must find courage and companionship within her hellish new reality. Meticulous storytelling, immersive historical […]