John Staughton, Senior Reviewer | Self-Publishing Review

Review: The Third Estate: Devil’s Tango by D.R. Berlin

An adrenaline-filled thriller of professional killers and family secrets, The Third Estate: Devil’s Tango by D.R. Berlin offers another twisted dose of conspiracy in the Third Estate series.

When a John Doe lands in the ER with a slug in his gut, Captain Sophie Allard does all she can to save him, but he seems far more interested in passing her a cryptic message about a top-secret dossier. It isn’t long before two assassins arrive at the hospital, determined to learn the man’s final words, even if that means dropping more bodies, potentially sabotaging Sophie’s nascent medical career. However, before […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2026-07-29T17:56:30+02:00July 28th, 2026|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Thriller Book Reviews|

Review: Wolf in Wanderley by Dave J. Andrae

An unapologetic tribute to Gen X mentality and the timeless frustrations of aging, Wolf in Wanderley by Dave J. Andrae is a story of haunted pasts, hope for the future, and the cruel paralysis of the present.

Facing the downward slope of his modest career as a fringe filmmaker, Wolfgang Barnes hunkers down in Florida, settling into the limbo of life’s next chapter while working on his version of a memoir. After an unfortunate encounter with a mace-wielding neighbor, Wolf meets Maisy, the punk-rock twenty-something next door, and her mother Katherine, armed with her boomer logic and skeptical caution.

Unbeknownst […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2026-10-20T10:45:03+02:00July 24th, 2026|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews, Literary Fiction Book Reviews|

The Principle of the Five Chairs by Phil Graffoe

Pulling back the curtain on human behavior and the critical role that self-awareness plays in everything we become, The Principle of the Five Chairs: A New Mindset for Personal Transformation by Phil Graffoe is a timely piece of practical philosophy. Providing tangible strategies for healthy self-governance, the text teaches readers how to seize control of their lives by being more intentional about who and what gets to occupy their immediate circle – the titular five chairs. This framework is accessible and flexible, while exploring essential themes of attention, ego, wisdom, ambition, discipline, independence, and character. Though repetitive on some points, […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2026-07-23T12:51:17+02:00July 23rd, 2026|Categories: Editorial Reviews|

Review: Searching for Harold by Stephen Watts

An epistolary memoir of a fractured family in the throes of World War II, Searching for Harold: One Family’s World War II Story in Letters by Stephen Watts presents a stirring and timely picture of unity, support, and grace under fire.

Primarily comprised of letters exchanged between members of the Carleton and Watts families between the years of 1934 and 1948, this chronological account intimately connects Harold and Wilbur Carleton in Europe, their nephew Wayland in Texas, Bernice in Georgia, Gladine in Washington, and other disparate family members across the world. Echoing an entire generation that saw its fathers, brothers, […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2026-10-15T16:57:32+02:00July 21st, 2026|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Biography Book Reviews, World War II Book Reviews|

Review: Houdini: The Man Who Died Twice by Larrian Gillespie

Pulling back the curtain on history’s most legendary magician, Houdini: The Man Who Died Twice by Larrian Gillespie explores the spectacular career, enigmatic legacy, and murky final days of the macabre master of escape. Readers are pulled a century into the past to a time of glamour and illusion, where fame and fortune could be won or lost in an instant.

Delivering an impressive example of well-researched and riveting nonfiction, the book unfolds like a formal investigation – a presentation of verified facts and the players involved, alongside a dissection of the relevant clues and motives, allowing a theory to […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2026-07-28T12:34:22+02:00July 21st, 2026|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Biography Book Reviews|

The Living Temple by Mehul

Advancing a timeless debate over the most effective methodology of medicine, The Living Temple: How Your Body Heals Itself from the Inside Out by Mehul presents a comprehensive and cumulative pathway for self-healing.

Making a strong argument for the body’s inherent knowledge to heal itself, Mehul focuses on the blocks that obstruct our capacity to heal, and the pillars that define our ability to change: understanding, energy, practice, and identity. Drawing on evidence from both ancient and modern paradigms – from the energetic architectures of Chinese medicine to the razor-sharp edge of quantum biology – the author encourages the synthesis […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2026-07-16T11:56:16+02:00July 16th, 2026|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Health Book Reviews, Spirituality Book Reviews|

The Vacuum We Return To by Tsung-Long Wu

A dramatic clash of cutting-edge science and the impossible unknown, The Vacuum We Return To by Tsung-Long Wu is an imaginative sci-fi parable about time, memory, and the subjectivity of reality. Sophy Valentine, a DARPA-funded physicist, has discovered a gateway in the brain that challenges the foundational laws of the universe; her husband, a seasoned fireman, witnesses an anomaly in the flow of time and receives an ominous warning about dark forces descending on his family. Despite repetitive structures and occasionally cyclical prose, this is a mind-altering plunge into theoretical physics and the endless mysteries of the human mind, for […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2026-07-14T15:13:09+02:00July 14th, 2026|Categories: Editorial Reviews|

Review: The Matriarch Mission by Maxime Trencavel

A historical coming-of-age novel with an empowered protagonist and supernatural flair, The Matriarch Mission by Maxime Trencavel is a captivating story of transformation, honor, and liberation.

At the tender age of thirteen, Oksana Mangupli inherits a mystical family legacy passed down from her grandmother, a secret destiny revealed by a goddess in a hidden cave in Crimea. Five years later, still unmarried and resistant to her father’s carousel of suitors, Oksana attracts the attention of a Grand Duke of Russia, and is unexpectedly drawn into the treacherous realm of the Romanovs, who have retreated in the face of revolution to […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2026-10-08T13:14:02+02:00July 13th, 2026|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Fantasy Book Reviews, Historical Fantasy Book Reviews|