John Staughton, Senior Reviewer | Self-Publishing Review

Awakened Horror by Quill Holland

An exhilarating sci-fi thriller exploring good and evil on a galactic scale, Awakened Horror by Quill Holland is a twisted and expansive sci-fi novel with a cast of compelling and conflicted heroes. Haunted by a lingering fear that the Empire has somehow survived and is regaining strength, Raith struggles with the revelations of his past life as a brutal oppressor, despite his recent heroics and the victory of the Republic. En route to a diplomatic mission, Raith’s freedom and family are once again ripped away by his reincarnated enemy, but as a nameless existential terror descends on the scattered colonies […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2023-10-03T15:01:17+02:00October 3rd, 2023|Categories: Editorial Reviews|

Red Thread by Anne Kampf

Tracing humanity’s trajectory from systems of faith to our modern era of science, Red Thread: Occult to Science and Beyond by Anne Kampf looks to find overlap and common ground between these two seemingly opposing forces.

Beginning with a fascinating review of scientific and non-scientific paradigms throughout history, readers are invited to start connecting their own dots between the past, present, proof, and popular belief. From alchemy, esotericism, and astral myths to numerology, biblical clues, and the multiple layers of significance behind the zodiac, even those familiar with these topics will find new nuggets of wisdom and context within these […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2023-10-02T15:52:26+02:00October 2nd, 2023|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Spirituality Book Reviews|

Who’s Back at the Door by JC Bratton

A gruesome, creative, and easy-to-devour novella by JC Bratton, Who’s Back at the Door? is a chilling tale and a well-crafted sequel to Who’s at the Door? Years after young Jamie Patterson mysteriously disappears from her dorm room, an ominous mirror split by a crack reappears in the life of a parapsychologist who had been investigating the girl’s unsolved case. The dark force within the mirror is roaming free once again, and the good doctor must team up with an unlikely crew to stop Bloody Mary’s reign of terror once and for all. Feeling like a supernatural horror movie on […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2023-10-02T12:45:53+02:00October 2nd, 2023|Categories: Editorial Reviews|

Review: In the Shadow of the Sun by Poli Flores Jr.

A touching tale of brotherly devotion and the life-altering consequences of war, In the Shadow of the Sun by Poli Flores Jr. is an outback California drama that echoes across small-town American life.

In the shifting cultural landscape of the Vietnam era, a young man named Curt leaves for war as a musclebound titan, but returns as a troubled and broken soul, unprepared for the very different battles that still lay ahead. When a respected member of the community is bludgeoned to death shortly after his return, the clues and suspicions all seem to point toward Curt.

With corrupt law […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2023-09-29T12:18:09+02:00September 29th, 2023|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Historical Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Expraedium by Armen Melikian

Defying structure, narrative decorum, and often logical thought itself, Expraedium by Armen Melikian is a hero’s journey like no other, a radical adventure of reinvention, leading to a reframing of language and the very nature of storytelling.

In search of Urmashu, a legendary republic of immortals, Brathki embarks on a surreal quest, without apparent destination or clear purpose, baffling the reader as much as the protagonist, as the narrative plays with the boundaries of reality and time. Melikian’s writing blurs prose, poetry, and inscrutable languages of sign and symbol, and if bold readers can decipher the paradoxical gymnastics of this […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2023-11-14T12:58:43+02:00September 28th, 2023|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Literary Fiction Book Reviews|

From Where We Threw Dogs by Stephen Mellor

Transcending the boundaries of history, culture, and traditional narration, From Where We Threw Dogs by Stephen Mellor is a visceral and haunting new novel about family, destiny, and the cycles of fate from which we can never escape.

Ben and Sara are celebrating their anniversary with a rambling journey across Spain, but his exhausting and disturbing dreams threaten to derail their perfect trip. In another corner of time and space, a patchwork tribe of bandits ruling over a gorge of the gods seeks to expand their kingdom, but may be torn asunder by division within their leaders. A ghost from […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2023-09-27T14:26:42+02:00September 27th, 2023|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Fantasy Book Reviews, Visionary Fiction Book Reviews|

O’Shaughnessy Investigations, Inc. by A.G. Russo

A wartime noir thriller exploring the edges of New York City, O’Shaughnessy Investigations, Inc. by A.G. Russo is a sharply penned and wildly immersive murder mystery. When the dauntless Maeve O’Shaughnessy takes over the family detective agency while her brothers are away at war, the threat of failure forces her to choose strange bedfellows, such as a grouchy ex-cop who really knows how to take a punch, but she’s not afraid to take a risk or two. Following a spiraling series of clues from one end of New York to another, from blackmail plots to boxing rings, this unlikely pair […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2023-09-27T12:40:49+02:00September 27th, 2023|Categories: Editorial Reviews|

The Burning Bandit by Lauren Louise Hazel

A sprawling and original adventure in a familiar magical paradigm, The Burning Bandit by Lauren Louise Hazel is a richly imagined work of high fantasy.

Sharing a bond borne from tragedy, Kai and Rayan are the outsider dynamos at the center of this novel, their entrancing destinies swirling around the other as the story unfolds. One is the heir to an empire, the other is a prisoner of war who climbs the ranks with the help of his innate powers of chi. When Earth and Heaven fall out of balance, power struggles threaten to tear the kingdom apart, and Rayan’s […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2023-09-26T16:55:32+02:00September 26th, 2023|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Fantasy Book Reviews|