John Staughton, Senior Reviewer

A deep dive into the modern phenomenon of surviving without truly existing, Cloak of the Living Dead: 13 Reasons Why You’re Living Dead by Ernest Johnson is a bold treatise on how to bring yourself back to a fulfilled, meaningful, and God-centered life. From governmental authorities and mindless careers to personal apathy, the pharmaceutical industry, dead-end marriages, and the poisonous foods we are marketed and fed, this book strips away and analyzes the failed thought patterns of contemporary life, often through the lens of the author’s own experiences. While the prose is written in a stream-of-consciousness style that adds passion […]

A truth-telling collection of poetry from Franco Cardiello, Loving Strays examines the highs and lows of love in the varied seasons of our unpredictable lives. From long-distance romance behind bars to surviving betrayal under the influence, the opening salvos of this reflective collection are raw and passionate musings of youth. The free-verse storytelling style gracefully matures alongside the poet, though lust and love remain his preferred subject matter. The struggles of writing, the dedication of siblings, and the compassion of breaking hearts gently are all explored with tenderness and nuance, despite the almost Bukowski-like grit that edges some of these […]

Reality, memory, and the dark side of dreaming collide in The Dominant One by Michelle Ian, a spiraling work of supernatural horror that hooks hard from the very first chapter. A wise protector with a hidden power finds himself on a desperate rescue mission in the Arizona mountains, haunted by the fatal fallout of his own tragic heroics. With a hypnotizing plot and enthralling, suspenseful prose, this is a sinister masterpiece of modern horror, with surreal sequences of mind-bending descriptions, dream-world battles, a corpse-swallowing void, and a psychotic killer who can terrorize outside of space and time. A disturbing escape, […]

From building competitive intelligence to sharpening your instincts in the heat of conflict, Sun Tzu’s Art of War in Business Strategy: Mastering the Battlefield of Commerce by M.K. Langley is a close reading of the titular text for an ambitious professional generation. Breaking down the keys to corporate success before distilling them through Sun Tzu’s keen military lens, this is a straightforward playbook for behavioral efficiency, self-improvement, and corporate ladder climbing. While the association of war and business may be a bit strong for some readers, the author’s exploration of corporate strategy, interpersonal dynamics, high-stakes decision-making, and behavioral science through […]

An addictive VR video game leads to surprising and challenging lessons about internet safety in Cyberama by Arthi Vasudevan, a clever children’s book laced with critical wisdom. Maya is a curious gamer with cyber-savvy parents working on a secret government project, but when bad actors attack via cyberspace, it will take fresh knowledge and clever defenses to save the day as the situation spirals out of control. Supported by AI-infused cyber pals that try to keep Maya safe as she ventures through the online world, this story of self-discovery, safety, and cybersecurity is equally entertaining and educational. Breaking down complex […]