John Staughton, Senior Reviewer | Self-Publishing Review

Review: Scar Songs by W. Royce Adams

Exploring the complex and commonly overlooked emotional experiences of men, Scar Songs by W. Royce Adams is a bold and unabashed collection of stories that looks at fraternal friendship, along with grief, growth, love, and purpose.

These vignettes are candid glimpses into the lives of ordinary people, in large part, but they reveal that even the most forgettable interactions can have long-lasting impacts and echoes. Using an impressive economy of language, Adams captures the psyche and struggles of each story’s protagonist with a compelling rawness.

In “Thief Catcher,” a young man must pit his sense of duty and need for […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2023-03-29T10:55:32+02:00March 28th, 2023|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Short Stories Book Reviews|

Review: The Lost Dagger by Thamir Essayyad

Author Thamir Essayyad invites readers into a modern clash of medicine, reality, mortality, and mysticism with his stunning novel, The Lost Dagger.

Kanan Angler is a gifted emergency room doctor with a head for facts, symptoms, and science, but when tell-tale signs indicate that he’s losing his mind, the good doctor sets out on a truth-seeking journey across the ocean. However, searching for answers only leads to more questions about his newfound ability to see spirits, commune with the dead, and apparently look into the past.

From eloquent Spanish aristocrats and black-clad sword masters to secret Islamic societies and […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2023-05-02T19:22:28+02:00March 27th, 2023|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Fantasy Book Reviews|

Review: Artefactum by J.E. Tobal

Author J.E. Tobal combines sci-fi with some heavy inter-dimensional soul-searching in Artefactum, a cerebral and kaleidoscopic new thriller.

After coming into unlikely possession of Mictlantecuhtl, a powerful artifact that grants him the power to leap between realities, Sam’s semi-stable life spins into an epic quest for a timeless goal that spans the multiverse, and beyond. From mile-high death deities, living inside porn movies, and cross-dimensional betrayals to nightmare realms, rips in time, and existential quandaries, this book goes mind-bendingly hard into the endless possibilities presented by multiverse theory.

A bartender who defies the usual tropes, Sam may overindulge in […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2023-04-11T13:04:14+02:00March 22nd, 2023|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Science Fiction Book Reviews|

The Thieves by Susan Specht Oram

Susan Specht Oram delivers the second piece of her Millersville Series with The Thieves, a gripping novel of desperate times, desperate measures, and the lengths we go to protect those we love. When an amateur thief with good intentions has her only and biggest score snatched away by con-artist crooks, she embarks on a deeply unwise mission to snatch it back. Like a long-form chase sequence with a countdown clock attached, this Pacific Northwest hunt for 500K makes for one wild road trip. The story moves fast, which keeps the energy high, but also cuts down on space for […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2023-03-22T13:15:06+02:00March 21st, 2023|Categories: Editorial Reviews|

Cobra Pose by Susan Rogers & John Roosen

Two amateur sleuths unravel a viciously clever scheme to destabilize Australia and rob it blind in Cobra Pose by Susan Rogers and John Roosen, the second installment of their fast-paced Yoga Mat Mysteries series.

When Elaina’s father drops off the map following a cryptic phone call, she turns to her freshly returned lover, Ric, for his specialized help. Their hunt soon reveals that her father’s disappearance is linked to an imminent cyber-attack that could ravage global markets. Elaina’s courtroom-sharpened wits and enlightened yogi mind combine well with Ric’s pragmatic perfectionism and spycraft-level problem-solving, making their interactions authentic and charming, while […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2024-05-08T18:24:55+02:00March 20th, 2023|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Mystery Book Reviews|

Review: Delaware Before the Railroads by Dave Tabler

A brief yet beautifully detailed journey through Delaware’s past, and the colonial history of America itself, Delaware Before the Railroads by Dave Tabler is a revelatory peek into an oft-overlooked state, reading like a love letter to one of America’s first and most forgotten colonies. Topping out at just under 100 pages, this is an easy afternoon read for residents of Delaware, those interested in colonial lore, or fans of historical photography.

Despite having moved to Delaware only a dozen years ago, Tabler writes with the familiarity and affection of a lifelong native; his state-spanning explorations and historical tracking certainly […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2023-03-21T13:03:00+02:00March 20th, 2023|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: History Book Reviews, Photography Book Reviews|

Hold Circulation by Syntell Smith

A character-driven drama that spotlights the beauty of banality, and the shushed secrets that form the foundation of life, Hold Circulation by Syntell Smith is the third installment of his compelling Call Numbers series.

A story of redemption and personal revelation, bouncing around the stacks of a surprisingly drama-filled library, this novel peers into the pages of a dozen or so interconnected lives, revealing Janelle Smith’s plunge into parenthood, Gerry’s questionably criminal life choices, Angie’s late-night DJ dabbling, Heywood’s spiritual crises, and much more. Stretching far beyond the shelves of the 58th Street Branch, these are richly tangled tales from […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2023-03-16T14:31:18+02:00March 16th, 2023|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: What Happened to Annabell? A Monday Night Anthology

Ten talented writers contribute a creative storm of stories in response to a single question in the macabre and compelling collection, What Happened to Annabell? With a fascinating hook for these tales – an original writing prompt that is both straightforward and inherently intriguing – it is easy to be pulled into this entertaining and expertly curated collection.

After seeing a headstone from more than a century ago, bearing a female name that lacked a death date, a curious writing prompt was composed, imagining the fate of such a woman. The variety of clever and dark takes on the concept […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2023-04-06T16:37:49+02:00March 14th, 2023|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Short Stories Book Reviews|