Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: Keiko by Bernie Donnelly

When life slips into a deep, spiraling rut, pulling yourself out can be difficult, but it always helps when an exotic and unexpected stranger falls into your path. In Keiko by Bernie Donnelly, two people from opposite sides of the world find one another and find a fresh spark of possibility for happiness.

Bruce Stevens is an exhausted CPA with a marriage careening off the rails, while Keiko is a mysterious Japanese woman who needs some tax matters handled in the lonely town of Sarasota. This unlikely meeting intoxicates Bruce, who sees Keiko as a chance to start the next […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-05-28T10:12:17+02:00January 29th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Bernie Donnelly, Contemporary Fiction, Romance|

Review: He Who Leads by M.A.N.

★★★

The Akachi clan has a new leader, as Amare has taken the title of chief after the death of his father. No sooner has he accepted the role than problems begin to multiply. There are questions of succession to contend with, demons lurking in the night, and the basic needs of the clan to see to. If the clan is to survive, they must move as well. Their lands are no longer safe, but they face a hostile clan to one side and a pair of warring neighbors to the other. It doesn’t take long for Amare to find […]

Mindy Hood2018-02-16T11:42:06+02:00January 29th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Fantasy|

Review: Revelations 12:12 by David de Freitas

Blending family tragedy with possible Satanic forces and a brutal homicide makes for an exciting premise in Revelations 12:12 by David de Freitas. Through careful storytelling and a healthy dose of suspense, this novel is a slow-burning thriller with enough twists to keep even veteran readers guessing.

Simon is a young boy born under slightly mysterious circumstances to a kind and cursed woman named Martha, whose husband dies before the child’s first birthday. Shadowing the boy throughout his early years is Dr. Brockman, a quiet and eccentric character who seems cloaked in secrecy. From the day Simon was born to […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-01-22T05:45:25+02:00January 23rd, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Paranormal, Thriller|

Review: Sky of Dreams by Robert A. Cozzi

Award-winning poet and writer Robert A. Cozzi has brought to the page an emotive collection that will warm the heart and challenge the mind in Sky of Dreams. The poems follow themes and motifs that Cozzi’s previous works have touched upon, such as lost chances, romance, and the wonder of his environment, using touchstones of senses, nature, and light to describe his feelings.

Cozzi opens this volume with “New Hope,” in which faith reappears with the rising sun, followed by the affirmative “Strength Beneath My Feet.” However, he is not always so optimistic. His heart, he says, is a […]

Barbara Scott2019-02-22T11:45:04+02:00January 11th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Poetry, Robert A. Cozzi|

Review: The Average Joe’s Guide to Success by R.C. Farrington

Author and entrepreneur R.C. Farrington has written a book for those he calls “average Joes and Josies” who may be wondering when, if ever, they can excel in The Average Joe’s Guide to Success: The Brilliant Overachievers Will Never See You Coming.

If you fall into this category, as Farrington says he does, you will probably realize it early on: you won’t make straight A’s in school, and perhaps, like him, you will be tested at some point and routed towards vocational work. You may feel undervalued and lapse into a pattern of underachieving, because it seems pointless to […]

Barbara Scott2018-05-09T10:19:56+02:00January 10th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Business, Non-Fiction, Self-Help|

Review: The Chief and His Marine by B.A. Sherman

★★★★

Few can understand the horrors of war if they have never put their lives on the line for their country, but the family members of soldiers have an intimate knowledge of that stress and pain. In The Chief and His Marine, author B.A. Sherman brings some of the challenges and tragedies of war into stark detail, shedding light on a subject that is pushed under the rug, or tacitly avoided, far too often.

This novel wastes no time in getting into the action, introducing readers to the titular Chief Platte character, who appears to still be reeling from […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-02-21T06:18:46+02:00January 10th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction, Military|

Review: It’s All Coming Back: On Love After the War by Jon Kahn

★★★★

When Anne-Marie and Helmut marry in London just a year after World War II, they are young, in love, and glad to be finally free of the deep tragedy Hitler had brought to Europe. Swedish Anne-Marie is sweet, educated, and emancipated, but Helmut is from Germany, and Jewish. He has lived through many terrible family losses, and there are many divides in their knowledge of world events recently passed.

Through their love, they must now get to know each other, and heal the rifts in understanding between their families, both culturally and emotionally. The awful truth is almost to […]

SPR2018-02-16T10:10:26+02:00January 9th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Historical Fiction, World War II|

Review: Soul Census by AJ Vega

★★★★

Finding purpose after a life-changing event is something to which all readers can relate, and such is the fate of WWI veteran Willem Maddock, feeling the sense of despondency and alienation following the impossible tragedy of war. However, in Soul Census, written by AJ Vega, the story delves much deeper than a standard novel about post-war America. Instead, it penetrates the veil between mortality and spirituality, hinting at a form of existence that doesn’t end, but simply transcends.

Returning to find a cold world that doesn’t worship the right heroes, the tone is set for Maddock to be granted […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-01-22T15:17:08+02:00January 8th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Science Fiction, Visionary Fiction|