Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: Chasing the Red Queen by Karen Glista

Chippewa legends and vampirical lore make for interesting bedfellows in Chasing the Red Queen, an edgy YA paranormal romance by Karen Glista.

Sixteen-year-old Donja Bellanger is devastated to be leaving behind her childhood home and all those she holds dear to start a new life in another town, thanks to her mother’s marriage to widower, Carson Hampton. Worse yet, she’ll have to share a bedroom with Carson’s privileged daughter, Makayla, during renovations to the old manor into which they just moved.

Surprisingly, the two girls quickly become fast friends, bonding over their tragic loss of a parent, and on […]

Marta Cheng2020-02-21T07:14:31+02:00April 20th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Paranormal Romance Book Reviews, Young Adult Book Reviews|

Review: Mnemosyne’s Daughters by Brit Chism

Mnemosyne’s Daughters is a thought-provoking collection of modern day short stories inspired by Greek mythology that author, Brit Chism, uses to highlight social issues affecting women in today’s society.

Told from a surprisingly male perspective, there are nine short stories in all – a few somewhat blandly titled after women. Then there are the rest, like “Alice Silver-Blue Hair and the Saints,” “Elysian Fields Next Exit,” “Mnemosyne’s Daughters,” “Layla and the Rage,” and “Medea Royal,” each of which express the author’s robust imagination that is evident throughout this collection.

At the heart of each story are women from all walks […]

Marta Cheng2019-01-22T11:13:27+02:00April 18th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Short Stories Book Reviews, Women's Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Panther Across the Stars by Lon Brett Coon

The travesty of Native American history in the United States is well known, and is a common topic for authors and artists who seek literary – if not literal – justice for the past. In Panther Across the Stars, the debut novel by author Lon Brett Coon, this shadowy and shameful chunk of American history is depicted in a decidedly new way.

While Native American culture and lore overflows with mysticism and spirituality, Coon’s angle leans deeper into the science fiction genre. This novel tells the tale of one young Red Indian brave befriending three otherworldly visitors, and their […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2018-05-09T10:46:28+02:00April 17th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Science Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Tiernan’s Wake by Richard T. Rook

Michael, an Irish-American lawyer, is stymied and bored. He keeps a candle lit for the spirits of his ancestors, and he’s considering retirement, or at least a change…and then an envelope with a crooked red shamrock changes his world.

Instead of dealing with wills and real estate, Michael finds himself chasing down the history of an Irish pirate queen, trading mysteries and riddles with an enigmatic old professor, and discovering the truth of his own convoluted family tree. It’s quite a change from a regular day at the office, and it involves a lot of fine whiskey to boot.

Beginning […]

Mindy Hood2018-06-28T05:47:00+02:00April 16th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: International Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Get the Heck Out of Our Way! by Dale W. Cox

Businessman Dale W. Cox expresses his deep concern over the proliferation of government regulations and their consequences to ordinary citizens in the United States in Get the Heck Out of Our Way!: Examples of Government Regulations That Are Eroding Our Freedoms, Holding Back the Economy, and Costing Us Money and What We Can Do about It.

Cox asserts that early on in our history very few government departments were deemed necessary, but in the past 100+ years such departments have increased in number, size, influence, and power. As someone who desires to pursue small business, he is affected directly, […]

Barbara Scott2019-01-22T11:33:04+02:00April 16th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Business Book Reviews, Politics Book Reviews|

Review: Whither, Willie Wicked? by Jan Ewing

In Whither, Willie Wicked? Jan Ewing has produced a terrific piece of work, tackling hard subjects that are both topical and magical, melding the real with the imagined.

The story follows Thomas Llewellyn Gareth, known as Gareth, a private investigator tasked with locating the punk rock star Jeff Christopher after his disappearance in light of a rape accusation. All is not as it may seem, with rumors that Jeff Christopher has turned into someone else, Willie Wicked, and questions arise as to his father’s intentions after Gareth learns Jeff squeezed him out and lost his father a lot of money.[…]

SPR2019-01-22T10:50:57+02:00April 16th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Crime Fiction Book Reviews, Detective Fiction Book Reviews, Fantasy Book Reviews|

Review: I’m Going to Kill That Cat by F. Della Notte

F. Della Notte’s cozy mystery, I’m Going to Kill That Cat, is a highly entertaining whodunit with a feline twist.

Father Melvyn Kronkey is devoted to his clerical duties at Saint Frances de Sales Church, and to his widowed housekeeper Mrs. B.’s marvelous cooking. Life is good until the longstanding antagonism between two of his older parishioners, Martha and Velma, culminates in a heated confrontation, thanks to an unexpected fall Martha blames on Velma’s cat. Martha angrily threatens to kill Velma’s cat but it’s Velma who turns up dead a short time later. Not surprisingly, Martha becomes the police’s prime […]

Marta Cheng2019-12-11T08:11:09+02:00April 16th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Mystery Book Reviews|

Review: Lunacy and Death by Tom Dombrock

Outside of a personal tragedy or affliction, the average person rarely gets a deep look into the complexities of mortality and mental illness. However, in Lunacy and Death, the insightful new book Tom Dombrock, readers are welcomed into the author’s world, which has been defined by these challenging topics for decades.

As both a Psych Aide in a locked psychiatric ward and a technician in a Medical Examiner’s Office, Dombrock has seen more shattered realities than most people could ever imagine. This book is not a flashy or dramatic vision of a psych ward, à la One Flew Over […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-01-22T15:12:54+02:00April 13th, 2018|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Psychology Book Reviews, Social Science Book Reviews|