Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: The Devil’s Playground by Cynthia Sens

The Devil’s Playground (Sapphire Staff #1), by Cynthia Sens, is an action-packed novel that’s hard to put down. Mel Taylor was born in 1916. He’s lived through World War I and World War II. Now he’s forty-four years old and the year is 2011. No, he’s not some old dude that looks really young. He’s really only forty-four. Somehow he has traveled through time.

In 2011 he is plagued by nightmares and hardly ever sleeps. Then his only friend, Joseph, asks him to help one of his buddies. Joseph’s friend is a father and his son has been missing […]

Review: Jesse James and the Secret Legend of Captain Coytus by Alex J. Mueck

Jesse James and the Secret Legend of Captain Coytus is the latest offering by Alex J. Mueck, an author who has shifted from more serious crime work to achieving more interesting edges in previous book Myth Man and to a much further extent in this new and bizarre title, which explores the story of Jesse James and the “truth” of his story, as ascribed by a delinquent student’s graduate thesis determined to expose this “secret legend” for fame, fortune and girls.

The story is set up in an interesting way that takes a little getting into, jumping from the present […]

James Grimsby2019-01-22T10:53:03+02:00December 11th, 2013|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Historical Fiction Book Reviews, Western Book Reviews|

Review: My Friend, Freedom By Peter Eliot

My Friend, Freedom is a short story by emerging author Peter Eliot, set in futuristic, Dystopian London, following the life of Yakimoto, a Japanese immigrant, whose life is left in ruin after a failed attempt at blackmail with a shady corporation. In a time where money is everything, challenging such a huge power is certain suicide, but Yakimoto has had unusual dreams; telling dreams…

The grim sci-fi/cyberpunk setting is reminiscent of something between now and the setting of Blade Runner, with a feel of Noir without an observant detective but rather an aging, drug-addicted businessman stuck on the streets of […]

Cate Baum2014-05-05T21:19:15+02:00December 11th, 2013|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Short Stories Book Reviews|

Review: Bangalore Baloney by Thomas Itty

Bangalore Baloney written by Thomas Itty is a story that spans several decades and takes place in several countries. At its core, though, the book is the intimate journey of three young men. Given how personal it feels, one gets the feeling that the author lived many of these experiences.

Swami, George and Venu form a trio called the Scrimshankers They become best of friends at an all-boys middle school in Bangalore, India when the book begins and when the book ends, the now thirty-something Scrimshankers’ relationship is just as strong.

Swami is our middle ground; an upper-middle class, brown-skinned […]

Ade Adeniji2020-02-21T05:47:12+02:00December 5th, 2013|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: International Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Echoes of Paradise by Deanna Kahler

Do you believe in the afterlife? Have you ever felt the presence of a loved one who has died, but couldn’t explain it? Deanna Kahler’s novel, Echoes of Paradise, is fiction. Yet if you are curious about the afterlife you can learn much from this story.

Celeste and Connor dated when they were younger, but they drifted apart. Connor moved to Italy. Celeste drowned herself in work and married another man and had a son. However, she never forgot Connor and their love. On his way back to the States, Connor tragically dies. Celeste is crushed when she hears […]

T B Markinson2019-01-23T13:06:51+02:00December 4th, 2013|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Fantasy Book Reviews, Paranormal Book Reviews|

Review: The Gate Keeper by Jules Gabriel

The synopsis of The Gate Keeper by Jules Gabriel is intriguing.

I am 16 years old and my name is Phil. In fact feel free to be me. Welcome into my world at high school. Feel the romance and the love I have for Samantha. Be part of my struggle as I make a stand against a gang of bullies. Witness it all, as a stranger enlightened us about our future we are destined for. The most bizarre part is that he also knows our darkest secret. The question we ought to seek is; ‘who we are in the future?’

[…]

T B Markinson2013-12-05T15:54:31+02:00November 29th, 2013|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Science Fiction Book Reviews, Time Travel Book Reviews|

Review: Dead Angels By Glen R. Stott ★ ★ ★★

Oily, paranoid, grim. “Dead Angels” by Glen R. Stott is an uncomfortable book, one that before any further reading should carry the warning that it touches on very sensitive material, and while it does not do so in any way gratuitously, or without proper understanding of the horror of the topic, it does not hold back or shy away from exploring it. This is a book about murder, abuse, and rape from the perspective of a convicted child sex offender.

Three years ago, Shari Darling sent her husband, Carl, to prison for molesting her daughter, Tami. Carl has been released […]

James Grimsby2015-02-24T04:02:03+02:00November 27th, 2013|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Thriller Book Reviews|

Review: The Oasis of Filth by Keith Soares

The Oasis of Filth by Keith Soares is a short story written as the memoirs of a man surviving through the modern “zombie apocalypse”. While many people may be thinking “oh no, not again”, let me put your fears to rest that this is not yet another Walking Dead or World War Z. This is a death of society by society, not by undead monsters; by the living, not the dead.

In 2013, several simultaneous cases of a dual instance of rabies and leprosy in patients, something incredibly unexpected by medical professionals of the time including the writer, a doctor […]

James Grimsby2019-01-21T09:38:52+02:00November 22nd, 2013|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Apocalyptic Fiction Book Reviews, Horror Book Reviews, Zombie Fiction Book Reviews|