Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: Left Unspoken by Brendan Cox

“I just wanted to see what was simply hidden by their shame. I just wanted to see what they did when the forces of the social world weren’t constraining them.”

Brendan Cox’s Left Unspoken is not your everyday novella. When Raymond “Ray” Cobley was six years old he learned that his parents agreed to have everything he says recorded. The transcript won’t be read until after Raymond’s death. In return, a certain amount of money will be deposited each week into an account for Ray. Every word he utters over his entire lifetime will be written down. Can you imagine […]

T B Markinson2014-05-19T21:51:35+02:00April 2nd, 2012|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Men's Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: 5 Reasons to Leave a Lover: a Novella and Other Short Stories by Carolyn Moncel

In Set Yourself Free Ellery, Ellery Roulet is an American with a career in Paris and she has made an emotionally crushing discovery. It threatens her marriage to Julien and the life she knows as a mother to twins Evie and Maddie. The story is told from Ellery’s point of view as well as that of Julien and his lover, Katrine. Carolyn Moncel presents a compelling story and in fifty pages conveys the hopes and angst of all three.

While Ellery’s struggle is perhaps the most developed, Julien and Katrine weigh their choices with equal depth of feeling. Moncel […]

Elaine L. Orr2014-05-19T21:54:21+02:00March 19th, 2012|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Short Stories Book Reviews|

Review: Somewhere Over the Rainbow, I’ve Lost My Damn Mind by Derek Thompson

Derek Thompson is a confident young man. “The reason I enjoy making lists so much,” he writes, “is that it is almost impossible to screw up. I mean it’s your list.” So it is with memoir: personal experience is something owned.

Although this book is primarily made with blog posts, this is definitely a memoir. While I’m certain Derek would be first in line to acknowledge he’s not a writer of fine literature, his blog posts aren’t “random thought” or diary-type entries; this is a collection of essays, each containing a narrative arc, a thought process, if you will, that […]

Lela Michael2014-05-19T21:55:28+02:00March 15th, 2012|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Memoir Book Reviews, Non-Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: The Wonder of Ordinary Magic by Lilli Jolgren Day

I look for clues within the first paragraphs of a novel as to what particular kind of story the author wants to tell me and how she intends to go about it. The first two sentences of this novel irritated me: “I don’t want to be a writer. I want to be a painter.” That doesn’t sound logical, I said to myself. Why fight reality? The Prologue soon continues with “as it turns out, being a writer in a coma leaves me with many more options than being a painter in a coma would.” Lilli Jolgren Day balances existential questioning […]

Lela Michael2014-05-19T21:57:25+02:00March 8th, 2012|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Literary Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: The Serial Artist by George Finney

Detective John Ressler is faced with a series of murders that defy logic. The serial killer has an artistic streak; setting his victims in some outlandish poses, painting them, photographing them, dressing them and creating works to enhance their death – and leaving the art at the scene. What is even more bizarre is that some of the crimes appear to be impossible to have set up and executed in the time allotted. When they finally capture the artist, he disappears from the holding cell. Ressler and his partner Holt are stumped.

Mr. Finney then takes us off the grid […]

Boudica Foster2014-05-19T21:59:51+02:00March 6th, 2012|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Mystery Book Reviews|

Review: A City for the Dying by Mark Samojedny

No doubt the kick-ass reluctant-hero-with-a-tortured-soul in this debut novel will achieve rock star status with readers. But let’s not leave the author out of the limelight. In his debut crime thriller Mark Samojedny kills it with mechanical craft, weaving metaphor and mysticism into the action in a mean, lean style guaranteed to leave the audience screaming for an encore.

The title sets the mood for us. The cover artwork shows a city turned on its side—a spiffy, enticing vision complementing the story elements. The internal design echoes the cover. The front matter doesn’t bother with chapter titles or a contents […]

Lela Michael2014-05-19T22:02:01+02:00March 5th, 2012|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Literary Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Blue Fall by B. B. Griffith

Blue Fall: The Tournament: Volume One is B.B. Griffith’s first novel. I am always a little hesitant to read someone’s first novel as one doesn’t know what to expect. However, the book’s description intrigued me:

There was a time…long ago, when whole nations, entire races of people, pinned their hopes and futures on individual warriors. Whole wars were won and lost on the outcome of a single battle between heroes. Entire countries were moved. Empires rose and fell…”

In Blue Fall, that time has come again.

A routine investigation throws a hapless insurance agent down the rabbit hole, into

[…]

T B Markinson2014-06-19T17:57:35+02:00March 2nd, 2012|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Men's Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: No Exit by Julie Harris

No Exit by Julie Harris focuses on the story of Rebecca Miller, who happens to be one of the most gifted psychics this world has ever seen. Not only can she occassionally read minds, she also predicts future events, sees glimpses of people’s past and has a connection with an Angel guide named Emmanuel. She can heal the injured, wounded and even the dying. In one instance, she even manages to return from death herself. But naturally, all these gifts come with a very high price. Her own father is afraid of her and has been ignoring her for years. […]