Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: 6 Mega Life-Transforming Hacks by Mirza Barlas, MBA

Successful entrepreneur Mirza Barlas shares his affirmative philosophy with parables, positive reminders, and “specks of gold” to maintain happiness and sustain achievement in 6 Mega Life-Transforming Hacks: Maximize Your Life Satisfaction, Experiences, and Results.

Barlas begins with a brief illustrative vignette from his own life: after attaining great success as an expert in the field of business transformation while still in his twenties, he found he was not happy. To become happy, he realized, required that, as Thomas Aquinas asserted, he would know what he ought to believe, desire, and do. Based on this personal revelation, he began a […]

SPR2020-11-18T04:42:02+02:00November 7th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Mirza Barla, Self-Help|

Review: Callisto 2.0 by Susan English

A gifted young researcher finds her life rocketing in a new direction – to the stars – in Callisto 2.0 by Susan English, a creative, time-warping thrill.

This foundation-building novel is a strong start for a new feministic science fiction series, landing as both timely and relatable. After an astonishing sequence of unlikely events, Callisto finds herself orbiting the moon, in awe of her out-of-this-world boss, and working on the greatest unsolved problems of human space travel. However, despite being surrounded by an entire space station of brilliant and unique women from across the globe, there are dangerous secrets lurking […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-12-08T08:26:36+02:00November 6th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Science Fiction|

Review: A Week is Not Forever by Firie Mhèné

The heartfelt emotions and thoughts of a lonely woman are laid bare in A Week is Not Forever, a multicultural romance debut by Firie Mhèné.

Having left behind her family and an emotionally-barren marriage in Europe, Gazina has been working on her doctoral research on a small island in Asia. Prior to arriving on the island, Gazina had filled the void caused by her husband’s indifference to their relationship with study, work, learning languages, buying herself clothes, going on holiday, and dining out, but here on the island, with no close friends to speak of and nothing in the […]

Marta Cheng2020-12-07T05:04:44+02:00November 4th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Romance, Women's Fiction|

Review: Fatal Decision by T.K. Wolf

The road to vengeance is paved with deadly choices in Fatal Decision by T.K. Wolf, the first novel in what promises to be an exhilarating series. Sam Harker, a masterful assassin with a score to settle, is putting her unmatched skill set to work, biting at the hand that lied to and created her, but she lands in dangerous waters after diving into the past, in this world-spanning, high-octane thriller.

Moving at the speed of the best Bond movies, this spy thriller has plenty of recognizable elements from the popular genre, from the single-minded revenge of the Jason Bourne series […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-11-05T04:43:01+02:00November 4th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Spy Thriller, T.K. Wolf, Thriller|

Review: Fragments: The Long Coming Home from Vietnam by Bruce K. Berger

Bruce K. Berger, a profoundly insightful poet and decorated veteran, has finished a decades-long journey in Fragments: The Long Coming Home from Vietnam, offering a distinctly unique glimpse into an infamous war.

This striking collection of poems is a wide-ranging and unforgettable examination of his life-changing experiences in that bloody war, the indescribable damage that it wrought both at home and abroad, and America’s endless stream of military conflicts, a legacy that rings powerfully in today’s grim geopolitical atmosphere. These poems are gripping, each in their own way, representing a piece of the poet’s personal journey, from raw, unforgettable […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-12-03T05:52:47+02:00November 3rd, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Poetry|

Review: The Art of Influencing Project Success by Nicholas Ferguson

Nicholas Ferguson, a successful technical advisor, suggests new, innovative, and at times radical ways to view one’s work life in The Art of Influencing Project Success: Positively Accelerate Project Outcomes Working from Home or the Office.

A uniquely wide-ranging self-help guide, Ferguson’s book examines the way that project management can be successfully achieved through broadened perspective. He recounts that from childhood he had an innate belief that the universe from its smallest particle was charged with energy. In the same way, our work and the projects we undertake are imbued with energies that need to be recognized and channeled. […]

SPR2020-11-03T07:55:25+02:00November 2nd, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Business, Nicholas Ferguson, Self-Help|

Review: The Actor by Mharlyn Merritt

Bizarre worlds collide with even wilder consequences in The Actor by Mharlyn Merritt, a non-stop ride through the realms of fame, sex, regret, and redemption. A burst of spontaneous brilliance from the first page to the last, this novel is a love note to the weird edges of celebrity, and a homage to a golden era of Hollywood that may have never existed outside the tabloids.

Known only as The Actor, the enigmatic protagonist finds himself in hot water after his lover mysteriously disappears, but that doesn’t stop him from shacking up with the next lit fuse of a person […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-11-02T04:20:29+02:00November 1st, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Contemporary Fiction, Literary Fiction, Thriller|

Review: Cutout: White Knight Dark Knight by Don Helmig & Scott Robertson

Following the prophetic writing of Cutout: Government Conspiracy, authors Don Helmig and Scott Robertson have expanded this series with Cutout: White Knight Dark Knight. Diving deeper into the global cabal of shadowy powers directing us towards doom, this dystopian allegory is frighteningly timely, given the state of the world.

With events set after the pandemic our real world has yet to handle, this is a near-future horror story of China’s rise to global power, and the struggles of an American president facing mounting pressure from all sides. From exploding lake houses and murderous Aussie intelligence agents to delicate moments […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-11-02T04:08:25+02:00October 31st, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Thriller|