Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

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 Book Reviews|

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 Book Reviews, Self-Help Book Reviews|

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 Book Reviews, Literary Fiction Book Reviews, Thriller Book Reviews|

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 Book Reviews|

Review: Shadowshine by Johnny Armstrong

A timely and fearless tale of courage in the face of insurmountable odds, Shadowshine: An Animal Adventure by Johnny Armstrong is a brilliant piece of creative fiction.

When Zak the “poet possum” realizes that his home and those he cares for are being threatened, he embarks on an epic journey into the unknown to rally support and find a way to protect the forest. Somehow, he must unite the Forest Folk to push back the dangerous humans and their allies, but there are secret suspicions and old enemies who stand in his way.

An incredibly intelligent and philosophical protagonist, Zak […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-10-30T03:42:03+02:00October 29th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Children's Book Reviews, Middle Grade Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Soul Seeker by Kaylin McFarren

When a corrupted child grows into an unrepentantly evil young man, he must be stopped, and that will require the investigations of a horrified father and the services of a dedicated demon, in the colorfully complex fantasy by author Kaylin McFarren, Soul Seeker.

Firefighter Benjamin Poe is fed up with his lazy, complaining son Gabe, but those feelings amplify when there’s a fire at Gabe’s workplace, killing the three co-workers he particularly despised. Poe can’t help but try to learn more until he is confronted by a strange man with bright flashing eyes. Crighton is so well acquainted with […]

SPR2020-10-27T08:10:47+02:00October 27th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Fantasy Book Reviews|

Review: Side Steps Terrorizing Sound Bites by Amy Jean

A poetic guide for choosing an authentic life against a global backdrop of injustice, Side Steps Terrorizing Sound Bites by Amy Jean is a creative and powerful collection, accompanied beautifully by illustrations from Eric Savage.

With the underlying theme of taking control of one’s life, rather than being swept along with the systems in place, these poems are empowering, accusatory, curious, and fearless. The subject matter of these lyrical passages varies wildly, from the wonders of the natural world to inequality of all kinds, yet each of the poems in this extended “chime” feel carefully constructed, without wasting words.

Jean […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-12-02T09:24:22+02:00October 26th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Poetry Book Reviews|

Review: K3+ by Erasmo Acosta with Gala Stevenson

K3+ by Erasmo Acosta with Gala Stevenson is a stunning piece of futurist sci-fi – a visionary story that proposes the shape of mankind’s destiny in the universe.

A wildly creative futuristic vision, this novel tracks the origins of the fictional Space Initiative and its first nascent steps among the stars, led by its unlikely and uncompromising leader, Federico. As an added twist, readers are also given a glimpse far into the future – a billion years – to the intergalactic evolution of the human race, with its population in the nonillions and energy-capturing megastructures placed around billions of stars.[…]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-12-01T07:30:33+02:00October 24th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Science Fiction Book Reviews|