Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: Warrior Monk: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel by Ray Keating

There are those who say that all acts of service come from the same place, but in the case of Warrior Monk by Ray Keating, all acts of service can also come from the same person. After living an entire life as a warrior, serving his country as a CIA agent and NAVY Seal, Stephen Grant decides to wear a different uniform in the next chapter of his life – the robes of a pastor.

With this unique scenario to start off this entertaining series, Keating tosses readers headfirst into the crossfire. When a deranged woman comes into […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-05-10T10:34:27+02:00March 27th, 2019|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Ray Keating, Religious Fiction, Thriller|

Review: Forsaken Wrath (The Scorpio Files Book 1) by Alexander Ferrick

The life of a treasure hunter is never boring, and that’s certainly true of the hero in Forsaken Wrath, the first book in the Scorpio Files series by Alexander Ferrick. When professional fortune hunter Nick Reed, also known as Scorpio, sets his gaze on the ultimate treasure hunt in history, he isn’t going alone. In search of the ancient city of Atlantis, one of the “Gates to Hell” – and endless wealth – there are few things this swashbuckling adventurer won’t do.

Driven by the narrator of the story and Nick Reed’s sidekick, Bartimaeus, this novella whips through a […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-01-30T12:24:06+02:00March 25th, 2019|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Action and Adventure|

Review: Across the River (Furnass – The Civil War Years) by Richard Snodgrass

In Across the River, author Richard Snodgrass creates a vivid and intensely personal story couched within the chaos, madness and sacrifice of the Civil War. The two main characters are involved in a clever plan to turn the tide of the war for the South, but there are countless obstacles that stand in their way, including one another.

Walker and Reid are an unlikely pair who don’t seem to like one another all that much, but they’re both driven by loyalty and sincere belief in their cause…at first. They have been tasked to cross into enemy territory and acquire […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-02-21T06:18:40+02:00March 23rd, 2019|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Historical Fiction, Military, Richard Snodgrass|

Review: To You with Love by Gary W. Burns

Loving relationships in a multitude of aspects and progressions form the focus of this new, emotive collection of works by poet Gary W. Burns.

The poems in To You with Love are divided into four segments: “Woven,” “Ins and Outs,” “Serenities,” and “Amore.”

“Woven” expresses the lover’s longing for as-yet-unrealized interconnectedness with his beloved. He imagines “The fabric of me, you: Tapestry.” The poet invites his cherished friend to share in experiences of summer’s natural bounty, recalling the tulips that grew in his youth (“The Songsmith”), picking “The First Marigold,” and often comparing his feelings to light and the warmth […]

SPR2019-05-01T10:44:41+02:00March 23rd, 2019|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Gary W. Burns, Poetry|

Review: Sophia’s Storm by Cara Skinner

The past meets the present in Sophia’s Storm, a gripping historical novel written for young adults by Cara Skinner.

It’s fourth of July week during the summer of 79. Sixteen-year-old Sophie Reiter and her extended family have assembled at her grandparents’ Galveston beach house for their annual week-long get together, but this year’s gathering is bittersweet, due to the passing of Sophie’s beloved Great Aunt Sophia last November at the age of eighty-nine. Her great aunt had died before she could tell Sophie about the most terrible time in their family’s history: a time when Galveston was nearly destroyed […]

Marta Cheng2019-04-18T12:27:55+02:00March 22nd, 2019|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Historical Fiction, Young Adult|

Review: Leverage the Field for Success by John Jay McKey

A data analytics expert has created a new way to look at success in business, both in microcosm and from a universal perspective, in Leverage the Field for Success: Using Quantum Reality to Succeed in the Corporate World.

John Jay McKey invites the reader to examine work life, and indeed the whole of life, from the viewpoint of “the Field,” referencing scientific principles that have established that all matter is essentially not cells, but waves of energy. Many experiments have shown that phenomena such as shared and instant communication – as seen, for example, in the group behavior of […]

SPR2019-03-22T10:37:24+02:00March 22nd, 2019|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Business, John Jay McKey, Self-Help|

Review: Son of Saigon by David Myles Robinson

As old age sets in, many people dream of having one more adventure, launching themselves back into youthful vigor for a final exciting run. In Son of Saigon, a new novel by David Myles Robinson, this last-ditch fantasy becomes a reality for Hank Reagan, an old CIA spook that served in Vietnam. When a cherished part of his younger life comes calling, Hank has no choice but to shed the weight of age and do whatever he needs to protect those he loves.

There are many novels about soldiers and veterans reuniting with their one-time love from Korea or […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-02-21T06:17:39+02:00March 20th, 2019|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction, David Myles Robinson, Military|

Review: The Irreducible Primary by Rob Taylor

Rob Taylor’s perspective on existence and how to make it meaningful mixes prose and poetry with philosophy, style, and logic in The Irreducible Primary: A Dialogue on Nature, Spirituality, and the Human Condition.

In this varied collection, Taylor wishes to show how anyone can find a kind of peace that transcends politics, national boundaries, and even the boundaries we construct for our individual personalities. The titular “irreducible primary” is the human species. In this age of political division and malaise, “primary” then takes on dual meanings, with a focus on what is more essential than the policy debates in […]

SPR2019-03-20T07:30:10+02:00March 19th, 2019|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Poetry, Spirituality|