Lead Story | Self-Publishing Review

Review: I Am Ed by R.A. Akerlund

★★★½

An intensely moving story of loss, survival, and brotherly love.

The prospect of losing a parent is a fearful part of every child’s reality as they grow up, but to lose both parents, as the nuclear family of brothers in this novel did, is something particularly tragic. Readers are given an intimate glimpse of teenage life through the eyes of orphans, and the resultant story is nothing less than heartfelt and inspiring.

When Fred, Ben, Steve, and Ed lose their mother, they are faced with a difficult decision: report her passing to the authorities and risk being separated or […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-01-22T04:36:49+02:00March 22nd, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Coming Of Age, Young Adult|

Review: The Perihelion by D.M. Wozniak

★★★★½

The Perihelion by D.M. Wozniak is literary, character-driven science fiction at its best. Set in 2069, The Perihelion comprises a world where there are hybrid humans with 1% animal or insect DNA, called 99ers. The novel follows the lives of six different characters in an approaching apocalypse, the Perihelion: “The point in the path of a celestial body that is nearest to the sun,” in which the world is melting down both physically and mentally. This is an epic, uniquely inventive novel about big ideas that should hopefully get a lot of attention.

An apocalyptic scenario sounds like well-trodden […]

SPR2019-03-07T09:26:07+02:00March 10th, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: D.M. Wozniak, Science Fiction|

Review: The Man in the Blue Fez: A Birth of an Assassin Novel by Rik Stone

★★★★½

In 1973, in the harsh eternal winter of Siberia, Jez Kord silently leaves his wife and comrade Anna behind in what was once a death camp built under Stalin’s rule.

Without a word to anyone else, he treks across the unforgiving plains that span beyond the militarized fences of the complex, determined to prove himself fit for duty; his mission-to-be: destroying the military corruption caused by the drug and flesh operations of local crime lords and the brutal machinations of the mafia. However, his task is hindered by friend and foe, leading to a desperate escape from Siberia for […]

James Grimsby2016-03-10T10:02:27+02:00March 10th, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Thriller|

Review: I Punched Myself in the Eye by Pamela Capone

Any readers out there who need a good belly laugh? Pamela Capone’s latest work I Punched Myself in the Eye is just the tonic for any reader looking for a fun book to pick up. This is a sparky collection of sketches drawn from everyday life: by turns hilarious, familiar, heart-warming and heart-rending. It’s a book the reader can dip into at leisure, enjoying the bite-sized chapters in any order. This is observational comedy in a very human style, and the reader (be they male or female) will surely find themselves laughing or crying out loud along with the author […]

Helen Chenaf2019-02-11T09:26:06+02:00March 7th, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Essays, Humor, Pamela Capone|

Review: Happy Chasing Happy by Jerome Jay Isip

★★★★½

A vicious piece of prose – unique and powerful.

At the outset of this brutal and honestly painful story, the name of this book may seem misleading, to say the least. But the further along into the novel you dig, the title begins to make more sense. From the darkest depths of drug addiction, self-loathing, and listless living to the incredible heights of physical perfection, mental clarity, and self-fulfillment, this book is a true knockout, written with the patience and precision one would expect from a veteran novelist.

The intricacies of the professional MMA world may be a mystery […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2016-03-10T09:59:40+02:00February 25th, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Memoir, Non-Fiction|

Review: Accidental Dad by Joshua McDowell

★★★★½

A deeply personal and thorough perspective on life as a single father.

Every established system has its persistent flaws, regardless of how often or eagerly they’re pointed out. In Accidental Dad, Joshua McDowell presents his case against the treatment of single fathers in a tangled system seemingly designed to make them fail. McDowell takes readers through his story from start to finish, where he successfully joined the small percentage (6-11%) of single fathers who fought for custody and actually won. He offers this unique perspective in an unadulterated form, revealing his intimate details of teenage fatherhood, the pain of […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2016-03-10T09:59:20+02:00February 25th, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Memoir, Non-Fiction, Parenting|

Review: What Casts the Shadow? by Seth Mullins

★★★★½

What Casts the Shadow? (The Edge of the Known Book 1) by Seth Mullins is an introspective novel about Brandon Crane, a metal musician with a lot of hope for the future, but facing demons and darkness he must overcome. His band “Edge of the Known” are forging ahead, but Brandon’s negative thoughts, spurred on by an abusive father, threatens to make everything come crashing down, as the violent part of him is threatening to overtake his life. When Brandon meets a wise mentor, Saul, he might finally be able to put his life together.

What makes What Casts […]

Henry Baum2019-01-22T15:28:22+02:00February 24th, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Contemporary Fiction, Men's Fiction, Music, Seth Mullins|

Review: Project Anan by Lionel Lazarus

★★★★

Project Anan by Lionel Lazarus is a compelling work of science fiction about two planets facing a crisis. On the one hand, the aliens called are facing an energy crisis of their own, while humans are facing an ecological crisis on Earth. The Anan are more than an alien race: they engineered the human race and so want to save us as well, and the question becomes if humans have enough sense of self-preservation to be able to work with creatures from another planet. Leaving Earth on a beat-up ship in search for a more hospitable home, humans may […]