SPR’s book reviews of new self-published books
Murphy’s Luck by Benjamin Laskin
Murphy Drummer is bad luck personified. As Murphy’s Law states: anything bad that can happen will happen. This is Murphy’s lifelong mantra. After a lifetime of causing havoc wherever he goes, he becomes the ultimate agoraphobe and locks himself inside so he can’t cause any more damage. Keeping himself busy with a multitude of hobbies, Murphy becomes the “Hobby Guy” with a devoted following. Eventually, Murphy has to leave the safety of his cocoon and comes in contact with his polar opposite: Joy Daley, who is touched by lady luck wherever she goes, and who might just change Murphy’s luck […]
Working the Devil by John Hagar is a caustic novel about one man’s attempt to bring peace and justice to an indigenous community on a small island called Infierno in the Caribbean. “Infierno” is right (“Hell” in Spanish) as the island is teeming with violence, racism, and a sadistic prison named the Sepulcher. After escaping the island during extreme unrest, Pike returns to the community with an eye on repairing a multitude problems. He has to contend with corruption from above and below: both oil corporations and the society’s own history of ingrained brutality.
The Street Rod Mystery by Judy Iverson is a spirited and engaging mystery about the disappearance of a young woman girl at a fifties car show. The girl is kept captive by a car-obsessed man who first fell in love with a 1959 Buick Electra 225 convertible. A huge manhunt begins for the young woman, while she tries to evade her captor, and we learn of his twisted impulses that led to the abduction, a plan that was thirty years in the making.
ReLovenship (TM) Look Within to Love Again!: A Workbook to Attract “The One” and Much More in Your Life! by husband and wife duo Mario P. Cloutier and Diane Sawaya Cloutier is a how-to guide for securing a long-term relationship in a country with a 50% divorce rate. What exactly does ReLovenship mean? It’s the concept that you must love yourself before you’re ever a good mate for someone else. Far from this being an emphasis on narcissism or arrogance, ReLovenship is more of a spiritual concept in which people need to forgive themselves and open up to their better […]
Dismantling Evan is a moving and harrowing novel about coping with bipolar disorder – not just the disease itself, but how everyone reacts to those who suffer from mental illness. Evan Phillips is moved to a small town in Texas after suffering a nervous breakdown. Her parents hope that a new setting in a calmer environment will help her recover. All does not go as planned, as Evan’s family moves next to Gavin Ferguson, a teenager who has mental illness problems of his own. A group of gifted, but troubled, teenagers bond together, but become vicious targets as the town […]
Shades: The Gehenna Dilemma is the extraordinarily original and inventive science fiction/dystopian novel of a bleak future where the IRS bring back debtors from the dead as “Shades,” turning them into servants of the state. As the old saying goes, “The only thing certain in life are death and taxes.” Shades takes this literally and combines the two ideas.
“Pinterest Saved My Marriage” is the tender and amusing story about a dissolving marriage. Jack, obsessed with work but very successful, has been neglecting his wife and she decides to leave him. As a peace offering, he starts making stuff on her Pinterest boards (gourmet food, though he’s not a cook), which he hopes will mend their broken home. Though you may be guessing where this is going, the ending comes as a big surprise.
The Gertrude Threshold by Christopher Brooks is a moving and harrowing work of apocalyptic fiction that asks the question: what would you do if it was the last day on Earth? The Gertrude Threshold refers to a mathematical calculation that precisely determines the last day humans can survive after Global Warming. A family spanning several generations waits out the last day in a series of tubes underground, and the narrative switches between characters, giving this short novella an epic breadth and scope.