SPR’s book reviews of new self-published books
Escape to Death by Stephen Perkins
There are plenty of wild stories about the seedy underbelly of Hollywood, but in Escape to Death, the incredibly imaginative new novel by Stephen Perkins, Tinseltown is given a dark makeover with supernatural twists at every turn. From film noir detectives to the monstrous lives of the rich and famous, this novel is a non-stop ride that careens from one devilish thrill to the next.
When a young prostitute lands in L.A. with big dreams, her murder cuts that future short, but that doesn’t mean her ghost will let things go. When a seasoned PI with a classic gruff […]
Gary Burns’ Bridges: To There is an evocative collection of poetry, but lacks the visceral immediacy of his earlier collections of meditative poetry, such as Clouds: On the Wind.
Eaters and Overlords by award-winning author Blaine Readler is a contemporary science-based novel that will keep the reader guessing from the first word to the last. An interesting take on human and alien interaction, the novel makes the reader reconsider some previous notions about alien life that are so common to other books in the genre.
Pro athletes, stolen millions and murder make for an irresistible cocktail in Santa Fe Mojo, the first murder mystery in the Vincent Malone series by Ted Clifton.
The Serpent and The Wolf opens to a rather amusing bait and switch. When the reader thinks they are in a distant Viking land, a bloody battlefield in full swing, the director yells ‘Cut!’ and the modern world of the story takes shape. The opening sets the tone for the rest of the novel: a sometimes-slapstick mixing together of worlds and genres.
The Amaranth Chronicles: Deviant Rising by Alexander Barnes and Christopher Preiman welcomes readers into a beautifully crafted world full of imaginative imagery and rich characterization.
If the paranoia surrounding mind control and global-scale governmental conspiracies was ever shown to be true, this world could tear itself apart at the seams. In Raging Falcon, the debut novel of author Stephen C. Perkins, it just might happen. For readers who enjoy genre-bending fiction, this story makes for an adventurous and sometimes exhausting read for a premise that is at once fantastical and plausible.
When a mad scientist uses television and junk food to stupefy the British populace, cartoonist Al Horowitz must clear his name of murder, and find the cure to the Genome 9X9 disaster. The people have run amok, and Horowitz enlists his genius nephew Dr. Grossman and his colleague, the mysterious and tenacious Dr. Kamaruzaman. Together, they plot, hide, and attack as they cross England to confront the evil Dr. Proctor, and seek the cure.