Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: This Book Is The Longest Sentence Ever Written And Then Published by Dave Cowen

Author Dave Cowen releases an epic text upon the world in This Book Is The Longest Sentence Ever Written And Then Published. An ambitious, self-reflective, and impressive achievement, this book is a stream-of-consciousness sprawl that is both addictive and admirable, exploring the writer’s insecurities, goals, personal history, and philosophy, without ever dropping a full stop.

Setting out on a seemingly mad and quixotic quest to write the longest sentence ever written, the author is determined to dethrone the endless sentences of James Joyce, Jose Saramago, and Jonathan Rotter – though Lucy Ellmann may have outdone him with the thousand-page Ducks, […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-08-18T03:25:51+02:00August 17th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews, Literary Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Stockboy Nation by Thomas Duffy

A long-awaited sequel from author Thomas Duffy, Stockboy Nation is a portrait that many readers will recognize with a shiver, set as it is in the early days of the pandemic. The struggles of a normal couple trying to hold it all together as their lives careen out of control is a story that echoes loudly these days, and Duffy’s stark, realistic writing brings present-day anxiety to the fore.

After the success of his first novel and the failure of his second, Philip Doherty is trying to keep his chin up as the world comes crashing down. Desperate to make […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2021-10-04T03:56:42+02:00August 13th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: The Art of Love (& Loathing) by Stephen Daniel Ruiz

Author Stephen Daniel Ruiz dives deep into the mind of a struggling writer desperate for the puzzle pieces of life to fit in The Art of Love (& Loathing). A thoughtful, emotional, and at times hilarious novel, this book is a magnifying glass on modern life with all its unfair pitfalls and daily existential crises, reminding readers of what unifies, rather than divides.

Arthur Kimble is a man whose heart is in the right place, but his mind doesn’t always follow, nor does his luck or behavior. Struggling to keep a floundering literary journal afloat, while also attempting some […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-10-01T06:54:36+02:00July 28th, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews, Literary Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Once You Know by Madeleine Van Hecke

Once You Know is a gripping work of women’s fiction written by Madeleine Van Hecke whose message is as stark as it is unrelenting: once you know, there’s no going back to the way things once were.

Colleen Moretti is a devout and devoted housewife and mother to her eight-old-daughter, Izzy, and her older daughter, Rachel, who’s just finishing her first year of college back home in Chicago. Colleen’s life is turned upside down when her husband, Derek, announces that work operations are shutting down in Arizona, with him being called back to the office in Chicago. Anxious over having […]

Marta Cheng2020-08-12T01:52:50+02:00July 2nd, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews, Women's Fiction Book Reviews|

Love & Letters by L.B. Carol

The boundaries of friendship and the challenges of personal mental battles are laid bare in Love & Letters, a novella about falling in love and finding a way to speak your personal truth by L.B. Carol.

When Ryan falls hard to Elizabeth – one of his best friend’s girlfriends – he is torn between an undeniable attraction and an unspoken bond of brotherhood. However, that is only the first struggle in Ryan’s stumbles toward connection, as he must overcome the insecurities of his situation, as well as the unique pain of long-distance romance.

Despite the brevity of the story, […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-06-26T06:08:43+02:00June 25th, 2020|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Beautiful Belligerence by Brent Beamer

Beautiful Belligerence lives up to its name as author Brent Beamer delivers a no-holds-barred peek into a wild and seminal trip that continues to impact him to this day. Touching on delicate themes of substance abuse, addiction, depression, brotherhood, sexuality, and perseverance, this book may be rough around the edges, but so is life.

When the author and three of his closest friends decide to throw their troubles to the wind and tear up Kansas City for a weekend, none of them know what might lie in store for them. At first glance, this book may seem like a drug […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-06-25T03:20:00+02:00June 3rd, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: A Devil’s Tongue by Richard J. Blanco

A young man on a dangerous road with one end in sight finds a final chance at redemption in A Devil’s Tongue by author Richard J. Blanco. Readers are brought into the juvenile yet unexpectedly mature mind of Robert, a young man who has seen far too much already in his young life, in this heartbreaking story of second chances.

The traumatic premise of this novel gives it a harder and more visceral edge than other stories of kids going down a dark path and finding salvation. Watching Robert attempt to be “normal” while wading the waters of addiction and […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-06-24T03:49:49+02:00June 2nd, 2020|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews, Young Adult Book Reviews|

Leo the Liar by Bernie Donnelly

With a disagreeable and dishonorable, yet vaguely charming lout at its core, Leo the Liar is an amusing and unpredictable family drama from Bernie Donnelly.

After not seeing his father for decades, Leo decides to make the jump from Dublin to Florida and reconnect with the long-lost Milo. Awkwardness aside, Leo has grown up to be a smooth-talking liar, a charmer with a silver tongue, a conman with motives that are difficult to suss out. Not only that, but an attraction from Leo’s new stepmother threatens to rock the boat of familiar normalcy. Peppered with clever turns of phrase and […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-06-01T07:57:53+02:00May 30th, 2020|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews|