The Cretin Gene by Brendan Ball

Author Brendan Ball creates a clever satire that shreds the vapidity of nationalist pride in The Cretin Gene. He takes junk food, television, and the […]

Author Brendan Ball creates a clever satire that shreds the vapidity of nationalist pride in The Cretin Gene. He takes junk food, television, and the […]
Songs for Lucy, a poignant work of women’s fiction by Philip Wilson, conveys the heartfelt message that a death sentence doesn’t mean one should stop living.
Allison “Allie” Connelly has a bright future ahead of her: she’s Valedictorian of her graduating class at Boston Highlands University and has been accepted to Harvard Law. Best of all, she’s also been offered a summer job teaching tennis at a club in Providence, Rhode Island, allowing her to spend the summer with her widowed father.
Then the unimaginable happens. Her father is killed by a drunk driver on his way home from […]
The books of Bernie Donnelly are always thoughtful, and often include spiritual elements that leave readers with hard questions at the end of the story. In If I Came Back from Hell, the author takes another leap forward into the realm of philosophical narrative with a powerful tale that will give you shivers. Looking back on your life is something we often associated with the moments before death, when it flashes by in a mere second, but this story leans to the opposite extreme, making for an unforgettable novel.
Frank McGovern has not lived a traditionally “good” life, being […]

Laskin writes with a light and humorous touch, portraying the absurd in such a clear and matter of fact way that you can’t help […]

Jealousy, lust and ambition add to the chaos as the Midsummer Players spend two weeks rehearsing and lurch toward a fateful performance of the play. Midsummer’s Bottom by Darren Dash delights with Shakespearian couplets and a cacophony of human […]

The story begins with the rapid thoughts and memories of a man who has just committed something unspeakable, which triggers a memory of his mom and dad, and the family’s trips to Oregon. However, it turns out that none of it was true, as Todd asks, “Was it a scene from a movie, or something I made up?”
With this page-turning ending to the prologue, we are thrown with […]

Shira, a single mom, begins therapy with Dr. G. after the breakup of her marriage to an abuser. The doctor observes Shira’s different moods and aspects – sometimes open and affable, at other times silent, hostile, or frozen. Shira’s parents, with whom she lives, are overbearing, immediately seeing the negative “what-ifs” in every situation. Dr. G helps her see that she is accustomed to feeling guilty and inferior, and Shira […]

On the heels of her beloved Grammy’s death, Beth feels as though her life has lost its purpose, with her daughters both away at college and her husband constantly traveling for work. However, thanks to the unexpected gift of her Grammy’s house and after going to Florida to see her childhood friend, Amber, the seed for a potential new chapter to her life quickly takes root…
Evocatively titled, A Firm Tree […]