Literary Fiction Book Reviews

Review: Accidental Exiles by Bruce W. Perry

★★★★½ Accidental Exiles by Bruce Perry

In Accidental Exiles, author Bruce W. Perry wrangles his readers through the horrors of war, the empty apathy of expat life, the terrors of love and the impossibility of ever truly moving on. Weaving romance and philosophy into emotional narration and suspensful flashbacks, this is an unpredictable and gutting novel – one that will almost certainly leave you searching for the next book by Perry.

Jesse is the core of this novel – an Iraq veteran who couldn’t bear the normalcy of home, nor the insanity of combat. Caught in his own form of limbo, he embarks on […]

Review: Once Upon a Lie by Michael French

★★★★½ Once Upon a Lie by Michael French

In Once Upon a Lie, author Michael French takes a long, hard look at the binary universe in which we live – rich or poor, black or white, woman or man – and explores how those ideas change and grow within two young people on the cusp of adulthood. It’s a timely and powerful tale of race and love.

These two characters, Jaleel and Alex, couldn’t be more different than one another if they tried, and the early chapters paint starkly different portraits of their lives in the same overlapping bubble of a city. The marvelously detailed and […]

2017-04-04T10:24:10+02:00April 4th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: |

Review: The Game Changer by Dave Dröge

★★★★ The Game Changer by Dave Dröge

The Game Changer by Dave Dröge is a complex, character-driven portrait of individual revolution. To say this novel is unusual is an understatement, but certainly not a critique. The Game Changer has countless different angles and subplots for readers to devour, ranging from visceral descriptions of Rotterdam to complex familial relationships and tough moral quandaries.

The crux of the novel is the connection between Henk van Wijnen-Swarttouw, prominent businessman and entrepreneur, whose empire stands in stark contrast to his daughter’s progressive outlook on life. Julia is a passionate focal point, freshly graduated from high school, and using her interim […]

2018-10-11T10:53:52+02:00February 3rd, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: |

Review: Don’t Go, Ramanya by Rush Leaming

★★★★½ Don't Go, Ramanya by Rush Leaming

Transporting readers to another world, a different time, or a new way of looking at things is the great task of an author, and in Don’t Go, Ramanya, author Rush Leaming does a marvelous job of doing all three. Packed with vivid descriptions and unique, unforgettable characters, this novel grabs readers within the first few pages.

The story centers on three men, Father Bob, Michael Shaw and Ramanya, an ex-rebel soldier from Burma, as they serendipitously join forces and attempt to smuggle Ramanya back into his home country. This simple premise goes far deeper, as Ramanya is also […]

2017-02-17T04:43:17+02:00February 3rd, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: |

Review: The Oarsman by Zubin Mathai

★★★★★ The Oarsman by Zubin Mathai

Many authors attempt to bridge the gap between metaphysical, philosophical and narrative elements, but few succeed as effectively as Zubin Mathai in The Oarsman. This is a novel that stands out of time and space, and brings readers on a surreal journey back up the long river of the Man’s years, a nameless protagonist seeking meaning and validation as he nears the end of his life.

At the behest of the god-like Judge and with the help of the mysterious, titular Oarsman, the Man sails back upstream, through the many different lives he has led, including those abandoned […]

2017-02-17T05:38:24+02:00January 19th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: |

Wayfarers Highway by Peter Petrack

Wayfarers Highway by Peter PetrackWayfarers Highway by Peter Petrack is an intriguing and wildly entertaining novel following the life of Orson Gregory, a man who finds a magical gemstone hidden in a factory. He tells the story from a hospital bed about how he’s been on the run ever since – pursued by terrorists, bounty hunters, sinister forces, and more, who are all after the gemstone’s mystical power. Orson teams up with a group of adventurers so he might escape with his life, but even as he tells his tale, he may still be in danger.

The most interesting element in Wayfarers Highway is […]

2016-12-20T08:32:22+02:00December 20th, 2016|Categories: New Releases|Tags: , |

Review: Kingdom’s End by Charles D. Blanchard

★★★★ Kingdom's End by Charles Blanchard

Anthropomorphizing animals in literature is a long and proud tradition, ranging from Watership Down and Animal Farm to the Redwall novels of Brian Jacques, and many others. That being said, it is also very difficult to create an engaging novel based purely on the perspective of animals, and most attempts at this are relegated to the realm of children’s books. In Kingdom’s End, however, the second novel from Charles Blanchard, readers are given an intimate look at the complex social hierarchy, unique philosophy and variable personalities within a veritable kingdom of rats.

Using a population of animals that […]

Bright Moon Ridge: A Search in China by Linus Treefoot

Bright Moon Ridge: A Search in ChinaBright Moon Ridge by Linus Treefoot is a literary adventure about Johnny Bartooth who’s dropped a bombshell at 19-years-old – he learns, via a journal brought to him by an aging hippy, about the origin of his parents, who he’s never known. His father once traveled through China and met the beautiful Mei, a doctor tending to his wounds after a vicious attack. They start a love affair, but Mei is trapped in China, so Johnny’s father must go back to save her. Years later, Johnny follows in his father’s footsteps to China to finally discover his parents’ fate.

It’s […]

2018-07-20T09:47:09+02:00December 6th, 2016|Categories: New Releases|Tags: |
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