John Staughton, Senior Reviewer

About John Staughton, Senior Reviewer

Providing exceptional writing, editing and publishing services to hundreds of international clients, ranging from nutritional copywriting and long-form ghostwriting to substantive editing, assessment/analysis of academic texts and structural/content editing for bestselling novels.

Review: A Life’s Journey by Robert Furmaga

A Life's Journey by Robert Furmaga

Paging through the chapters of his own adventurous existence, Robert Furmaga delivers a thoughtful and nostalgia-heavy memoir in A Life’s Journey: Choice and Circumstance.

Revealing the seminal moments and unforgettable events that shaped him, this is a compelling anthology of essays and treasured memories, combined neatly with professional achievements and personal accolades. From even the author’s earliest years of life, he recounts clear-eyed scenes and nuanced details of his successes, failures, and hard-won lessons, from terrifying tumbles out of bed and touching instances of parental bonding to the overindulgences of his teenage years and those first stumbling errors of […]

2024-12-03T14:28:38+02:00November 4th, 2024|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: |

An Advent for Religious Liberty by Ray Keating

An Advent for Religious Liberty by Ray Keating

A radical surge of secularism in New York City threatens a critical foundation of American freedoms in An Advent for Religious Liberty by Ray Keating. Fresh off his landslide victory, the liberal mayor of NYC takes aim at removing religion from the public square, fueling the massive political and cultural divide of the city. Channeling contemporary fears and crises into a compelling story, Keating raises the political stakes for Pastor Grant in this installment, with the pastor righteously battling for his beliefs, his community, and the freedoms he holds dear. This headline-inspired novel is more politically focused than other installments […]

2024-11-04T18:49:17+02:00November 4th, 2024|Categories: Editorial Reviews|

Tales for Tra-La-La Day by Steve Michael Reedy, Illustrated by Tom Fee

Tales for Tra-La-La Day by Steve Michael ReedyA fanciful collection of short stories centered around an imaginative fictional holiday, Tales for Tra-La-La Day by Steve Michael Reedy is a magical anthology of festive fables.

From stories about the origins of a sacred song to dire parables about overconsumption and greed, each story adds a new and intriguing facet to this tall tale of a town, bursting with the energy of a beloved fairy tale realm in the making. “The Iceling Queen” is one of the most touching pieces in the collection, providing a compelling backstory for the creative holiday, but each story has the gleam of brilliance […]

2024-11-04T16:24:14+02:00November 4th, 2024|Categories: New Releases|Tags: |

Review: The Monarchs by Mark Sabbas

The Monarchs by Mark Sabbas

Stunning in its messaging and epic in scale, The Monarchs by Mark Sabbas is a remarkable work of visionary science fiction.

A powerful young child with uncontrolled psychic abilities, Samuel Helen is unlike the other cognitively evolved children in the military research facility he begrudgingly calls home. Some people view these gifted “new youth,” born in increasing numbers each year, as the next stage in human evolution, while others see them as potential weapons. Isolated from the other research subjects in the facility, for fear of a rebellion, Samuel is experimented on like an animal, in an attempt to free […]

Review: Conspiracy By Means of Natural Selection by Sherman P. Bastarache

Conspiracy By Means of Natural Selection by Sherman Bastarache

A poignant dissection of cognitive and cultural history and their dynamic relationship to fact and fiction, Conspiracy By Means of Natural Selection by Sherman P. Bastarache is an eye-opening contemporary thesis.

To achieve its stated purpose of interrogating how natural selection can create conspiring minds that, in turn, create conspiracy theories, this book delves deeply into cultural, evolutionary, and psychological trends across time, singling out points of overlap, conflict, and uncertainty before digging down into what those intersections and contradictions mean. Whether touching on Star Trek, quantum entanglement, Immanuel Kant, or anthropomorphic projection, this sprawling examination of thought, science, […]

2024-11-26T13:12:20+02:00November 4th, 2024|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: |

Edda Green by Peter Sarda

Edda Green by Peter Sarda

Undying loyalty and a desperate desire for revenge make Edda Green by Peter Sarda a riveting dive into radical German politics and one woman’s battle to reclaim her past. A haunted veteran, a fierce lover, and a savagely effective spy, the titular character of this intense novel is a gritty warrior like few others, as she reels from the death of her closest comrade and investigates violent racists terrorizing Hamburg. Her relentless search for justice exposes the heart of a horrific international plot, but in the shadowy realm of espionage, even the sharpest hunters can become the prey, resulting in […]

2024-10-31T12:47:00+02:00October 31st, 2024|Categories: Editorial Reviews|

Review: Mr. Average and the 12th Stone by Ben Run

Mr. Average and the 12th Stone: Watch Your Mandibles by Ben Run

A microcosmic drama with existential implications, Mr. Average and the 12th Stone: Watch Your Mandibles by Ben Run is a mind-bending work of experimental fantasy, told from a thoroughly unique perspective.

Ave may be the best optimizer in the Ant Nest ant colony, but even his eternal loyalty and devotion to Hari isn’t enough to make him forget about the woman who has been visiting him on New Year’s Eve every year for the past eleven years. She is the reason he has been saving up all of his reflection time – all those carefully guarded seconds and emo-seconds – […]

2024-11-13T13:46:25+02:00October 31st, 2024|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: |

Dream Quest by Frank C. Senia

Dream Quest by Frank C. Senia

A swashbuckling tale about the bonds of family and the true measure of wealth, Dream Quest by Frank C. Senia is a charming and imaginative escape. Michael and Tara are eager to explore the world, so when their grandfather shares the family’s treasure-filled legacy, the intrepid siblings can’t resist the call of adventure. However, word of their ambitions has gotten out, and where there are gold and jewels, menacing pirates are rarely far behind. From witches and curses to ancient ruins and mysterious castaways, this absorbing adventure story tracks the pair of daring navigators who will need every scrap of […]

2024-10-30T18:10:43+02:00October 30th, 2024|Categories: Editorial Reviews|
Go to Top