John Staughton, Senior Reviewer

Review: Traveller – Inceptio by Rob Shackleford

★★★★

Author Rob Shackleford goes beyond the nitty-gritty physics and paradoxes implicit in time travel in his new book Traveller – Inceptio, an impressive new addition to the time-travel niche and an exciting start to a new series.

The story begins simply enough: a group of Australian graduate students researching security technology stumble onto the potential for a time-travel device and the world immediately takes notice. Governments begin clamoring for the technology, but a more methodical approach is required for such world-changing technology. A destination is chosen – Saxon England, about 1,000 years in the past – and […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-01-22T05:49:44+02:00April 28th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Fantasy Book Reviews, Science Fiction Book Reviews, Time Travel Book Reviews|

Review: Ephaidria by Jim Grieco

★★★★ Ephaidria by Jim Grieco

Most fantasy or sci-fi novels center on a single “surreal” element, such as the presence of alien life, supernatural abilities, terrible dark forces or a bridge to the spiritual world. Ephaidria by Jim Grieco ambitiously tackles all of these concepts, and more, without stumbling over itself or trying to take on too much “strangeness.” From the very start, the novel is packed with mystery, rich descriptions and an unpredictable plot line that stretches the boundaries of readers’ imaginations.

The story starts off simply enough, with the gradual introduction of the four main characters, who are just beginning to discover […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2017-04-27T11:14:29+02:00April 27th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Science Fiction Book Reviews, Young Adult Book Reviews|

Review: Accidental Exiles by Bruce W. Perry

★★★★½

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 […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2018-09-10T03:44:32+02:00April 25th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews, Literary Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: C Square by Paul Barone & Bear Kosik

★★★★

Imagining what the world will be like in the future is the core of science fiction writing, and while those possibilities are not always pleasant to face, they are always based – in part – on the direction our society is currently moving. In C Square, the world has certainly evolved beyond what we know now, but it is not so distant to be unbelievable. Authors Paul Barone and Bear Kosik delivers a thrilling story of genetic perfection.

Normal people are known as Organics in this world, while Chosen are those that have been partially genetically engineered with […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2017-05-19T11:18:37+02:00April 18th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Science Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: The Ishtar Cup (The Bart Northcote Series #1) by Murray Lee Eiland Jr.

★★★★★ The Ishtar Cup (Bart Northcote #1)

As far as private investigator novels go, there are certain expectations and traditional themes that seem to always pop up. There is usually a mysterious femme fatale, a gruff PI who marches to the beat of his own drum, and enough twists to keep a reader tearing through the pages.

In The Ishtar Cup, Book 1 of the Bart Northcote Series by Murray Lee Eiland Jr., some of these commonalities seem to appear almost instantly, but with a flavor all its own. While there is comfort in convention, this book also offers a different tone and a more […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-12-23T05:49:06+02:00April 4th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Crime Fiction Book Reviews, Detective Fiction Book Reviews, Noir Book Reviews|

Review: Once Upon a Lie by Michael French

★★★★½

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 […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2017-04-04T10:24:10+02:00April 4th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Literary Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Shredded by Charles O’Donnell

With a splash of Orwellian dystopia and a frighteningly timely plot, Shredded, the new novel from Charles O’Donnell, challenges the creature comforts we have come to love in our newly digitized world, and poses a terrifying question: What if privacy could be completely erased? In the not-so-distant future, the safety of anonymity has been eliminated, thanks to the introduction of the Worldstream, the near-perfect catalogue of every life and event available through the Internet of Things. Essentially, the Worldstream is social media, Big Brother and live-streaming all rolled into one, making anyone’s most intimate details vulnerable to invasion.

In […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2023-04-03T08:54:07+02:00March 30th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Dystopian Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Skip’s Legacy by Edward “Skip” Biron

★★★★ Skip's Legacy by Edward "Skip" Biron

It is the dream of most people to live a life worth writing stories about. In Skip’s Legacy, a memoir by Edward “Skip” Biron, readers are introduced to a remarkable man and his fast-paced, spontaneous and impactful life. The details that the author remembers from more than 5 decades of life make for an exceptional read, as though this were a journal, rather than a memoir. The small points of humor and philosophic musing also fill in the gaps and give readers time to reflect on a life truly well-lived.

After serving in the Navy as a radioman, […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2017-05-02T08:40:23+02:00March 23rd, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Memoir Book Reviews|