John Staughton, Senior Reviewer

Author Fred D. Hannah III delivers another installment of his Recreation series with The Dead Zone 4: Sleep Now, Forever Do Us Part, a breathless new adventure pitting cosmic Queens against Dark Lords in the DreamSpace outside reality. In a freshly forged universe packed with androids and magic, Aliana bides her time for revenge against the evil force who defeated her friends and eliminated all she ever knew. While things may look normal on the outside, the truth is that reality has become stranger than fiction, and Aliana must tap into all of her spectrum powers if she hopes […]

A spiraling and surreal set of stories from Mikhael Aroni, Your Lucky Day is an unassuming yet compelling work of short fiction. Tracing a mysterious force through the causes and effects it wreaks on average lives and the world at large, “The Noise” is a haunting tale of societal interconnectedness. Exploring identity, risk, and human exploration in modern relationships, “The Power” has a similar premise, but proceeds to deliver a vulnerable narrative around an enigmatic and imaginative protagonist. Layered with intentional meaning and subtle probing of social norms, Aroni offers up a brief but profound read.

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A thoughtful exploration of fate, self-discovery, loss, and healing, The Invisible Red String by Peter Berlin and Ann Zachariah is a modern retelling of an ancient idea. The four members of a therapeutic meditation group find themselves subtly bound to one another in unexpected ways as they journey through their own wounds and weaknesses. As their most personal stories are gradually told, including revelations of abuse, abandonment, hope, and desire, the connections pulling them together become harder to resist, as if by destiny. Weaving together relevant themes of wealth inequality, cultural clashes, childhood trauma, forbidden love, and more, this slow-burning […]

Taking to mountain solitude to overcome heartbreak and trauma leads to a new chance at fulfillment in Moonshadow Over Red Moon Hill by Cynthia L. Clark. Driven by emotional reflection and tentative romance, Brody and Tessa are escaping the past in different ways, but the intertwined fate of these two deftly drawn characters is a patient pleasure to witness, each coming with layered stories that unfold within an unexpectedly thrilling drama. Exploring the core issues of rediscovering trust, revisiting tragedy, and finally accepting the truth, Clark’s layered novel neatly transcends romance fiction, reminding readers of the hard-won resilience we are […]