John Staughton, Senior Reviewer

Author Robert J. Dornan spins a fairy-tale yarn that blurs reality in the undeniably original and entertaining fantasy, Gwydion. A princess besieged by dull suitors in a castle that feels more like a prison, Poppi is eager for anything to remedy her lonely life. However, when the enemy arrives at the royal gates, Poppi becomes a hunted leader overnight, and must use her newfound magical talisman to protect those in her care. More than three centuries later, that same princess shares her story with a skeptical reporter, bringing more than a touch of magic into his decidedly non-magical life. […]

In Return Protocol, the second mind-bending installment of Nick Snape’s Weapons of Choice series, a trio of battle-hardened heroes shifts the battlefield to a hostile alien home world. Armed with new light-speed tech, and a pacifistic AI ally, Noah, Zuri, and Finn bring their guns-blazing style of diplomacy to Havenhome, but they’ll need to embark on a harrowing mission to an ancient data repository, while outsmarting the dangerous predators and manipulative Masters along the way, if they ever hope to return to Earth from the immortality-obsessed planet. This is an eccentric, creative, and thought-provoking novel boasting original characters, futuristic […]

Small-town mayhem and unlikely elderly investigators make for an original whodunit in Trouble at the Buckeye Festival by Alice Kanaka. Celebrating the spirit of adventure and mystery, regardless of age, Bumfuzzle and Cattywampus are a hugely entertaining duo at the heart of this whimsical novel. As they sleuth their way from strange festival mischief to an unexpected corpse in a closet, the stakes of their investigation keep getting higher and wilder, making this character-driven conspiracy hard to put down. Though the prose occasionally leads readers by the nose to clues and revelations, this is an undeniably fun and free-wheeling start […]

Author Susan Specht Oram spins a gripping new web of terror with Cabin Eight, the latest tale in her macabre and mysterious string of pulp thrillers. A much-needed escape from the city spirals into a dead-zone nightmare for one young woman struggling to piece her life back together. Navigating a merciless escape room of painful puzzles and emotional carnage, Miranda must face her darkest secrets and fight for the embers of her life in this page-turning thriller. As with other titles in the series, the pace is relentless sometimes at the expense of emotional exploration of characters, or tension […]