John Staughton, Senior Reviewer

A powerfully penned portrait of the past brought to life through the eyes of a remarkable young boy, Age of Conflict: Innocence Lost by Eric Lindsey is a striking glimpse into America’s scarred history. Wrestling with his own physical and emotional demons, Garit is a life-toughened but tender protagonist with youthful desires for an exciting future, but as the book’s title implies, innocence has little chance of survival in 1860s Virginia, as the fires of war began to burn. Written with meticulously crafted prose and dialogue that reveals class, culture, and character, this first installment of Lindsey’s ambitious series is […]

A gritty and steamy post-apocalyptic novel where violence is king and trust is the rarest currency, Rise by Margot de Kerk is a hard-nosed opening to The Iron Fists series. Harley is a tough-as-nails bartender at the only hotel in a burned-out town, but when a charming and mysterious construction trader arrives, it doesn’t take long for the gossip to start flying. The chances for actual romance amidst societal collapse and a minefield of gang rivalries are far from good, but Harley is not one to back down from a challenge. Written with an intentionally rough and raw pen, where […]

A riveting YA ride, The Ties That Bind by Susan L. Markloff is the globe-spanning second chapter of her Human-Born Era series. After defeating Cregorous with an ominous prophecy and seizing her foretold destiny, Jen must now connect with the other Human-Born hybrids scattered around the globe. However, the US government is hot on her trail, the ultimate motives of the mysterious Agerians remain suspect, and Jen still hasn’t tapped into the full depths of her power. With fast-moving action scenes and a colorful array of heroic young characters on bumpy journeys of self-discovery, this is an endlessly creative and […]

A gritty tale of revenge, lust, and the fight for freedom, Fate by T. Kennington and C. Roth is the enrapturing second piece of their Karma and Fate Duet. Rowan and Micah are done running after finding something worth fighting for in the sultry embrace of LA, setting the stage for a traumatic face-off with their respective demons. However, Micah knows very well how dangerous her past can be for those she loves, and as the circle of retribution closes, it’s only a matter of time before more blood is spilled. Despite some awkward dialogue and plot twists that […]

The perennially empowering hero for a new generation returns for another adventure in Athens Ophelia The Partitioner: The Catalyst Lyrics by Zachary Aneiress. After years of searching, Athens has finally found his tribe, a truly eclectic team of heroes, but amassing those forces of good only seems to encourage ghosts from the past to start hunting for revenge. Watching the Guardians of the Cosmos crystallize into a more functional team, rather than Athens always battling solo, makes for a nice shift in the series, and adds valuable depth to the lineup of characters. However, there is a consistent lack of […]