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: Heretic (The Helios Rising Trilogy Book 1) by Chris Mayne

Heretic by Chris Mayne

A dark magical adventure into the far-flung future of humanity, Heretic by Chris Mayne is a bold, creative mixture of dark fantasy and dystopian fiction.

An explosive disaster rocks the city of New Tartarus, leaving countless dead in its wake, except for one man found in the center of the blast crater with glowing runes on his body. At first glance, Arlex is nothing but a young sapien underminer, a low-level laborer, but he is also a vortex of magical phenomena, displaying more raw potential than even the most powerful priests and magick-users of the Order.

Viktor, an acolyte healer […]

2022-05-04T08:58:04+02:00May 4th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: |

Review: The Happiness Journal by Viet Hung

The Happiness Journal by Viet Hung

An invitation to a more elevated form of living, The Happiness Journal by Viet Hung Nguyen is a thoughtful, comprehensive, and encouraging collection for those seeking change.

Composed of more than a decade of blog posts, and curated with an intuitive flow of ideas, this collection is full of uplifting and inspiring prose. As the author states in the foreword, the purpose of this book, and the entirety of their work, is “to inspire everyone to have a positive, well-rounded, peaceful, meaningful, fulfilled, energetic, and intense life.” The subsequent essays explore the tools and pathways to achieve such a life, […]

2023-03-11T18:31:05+02:00May 3rd, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: |

Review: REACH by Nate Thurgood

Reach by Nate Thurgood

Author Nate Thurgood spells out his recently developed strategy for leveling up your life and achieving more with your talents in his new book REACH: Maximize Your Potential and Live Your Best Life. With a conversational tone, a healthy dose of humility, and a contemporary philosophy that considers our latest global challenges, this book confidently asserts itself as a relevant guide for today’s strange times.

The five focal areas at the core of this philosophy are “intentionally generic,” with goal-setting as the major foundation for change. Establishing a balance between one’s wellness, personal relationships, professional career, spiritual health, and […]

2022-05-26T02:41:07+02:00May 3rd, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: |

The Full Extent by Richard Botelho

The Full Extent by Richard Botelho

A philosophical exploration of existence, science, and humanity’s progression of awareness, The Full Extent by Richard Botelho is a heady blend of cutting-edge theory and timeless musing. Spiraling deeper into tangled studies of perception and spiritual reality, this is a cerebral, yet enjoyably dense read that should be savored slow, and mulled thoroughly. Some of the later chapters come off as personal philosophy, rather than a historically backed stream of progress, but the challenging conclusions about consciousness will stimulate even the least outside-the-box thinker. Cleanly edited and polished to an academic gleam, this epistemological thesis is a mind-expanding thrill.

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2022-05-03T04:22:53+02:00May 1st, 2022|Categories: Editorial Reviews|

Video Conference Go Fish by Gerald Beaudry

Video Conference Go Fish by Gerald Beaudry

Inspired by our recent societal shift to video calls and long-distance interaction, Video Conference Go Fish: The Rules and Procedures to Play on a Video Call with Real Playing Cards by Gerald Beaudry is a timely and creative guide for an on-screen card game. From a brief introduction of the concept and altered rules to gameplay examples and more complex variations, this quick read will allow you to easily translate this traditionally in-person game to the virtual realm. With such a small amount of purposeful text, every sentence should be as clear and simple as possible, and some instructions feel […]

2022-04-29T05:11:10+02:00April 29th, 2022|Categories: Editorial Reviews|

A Trial of Rock and Rope by Nicholas Licalsi

A Trial of Rock and Rope by Nicholas Licalsi

A metaphysical vision of the afterlife, complete with divine tests and sage metaphors, A Trial of Rock and Rope by Nicholas Licalsi is a thought-provoking allegory with a healthy touch of mythology. After waking in an afterlife realm, Ferrun is tasked by the gods with a Sisyphean task, alongside other souls trying to drag their own rocks to the mountaintop. There is a surreal flourish to the prose and symbolism aplenty, nudging readers into commentaries on ambition, eternity, pride, purpose, and independence. Blurring the line between myth and philosophical treatise, this seemingly straightforward read is far deeper than might appear, […]

2022-04-28T07:29:57+02:00April 27th, 2022|Categories: Editorial Reviews|

Awkward Stumbles and Fuzzy Memories by Kathy Ivchenko

Awkward Stumbles and Fuzzy Memories by Kathy Ivchenko A detailed recollection of the author’s formative journey in the Peace Corps, Awkward Stumbles and Fuzzy Memories: Memoir of a Peace Corps Volunteer by Kathy Ivchenko is a heartfelt and vividly told memoir of self-discovery.

Beginning with her uncertain arrival in Ukraine and months of training on the other side of the world, this intense exploration of cultural immersion will be eye-opening to readers who have never upended their lives for an international adventure. Her work as a teacher trainer is fascinating and complex, including the challenge of having students only a few years younger than herself. Between language gaps, […]

2022-04-25T06:26:59+02:00April 24th, 2022|Categories: New Releases|Tags: |

Review: The Yellow Sign by James Hodge

The Yellow Sign by James Hodge

A psychological spiral into desperation, belonging, and the painful road to healing, The Yellow Sign by James Hodge is a tense thriller that builds slow, but hits hard.

An FBI agent still recovering from the trauma of her last mission, Erica Blaine is the fiercely flawed heart of this drama. Despite the haunted past clawing at her heels, she is once again sent into unknown waters to gather intel on a spiritual school, The Yellow College, with growing numbers and some hallmark signs of manipulative behavior. As she slips into the strange patterns of the “school,” with their call-and-response worship, […]

2022-05-17T05:57:37+02:00April 21st, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: |
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