Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: Among the Branded by Linda Smolkin

★★★★

Finding hidden treasures in forgotten relics of the past is a romantic notion that has played out in countless books and films, yet the thrill of the mystery never seems to lessen. In Among the Branded, a new novel by author Linda Smolkin, readers are thrown into a slowly unfurling mystery surrounding a sheaf of “Love Letters From the War.” Stephanie Britain, a bold and impulsive art director, is the narrator and focal character of the novel, as well as the person who stumbles across the love letters at a flea market.

When she shares her exciting discovery […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2017-06-30T09:50:48+02:00May 18th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews, World War II Book Reviews|

Review: Winchester’s Bargain (Bart Northcote #4) by Murray Lee Eiland Jr.

Taking on the world’s financial elite – and threatening the one thing they hold dearest in the world – is no small task, but Bart Northcote never backs down from a challenge. In Winchester’s Bargain, the fourth installment in this PI series by Murray Lee Eiland Jr., the stakes for Northcote and his investigative team have never been higher, and the writing itself has never been better.

A mysterious man named Winchester Lee approaches Bart Northcote with some disturbing news: the New York Stock Exchange is being controlled by a shadowy Chinese cabal with trillions of dollars at their […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-02-11T08:40:16+02:00May 16th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Crime Fiction Book Reviews, Detective Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Firebrand by Sarah MacTavish

★★★★½

Firebrand by Sarah MacTavish is an historical young adult novel centered around the American abolition of slavery in the mid 19th century. Saoirse Callahan emigrated from Ireland with her family and ended up in Texas, where their fortunes may not be any better. When a series of fires crop up all over the state, it’s thought to be the result of a slave rebellion, which may only be rumor, and Saoirse wants to get to the bottom of what’s happening, which may just put her in danger.

In a parallel story, Westleigh Kavanagh, a Pennsylvania abolitionist, is sheltering a […]

Lysa Grant2019-05-14T09:58:56+02:00May 15th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Historical Fiction Book Reviews, Young Adult Book Reviews|

Review: Tipper Lake: A Tyler Monroe Mystery by Walter Thomas Geer

There is a strange allure to the Deep South that has captivated authors and readers alike; life moves slower, but mysteries seem to run deeper. In that beloved tradition, author Walter Thomas Geer presents a new halfhearted hero, Detective Tyler Monroe, in Tipper Lake. This novel unrolls like a slow Southern drawl, but the scenes and characters are edged with danger, betraying something more menacing just below the surface.

After a judge is murdered in what appears to be an open-and-shut case, Tyler Monroe moves down to a temporary post in Georgia, where his New York background is far […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-02-11T09:11:04+02:00May 10th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Crime Fiction Book Reviews, Detective Fiction Book Reviews, Mystery Book Reviews|

Review: Cubicle to Cuba by Heidi Siefkas

Cubicle to Cuba: Desk Job to Dream Job is an engaging travel memoir about Heidi Siefkas leaving her job at an internet start-up, dropping everything, and working as a tour guide in Cuba. Siefkas gives the nuts and bolts about adapting to life in Cuba, as well as traveling to Australia, Italy, Peru, and other points around the world. As with her previous memoirs, it’s a spirited and page-turning read.

Siefkas has lived quite an interesting life – after nearly facing death after being crushed with a falling tree branch, which also saw the dissolution of her marriage, she’s always […]

Lysa Grant2019-02-11T09:54:45+02:00May 5th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Memoir Book Reviews, Non-Fiction Book Reviews, Travel Book Reviews|

Review: Bless the Skies by Julie Elise Landry

★★★★½

Bless the Skies by Julie Elise Landry is a riveting and provocative work of dark fantasy, which follows the lives of three girls, Laeli, Sophia, and Elaina, who must navigate a bleak and desperate world. When Elaina is kidnapped and enslaved by the twisted High Lord Lawrence Anderton, Laeli and Sophia risk their lives to save her, through a dangerous and unforgiving landscape.

Although the journey narrative of the novel might suggest Lord of the Rings fare, Landry takes her characters to much darker depths than Tolkien, or even Game of Thrones. So much of fantasy fiction […]

Lysa Grant2017-05-10T08:25:22+02:00May 4th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Fantasy Book Reviews|

Review: Ravenwood Risen by W.C. Maher

★★★★

Being wrenched from a life of pastoral normalcy and forced into a destiny fraught with sacrifice and struggle is a common foundation for many fantasy novels, but in Ravenwood Risen, author W. C. Maher takes a new angle on this classic theme. Although the rumors swirl and dangers appear to be creeping in at the edges of Aman, the small region of Colore seems relatively untouched. Ephraim and Jules Ravenwood unwittingly go about their daily lives, ignorant – but not unprepared – for what the world will soon demand of them.

In the same vein as the Shannara […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2017-05-11T03:32:05+02:00May 2nd, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Fantasy Book Reviews, YA Fantasy Book Reviews, Young Adult Book Reviews|

Review: The Ephialtes Shorts Collection by Gavin E. Parker

Following on the heels of the first book in the epic space opera Ephialtes, author Gavin E. Parker brings readers a collection of shorts from his carefully crafted world, with the intention of bridging the first and second installments of the trilogy. The second installment of the epic is planned for a fall release in 2017.

The Ephialtes universe is a rich tapestry, with the first book in the series based around the end of World War IV in 2241, where the huge and powerful air warship Ephialtes is refitted for interplanetary space travel by the dominant ruling forces […]

James Grimsby2019-02-11T09:19:07+02:00May 2nd, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Science Fiction Book Reviews, Short Stories Book Reviews, Space Opera Book Reviews|