Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: A Tale of Witchwood Park by S.W. Develin

★★★★½ A Tale of Witchwood Park by S.W. Develin

A Tale of Witchwood Park by S.W. Develin is a heartfelt, humorous and insightful adventure.

Important life lessons come in many forms, and the boundless creativity of A Tale of Witchwood Park follows in that tradition – a memorable, amusing and profound piece of fantasy fiction for young readers. Based in the proud history of the magical genre, an unlikely band of heroes are assembled for a harrowing adventure to save the world from evil forces.

These young adventurers, however, have all the qualities of normal children, so they must not only overcome the False Queen and her minions, […]

Review: In the Mind of Revenge (The Shamed Book 1) by Liv Hadden

★★★★

Society would tell you it makes me dangerous. I would agree. I am dangerous, and I am powerful.

In the Mind of Revenge: Book One of The Shamed Series by Liv Hadden is a thriller that tackles hot-button social issues in a way that forces the reader to rethink the importance of what society deems as normal.

The novel is a first-person narrative about an individual who is dealing with the aftermath of a vicious attack that leaves her (or him) in a coma for months. After leaving the hospital, Shame decides to take revenge against the bullies.

The […]

T B Markinson2016-07-26T09:59:01+02:00June 24th, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Suspense Book Reviews, Thriller Book Reviews|

Review: Wyrd, TX by David Shawn

★★★★½

Wyrd, TX by David Shawn is a terrifying, stylish thriller.

Balancing humor, wit and terror is an ability that few authors ever master, but David Shawn releases a macabre tour de force in Wyrd, TX, a city that time seems to have forgotten, but demons have not. Shawn marvelously sets the tone for readers within the first few chapters – a supernatural first scene to cleanse the palette for fantasy, followed by patient, thorough introductions of the major characters populating this bizarre world.

Chief Butler is the perfect antihero for this type of setting; a good man with […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2019-01-22T05:46:01+02:00June 17th, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Horror Book Reviews, Paranormal Book Reviews, Thriller Book Reviews|

Review: The Voice of Divine Love by Arlene Dayrit

The Voice of Divine Love by Arlene Dayrit

The author of The Voice of Divine Love, Arlene Dayrit, is self-described as a fervent attendant to God’s will and has spent much of her life in constant search of God’s redemption and love through her spirituality and religious devotion. The result of her meditations on scripture and Christian ideals is her first published work.

Essentially a re-examination of the scripture, the book takes the point of view of the Lord expressing his infinite love for his children and how to interpret his messages from a first-person point of view. Rather than a fearful, vengeful figure depicted elsewhere, Dayrit […]

James Grimsby2019-02-11T09:44:23+02:00June 16th, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Non-Fiction Book Reviews, Religious Book Reviews|

Review: How to Fail at Life: Lessons for the Next Generation by Mark Aspelin

★★★★★

Failure sucks. There’s no denying that. But every pratfall and tumble has an upside, even if it’s just the schadenfreude of knowing someone else screwed up too, or even worse than you ever have.

Enter Mark Aspelin. Aspelin bills himself as an “experienced practitioner in the failure arts” who has “been there, done that, and got the t-shirt when it comes to messing up in life.” Aspelin boasts years of speaking experience prior to his newfound membership into the circle of author-hood, focusing on the subject of failure and the lessons to be learned from the falls we inevitably […]

James Grimsby2016-06-16T03:15:56+02:00June 16th, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Humor, Self-Help Book Reviews|

Review: American Zeroes by John DiFelice

★★★★½

American Zeroes by John DiFelice is a darkly comic bit of brilliance.

Novels that defy classification make for an entertaining read, and that is precisely what John DiFelice delivers in American Zeroes. Behind the rambling and sometimes confusing storyline is an intelligent and witty author who knows which subtle buttons to push for laughs, tears and thoughtful musing, forcing readers to see the world through his twisted lens.

At times, the book reads like the rambling manifesto of a conspiracy theorist, or a legitimately deluded patriot, which isn’t actually far off the mark. Jeremiah Stumpf is a modern-day […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2016-07-26T05:25:35+02:00June 13th, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews, Satire Book Reviews|

Review: Sunspots by Gary Martin

★★★★ Sunspots by Gary Martin

Many sci-fi authors focus on unique plot details and extensive exposition to stand out, doing all they can to create a memorable world for their readers. Books like Sunspots, however, show the other side of the sci-fi genre: the banality of space travel when it’s “just a job.” John is a believable character because readers can immediately relate to him; he is a blue-collar worker on a space scow hauling garbage away from Earth. It’s hardly glamorous work, and the entire novel would have seemed disingenuous if the author, Gary Martin, had tried to paint a different picture.[…]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2016-07-22T10:00:29+02:00June 13th, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Science Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: The Hourglass: Life as an Aging Mortal by Pamela Cuming

The Hourglass: Life as an Aging Mortal by Pamela Cuming

The Hourglass: Life as an Aging Mortal by Pamela Cuming is an insightful book about a topic no human being can escape. Cuming’s book addresses how to live with the knowledge that one will eventually die. But it isn’t only about a person’s impending doom. She discusses at length how to view the aging process and how to accept it as part of life.

The topics in this book aren’t easy to confront, no matter what stage of life the reader is in. Almost every person on the planet has lost a person they loved or has encountered insurmountable grief […]