Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: Do You Solemnly Swear? by Lin Wilder ★★★★

Gabe McAllister, former Marine and Texas State Trooper is accused of raping a six-year-old Annie Bridges – the daughter of his ex-partner. With the DEA, Border Control, and the police coming down on him with an investigation seemingly watertight, with his supposed victim’s testimony taken on its word, Gabe is faced with the unimaginable: life in prison at Huntsville.

But not everyone can stand by and watch an innocent man go to jail, and now it’s up to Houston Tribune’s Kate Townsend and the foreman of the jury that convicted McAllister to come forward and do some investigating of their […]

Cate Baum2015-10-02T08:00:48+02:00September 28th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Legal Thriller Book Reviews, Thriller Book Reviews|

Review: Angels Play Pianos by Pat Estelle

★★★½

Angels Play Pianos by Pat Estelle tells the story of Jimmy, a child prodigy who is able to play Beethoven flawlessly at the age of five. Tragically, the book begins with his death, but the novel tells the tale of hope among the hardship of a troubled family.

The prose in Angels Play Pianos has a quiet grace – especially when describing the abusive father and husband, Edward. He’s truly infuriating and frustrating, but Estelle’s reserve in describing him manages to make him seem more menacing. There’s no anger or vitriol thrown his way; it’s a subtle take-down of […]

Henry Baum2016-03-04T04:24:43+02:00September 28th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Literary Fiction Book Reviews, Women's Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Eterlimus by Aziz Hamza

★★★★½ Eterlimus by Aziz Hamza

Eterlimus, by Aziz Hamza, is a fast-moving and riveting historical fiction novel set in the 500s BC.

Lucius Tarquinius Superbus became the seventh King of the Roman Kingdom after assassinating King Servius Tullius. Tarquinius didn’t stop there. He also took care of his enemies and those loyal to the previous king to cement his rule. During Tarquinius’ reign the people suffered. Injustice and corruption were rampant. The time was ripe for a revolution and the rape of Lucretia, a noble woman, lit the spark. This novel relates how Eterlimus, an owner of a brothel, played a vital role […]

T B Markinson2016-03-04T04:25:47+02:00September 25th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Historical Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: From Chicken Feet To Crystal Baths by Ian Mote

From Chicken Feet To Crystal Baths by Ian Mote

If Bill Bryson’s Notes From a Small Island is a love letter to the United Kingdom, then Ian Mote’s From Chicken Feet To Crystal Baths is a love letter to China. Most Westerners know little about China, and what we think we know is often wrong or at least badly incomplete. Here, Mote is our friendly, ever cheerful, indefatigable tour guide to the Middle Kingdom.

Besides being just a delightful romp, this book gives readers something travel books rarely do: a sense of the place from the POV of both tourist and resident. Mote takes us to Tiananmen Square and […]

Avery Hurt2019-02-11T09:55:48+02:00September 24th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Non-Fiction Book Reviews, Travel Book Reviews|

Review: The Old Way Of Winter (The Nimedian Ways Book 1) by M.P. Goodwin

★★★★½ The Old Way Of Winter (The Nimedian Ways Book 1) by M. P. Goodwin

When House Kérbholán is destroyed, purged by enemies and allies alike, only Kérbholán Néit seems to have escaped with breath in his lungs. Assisted by a scant few trusted friends and holding the lone item left to carry his ancestry, Néit pursues understanding, revenge, and above all, survival in The Old Way of Winter by M. P. Goodwin, Book 1 of The Nimedian Ways.

Firstly, the cover needs mention, as it is subtle and appropriate; the illustration (credited to Louis Lafont) is reminiscent of the covers and images in Tolkien works. The connection is perfectly suitable and the […]

James Grimsby2016-03-04T04:26:25+02:00September 21st, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Fantasy Book Reviews|

Review: Fortune 69 by David Heath ★★★★

Content warning for depictions of suicide and sexual abuse.

On the Internet, there is a website that caters to every depraved and bizarre interest on the planet, mundane or otherwise. Like the Wild West of old, there are no rules, except that you never let what happens there cross into real life. Here on the anonymized “Fortune 69” dot com, reality is just what you make it.

Fortune 69 is David Heath’s debut novel, previously the writing talent behind Bilateral Comics and contributor to several short story anthologies. Heath describes himself as an author of “transgressive fiction,” which is apparent […]

James Grimsby2015-10-06T08:18:24+02:00September 16th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Literary Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Lazarus by Roderick Wood

Lazarus is the autobiography of Roderick Wood, a fairly typical Englishman spurred into committing his life story to paper after a sudden heart attack in February 2014. This random tragedy had caused him to be declared medically dead for 27 minutes before a successful resuscitation. Following a several-month recovery period from which his family was told he may never function normally again, he defied expectation and found himself back on his feet and full of old memories and new ideas, “activated … from way back”. Both as part of his recovery process, as well as reignited by his experience, the […]

James Grimsby2019-02-11T09:23:23+02:00September 10th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Biography Book Reviews, Non-Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Doomed Soul: Reflections of a Man Without Faith by Robert Boomsliter ★★★★★

The delightful, whimsical cover of this book and tongue-in-cheek cover quote (“I am almost certainly going to end up in Hell”) alerts you right away to the fact that you are getting more—far more—than another of the currently popular anti-religion screeds. Boomsliter has tremendous respect, bordering on hero worship, for Richard Dawkins, Dan Dennett, and Sam Harris. But he wisely takes a slightly different tack in this book. Boomsliter, you see, has a sense of humor (in this he owes more to Christopher Hitchens than the triumvirate mentioned above, although Boomsliter’s wit is just a tad less acerbic than Hitchens’). […]