Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: Sitting on Top of the World by Cheryl King

Sitting on Top of the World by Cheryl King

A novel straddling middle grade and young adult fiction, Cheryl King’s Sitting on Top of the World tells the story of the Great Depression through the eyes of a spunky young girl from Tennessee, magnificently blending a story of misfortune with an inspiring tale of human ingenuity.

June Baker is twelve years old when the stock market crash hits the small town of Maynardville in 1930. All of a sudden, banks are out of money, store shelves are practically empty, and men who’ve lost their jobs are traveling west to find paying work. June’s family starts having a tough time […]

Review: Worldender by Nick Nikolov

Worldender by Nick Nikolov

A pulse-pounding alien invasion novel, Nick Nikolov’s Worldender is a terrifying mixture of science fiction and horror.

When we first meet Lucy Castle, our unlikely hero, she’s participating in the illegal economy, dropping off some dangerous material for higher pay at her bike courier job. The drop goes south, but Lucy makes it out due to her physical prowess and exceptional combat skills. She then gets drunk and almost doesn’t make it on time to her second job, which is a fairly typical day in Lucy’s life – late nights, hiding her injuries – and she does it all for […]

Michelle Hogmire2022-03-29T02:54:05+02:00March 17th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Apocalyptic Fiction Book Reviews, Science Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: A Boy’s Hammer by Alex Grass

A Boy's Hammer by Alex Grass

An epic novel that combines Finnish mythology with a harrowing serial killer story, Alex Grass’ A Boy’s Hammer is a wildly creative take on the urban fantasy genre.

Fifteen-year-old Alan and his mom Lena are on their way to Helsinki when their plane crashes in the ocean. Neither are heard from again, until twenty long years later. Alan turns up in a crater in Philadelphia: naked, about seven feet tall, covered in hammer tattoos, and still with the mind of a teenager – despite the fact that he’s now a thirty-five-year-old man. So, what in the world happened?

Detective Jefferson […]

Michelle Hogmire2022-04-19T07:54:53+02:00March 16th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Horror Book Reviews, Science Fiction Book Reviews, Urban Fantasy Book Reviews|

Review: On the Precipice of the Labyrinth by Brian Snowden

On the Precipice of The Labyrinth by Brian Snowden

1930s Charlottesville graduate William Benning embarks on an inspired mission to reach Spain in On the Precipice of the Labyrinth by Brian Snowden, an ambitious road story exploring romanticism versus reality.

Like many Americans, Benning is connected to Spain by ancestry, and is taken with the language. He secures passage to Spain by taking menial work on the ship across the Atlantic. A series of fortuitous encounters with friendly locals sees him landed in various lodgings and gigs, leading Benning to find himself in Civil War-era Spain, across the Pyrenees into beleaguered Basque country, hitching rides and trying out various […]

Cate Baum2022-04-11T04:13:11+02:00March 15th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Historical Fiction Book Reviews, International Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Amren: Life After by T. Ethan Glassel

Amren: Life After by T. Ethan Glassel

Author T. Ethan Glassel spins a visionary tale of humanity’s potential future in Amren: Life After, a philosophical thriller delving into deep questions of mortality, purpose, freedom, and justice.

Gabriel Gamont is a respected academic who has written extensively on divrils – the previously dominant species on a planet where humanity has expanded. When his own divril servant and research subject, Amren, repeatedly comes back from the dead, the Master realizes just how little he truly knows.

From the very first chapter, it is clear that this novel will be a meditation and exploration of death – both its […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-04-08T06:22:17+02:00March 14th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Science Fiction Book Reviews, Visionary Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Penelope and Ulysses by Zenovia

Penelope and Ulysses by Zenovia

An unforgettable story of love, longing, and loss comes to life on a new stage in Penelope and Ulysses by Zenovia. The titular characters have been studied and admired for more than 2,500 years, so any author exploring such legendary lives must bring something truly original to the table, which Zenovia certainly achieves.

This work is written in the style of dramatic verse, with only a handful of acts and scenes, but stunning in its poetic grace and depth of storytelling. The eternal relationship between Ulysses and Penelope is at the forefront, as well as the machinations that led Ulysses […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-03-10T04:16:09+02:00March 9th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Poetry Book Reviews|

Review: Birch: A Witch Tree by Jennifer Hotes

Birch: A Witch Tree by Jennifer Hotes

An introspective, supernatural narrative about coping with grief and loss, Jennifer Hotes’ Birch: A Witch Tree is the dramatic first title in a planned series about helping suspected witches achieve salvation after death.

Megan Ann Davenport is an up-and-coming painter living in Seattle, right on the brink of huge success and recognition for her prodigious talents. Not everything in her life is great, however: Megan left home at age seventeen to escape her conservative family, who don’t know that she’s a lesbian with a girlfriend named Charlie. When Megan’s preacher father unexpectedly dies of a heart attack, she’ll finally have […]

Michelle Hogmire2022-04-01T04:39:52+02:00March 9th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: LGBTQI+ Book Reviews, Paranormal Book Reviews|

Review: The Nosferatu Conspiracy: The Sommelier by Brian James Gage

The Nosferatu Conspiracy: The Sommelier by Brian James Gage

Author Brian James Gage pulls back the curtain on another sinister installment of historical horror with The Nosferatu Conspiracy: Book Two, The Sommelier.

Haunted by the specter of Franz Ferdinand, whom he set up for assassination, Kaiser Wilhelm II continues his mad military quest across Europe, desperately seeking the mysterious substance that will grant him and his wife immortality. The first step of the Nosferatu operation hadn’t gone exactly according to plan, although eliminating the Romanov family and destabilizing Russia did have its benefits.

The second objective of Prussia’s ultimate scheme is still within reach, somewhere in Paris, but seizing […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-03-29T08:17:59+02:00March 8th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Historical Fantasy Book Reviews, Horror Book Reviews, Vampires Book Reviews|