Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: The Frog Hunter by TB Stamper

The Frog Hunter by TB Stamper

Author TB Stamper launches a searing blast of wartime memory in The Frog Hunter: A Story About the Vietnam War, an Inkblot Test and a Girl, a relentless memoir of Vietnam and the aftermath it wreaked for those soldiers who managed to come home.

From the author’s very first steps into the unknown, the story is engrossing and immersive, plunging readers into the swampy murk of Vietnam, along with all its unknown horrors, both physical and psychological. This memoir is also revelatory on a personal level, revealing Stamper in his pre-war state of mind – a clever rascal and […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-03-29T02:07:57+02:00March 7th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Memoir Book Reviews, Military Book Reviews|

Review: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Elections by Lois Ann Nicolai

Ordinary People, Extraordinary Elections by Lois Ann Nicolai

Lois Ann Nicolai dives into another fascinating chapter of her own life in Ordinary People, Extraordinary Elections: A Memoir of International Democracy Builders, an insightful and passionately penned memoir.

Reflecting on political subjects and personal experiences that are both timely and timeless, readers are given a behind-the-scenes view into the nuances of contentious elections and culture in a myriad of countries, across Bosnia, Croatia, Sarajevo, Macedonia, Georgia, Kosovo, and more. This may not sound like a suspense-filled premise for a memoir, but given the particular locations and high-stakes geopolitical contexts of the author’s travels, many of the anecdotes are […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-03-25T10:23:22+02:00March 3rd, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Memoir Book Reviews, Politics Book Reviews|

Review: The Spawn of Spiracy by Jesse Nolan Bailey

The Spawn of Spiracy by Jesse Nolan Bailey

Jesse Nolan Bailey unveils another epic journey in The Spawn of Spiracy, the second installment of his Disaster of Dokojin series, a high fantasy of the highest order.

After narrowly avoiding defeat in Book 1, the Sachem’s plans to turn on the Decayer Device and summon Spiracy remain alive. The dokojin in disguise has the Stone of Elation and is threatening to merge the realms, which would release untold darkness across the Unified Tribes. In the face of impending devastation, Jalice still believes she can heal the Sachem of his afflicted mind, but success may just cost her […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-03-25T05:51:15+02:00February 28th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Fantasy Book Reviews|

Review: Utopia? by R.A. Rowlingson

Utopia? by R.A. Rowlingson

Author R.A. Rowlingson launches readers into an eerily familiar dystopian world with Utopia? The titular megacity may be a last bastion of humanity bulging behind massive walls, but there are dangerous powers growing both within and without, in this sinister work of speculative fiction.

The masses of the Commune outside the walls are beginning to realize that fighting amongst themselves isn’t the way forward, while the political stability within Utopia is being offered up to the highest bidder. In a shifting landscape of power brokers, blackmailers, and infiltrators, the smoking man and the pixelated man villainously vie for control of […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-03-24T05:37:40+02:00February 25th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Dystopian Fiction Book Reviews, Speculative Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: The Voice in My Head is an A**hole by Darryl Blake

The Voice in My Head is an Asshole by Darryl Blake

Author Darryl Blake offers raw words of wisdom on our lifelong inner conversation in The Voice in My Head is an Asshole: How to Tame Your Inner Critic. Utilizing personal anecdotes along with research in the realm of psychology and neuroscience, this tongue-in-cheek guru delivers a matter-of-fact masterclass on mastering your own mind.

The title of this book may come off as aggressive, but it reflects the dangerous and widespread condition of negative self-talk and a lack of self-love in the modern world. Current events seem to be perennially overwhelming, and after two years of a pandemic, increasing climate […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-03-17T07:51:46+02:00February 24th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Self-Help Book Reviews|

Review: Looks Are Deceiving by Bill VanPatten

Looks Are Deceiving by Bill VanPatten

The tight-knit small town of Mañana, CA is turned upside down by a cruel hate crime in Bill VanPatten’s Looks Are Deceiving, a mystery novel featuring an endearing amateur sleuth and timely conversations about racism and homophobia in contemporary America.

Will Christian is a 49-year-old aspiring writer and gay Latino man who moved to Mañana to live closer to his sister. Everything is going swimmingly until he sets out for a bike ride in late June and makes a grim discovery: the body of a young man, subject to severe blunt force head trauma, a 22-year-old who also happens to […]

Michelle Hogmire2022-04-07T03:00:16+02:00February 24th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: LGBTQI+ Book Reviews, Mystery Book Reviews|

Review: Reflection (The Lenka Trilogy Book 3) by John Righten

Reflection by John Righten

Closing out The Lenka Trilogy with a nail-biter, author John Righten delivers yet another smart and adventurous thriller with Reflection. All of the lessons, enemies, losses, and sacrifices of a mysterious and selfless Irish heroine come to a head in a dangerous race against a Christmastime clock.

Lenka Brett remains as indomitable and entertaining as ever, taking up a tall task in South America to deliver essential medical supplies amidst a landscape of violence and outright corruption. The wear and tear of her previous two missions have clearly taken their toll on Lenka, both physically and emotionally, but […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2022-02-23T03:22:12+02:00February 19th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: International Thriller Book Reviews, Thriller Book Reviews|

Review: Three Loves and Other Stories by Lata Gullapalli

Three Loves and Other Stories by Lata Gullapalli

An emotionally astute short story collection about characters confronting relationship difficulties, Lata Gullapalli’s Three Loves and Other Stories is an intelligent book about the essential nature of spirituality and the process of making tough decisions.

Gullapalli’s narrators are mostly women of Indian background, facing an important turning point in their work or personal lives. In the title piece “Three Loves,” Sia is a young woman who feels suppressed by her family’s regressive opinions on feminist issues, and she decides to move away, starting a new job and develops a relationship with a man named Matt. Eventually, her romance begins to […]

Michelle Hogmire2022-03-16T04:52:03+02:00February 18th, 2022|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Short Stories Book Reviews|