Editorial Reviews

A novelist with nothing left to live for takes a raunchy and reflective trip down memory lane in The Music of Women by Vincent Panettiere. While the unfiltered mind of a sex-addled protagonist who “loves women too much” may cause some to raise an eyebrow, this novel takes a rough-cut look at gender relations and modern intimacy. Complete with a good amount of linguistic acrobatics and a refreshingly authentic voice, this confessional novel explores memory and sentiment, attempting to bridge the gap between lust, love, and the natural cycles of life. All told, Panettiere delivers a savagely honest inner monologue […]

Sopa de Letras: 148 Juegos Para Niños by Carmen Garcia is a fun and instructive word jumble book in Spanish for kids, teaching a wide array of words and concepts. The book is professionally designed with a huge array of puzzles, but there are occasional misspellings and misuse of accents peppered throughout the book. For example, “aparatos de cucina” appears in a title, which should be “cocina,” or “pintaunas,” which should be “pintauñas.” This will obviously add confusion to finding words in a jumble, if the words themselves are misspelled. However, the book is still a useful educational tool given […]

Author Steve Amoia presents his comprehensive and brutally honest story in My Journey With OCD, tackling the ins and outs of this surprisingly common condition, yet one that remains stigmatized and poorly understood in many circles. Most powerfully, this account examines some of the obstacles – personal, psychological, emotional, and sexual – that keep people from seeking help. Some of the prose could be tightened up or slimmed down with a careful edit, as there are important points that are overshadowed in repetition or circuitous language. However, Amoia lays out the science in a clear and accessible way, supporting […]

The Pastor Stephen Grant universe grows a bit wider and more fascinating with Ray Keating’s latest short story release, What’s Lost? (The Pastor Stephen Grant Series Book 15). Told in the first-person style Keating has recently adopted, this gripping tale of deception, retribution, and redemption careens from New York and France to Vietnam in a journal entry plotline filled with espionage, action, and a good deal of enticing mystery. While this story – and many other Pastor Grant adventures – can feel like a rushed cross between Clive Cussler, “National Treasure,” and James Bond, Keating’s original twists and singular […]

Explore the untold stories behind an honest day’s work in Trips Down Blue Collar Lane by Steve Amoia, a personal recounting of his unpredictable professional journey, coupled with the valuable lessons gained along the way. From painting bunkhouses in Montana to delivering packages to government offices in the nation’s capital, Amoia engagingly captures his philosophy of honest effort, purpose, and meaning, regardless of title or pay rate. The storytelling is rough around the edges – a bit unpolished, peppered with occasional errors – but this jibes with the conversational, easygoing tone of this working man’s memoir.

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Fast-talking Torian Aneiress returns for a third installment of his heroic YA journey in Athens Ophelia The Partitioner: Esoragoto by Zachary Aneiress. Navigating the aftermath of his recent epic battles, and more betrayal and loss than most teens could dream to handle, this unabashed and unfiltered protagonist continues to brim with energy and appeal. The technical execution of the writing is problematic, with the prose needing a heavy editorial hand for repetitive grammatical errors, formatting issues, and overly informal phrasing. While these errors diminish the book’s overall readability, the narrative captures the authentic voice and personality of a young protagonist, […]

A fast-paced, boiling pot of a one-act play, Red-Handed by Alan David Pritchard showcases the playwright’s talents by pitting three schoolboys against each other, as they’re locked in a storage room by a classmate. The room also happens to be where the exam papers are stored, a great device and catalytic for the characters to overcome their individual problems and work together to escape. The play is clearly well-realized by Pritchard, who vividly stages the play with inventive demonstrations of flashbacks and a minimal use of props. Short yet tense, Red-Handed is a rare play that performs itself well through […]

A contemporary novelization of the COVID-19 saga, Dieter Gartelmann’s Pandemic is an audacious and wholly original novel that is part apocalyptic thriller, and part literary investigation. Following the lives of six people from August 2020 into the near future, the reader experiences the pandemic through myriad lenses – each character a representative point of view of the pandemic, referenced with news articles and opinion pieces. An ambitious attempt at understanding the pandemic’s impact, the book acts like a diary of humanity in the current moment. The result is alternately eye-opening and frustrating, as the reader is put in the position […]