Editorial Reviews

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 […]

Echoes is the stunning new collection of poetry by Steffan Williams, who shows great poetic skill along with an original storytelling voice. The first third of the collection is colored with a fresh, bright palette, from subject matter to imagery, displaying the down-to-earth wisdom of Williams’ Trinidadian roots. The last two-thirds is comprised of darker and more emotional poems, which don’t always live up to the earlier works. However, Williams’ imagination is on full display throughout the collection, with the perspectives of pilots and vigilantes, or ruminating on artwork and monsters in the streets. A truly refreshing collection of poems […]

A brain-bending dive into the philosophy of personal choice and autonomy, Free Will, Do You Have It? is a fascinating presentation of the author’s personal theory of Procirclism. The author makes a strong case for his idea, through extended metaphors, scientific research, and proposed thought experiments. Presented in a logical structure that introduces scientific concepts and details as necessary, the book is designed intuitively. Kral successfully expounds on a truly challenging and eye-opening theory for why humans do what we do.

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Portrait of a Daughter by Liz O’Toole Papazian is a short and poignant novel about how to find meaning in life and death. New York City in the 80s is the perfect nostalgic backdrop to this novel that deftly mixes tragic upbringing with personal triumph. Papazian does not coddle the reader as we follow Grace through the death of her mother to the hedonistic clubs of the Big Apple, and finally becoming a mother herself. While the story has some predictable dramatic plot points, the spirit of Grace’s character pierces through each scene so it’s impossible not to admire her, […]