Lead Story

Lead stories from SPR’s ever-growing independent book portal

Review: Shattered Shield by Camden Mays

Shattered Shields by Camden Mays

A story that could have been ripped from the headlines – or a heavily redacted report – Shattered Shield by Camden Mays is a riveting spy thriller that draws readers in with an intoxicating flood of action and suspense.

Cole Cameron is a leading character that you might recognize – a worn out government agent who is beginning to question his path in life, and may be dipping his fingers outside of the boundaries of the law. However, when real danger rears its head, he dives back into his duty, and his patriotic, heroic side wins out over the bitterness […]

Review: Blood Upon the Sands by Sheldon Charles

Blood Upon the Sands (An Evan Davis Tale Book 2)

The complexities of geopolitics are no longer being kept to the realms of academia and politics, and fascinating stories based on real-world conflicts are becoming more and more accessible with every passing year. In Blood Upon the Sands, the second book in the Evan Davis series by Sheldon Charles, the intrepid writer-turned-world traveler finds himself in Kuwait, where there is serious trouble brewing.

Working for a local horse-breeder, Evan’s obvious foreignness makes him stand out, while his instincts as a writer tell him to never ignore a story – particularly when it is dropped directly in his lap. What […]

Review: Urgent Justice (Vigilante Justice Book 2.5) by John Etzil

Urgent Justice (Vigilante Justice Book 2.5) by John Etzil

Jack Lamburt has already had his fair share of fights as a small-town sheriff in rural New York, but this latest thriller by John Etzil, Urgent Justice, sees the intrepid hero hit the road in search of a missing local girl. However, this time, the sheriff won’t be going on his action-packed adventure alone. With a rough-around-the-edges nonagenarian sidekick, Jack Lamburt must take down a powerful religious leader and child abuser with an entire town gunning for the vigilante duo.

While their journey begins as a simple mission to scope out the town where the girl supposedly disappeared, Lamburt isn’t […]

2019-05-17T08:05:49+02:00May 16th, 2019|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: |

Review: Crimson Arrows by Eyad H. Yehyawi

Crimson Arrows by Eyad H. Yehyawi

For someone who has never hunted an animal in their life, the prospect of a collection centered around bowhunting may not hold much immediate appeal, but Crimson Arrows: A Bowhunting Odyssey by Eyad H. Yehyawi is much more than it may initially seem. This book is a heartfelt exploration of youth and growth through the lens of a hunter finding his feet in that sport – and in his entire life.

The first thing one notices about Yehyawi’s writing is the sincerity; each story hums with personal touches and genuine emotion. He is able to dig through his memories, some […]

Review: The Fractured Mind by Ottavio Lepore

The Fractured Mind by Ottavio Lepore

As the old saying goes, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Ryan Stark learns that in the hardest way possible in The Fractured Mind, a tense and gripping new novel by Ottavio Lepore.

What begins as a harmless getaway spirals into a desperate fight for survival and sanity as Ryan discovers that not every good samaritan wants nothing in return. A tragic car accident sends him and his partner from the throes of a weekend trip into the intensive care unit, and Ryan’s life is turned upside down in an instant.

Facing a long […]

2019-05-07T09:49:40+02:00May 4th, 2019|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: |

Review: Snapshots: Say Cheese! The World is Watching by Cara Cilento

Say Cheese! The World is Watching by Cara Cilento

Poems and short prose pieces are mated with vibrant photos in the emotive collection Snapshots: Say Cheese! The World is Watching by debut writer Cara Cilento.

The two dominant themes are Cilento’s acceptance of herself as a lesbian, and her decision to adopt two boys, a bold move, especially as both children are African American. Cilento is of Italian descent, this made clear as she describes messages (“The Facts”) from her upbringing:

…I was made from two parents

who went to school to get out of the ghetto

who tried to forget their last name had too many vowels in

[…]
2019-05-03T13:09:47+02:00May 2nd, 2019|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: , |

Review: Midtown Madhatter by Mateo Monda

Midtown Madhatter by Mateo Monda

An American living in Guadalajara, Mexico travels to New York City to attend a wedding and hang out with his Seattle childhood friends. From beginning to end, the trip is a non-stop drug and alcohol binge. Midtown Madhatter by Mateo Monda tells of a weekend in Peter Walsh’s life along with flashbacks to his relationships with his friends and wife. He’s an unhappy man, and he’s got the addictions to prove it.

Peter’s dissatisfaction with his life comes across with every cigarette he craves, every beer he gulps, and each line of cocaine he hurriedly snorts. Under the surface of […]

2019-05-03T13:35:41+02:00May 1st, 2019|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: |

Review: Splitting Bits by Joseph Gelet

Splitting Bits by Joseph Gelet

For the better part of a century, our economic system has remained largely unchanged, and given the dynamic nature of modern society, the evolution of currency was a natural and unavoidable outcome. In Splitting Bits: Understanding Bitcoin and the Blockchain, author Joseph Gelet brings this fascinating and ever-changing new area of finance into clearer focus, and also explains where it is headed.

For many people, Bitcoin registered barely a blip on the radar 5 years ago, and largely remained that way until the past year or so, when this new financial paradigm hit international headlines with massive value increases […]

2019-04-08T08:07:15+02:00April 7th, 2019|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: |
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