SPR’s book reviews of new self-published books
In Deep Rough, author Ray Keating drops his Swiss Army Knife in human form, Pastor Grant, into another nearly unbelievable mission. He is tasked with protecting the son of a controversial pastor in China; the only problem is that the son is an international golf star whose career is on the rise. With Chinese secret police and a whole cast of unsavory characters gunning for […]
Tales of murder, scandal and injustice from the rugged end of the 19th century in America hold a perennial appeal, and The Hub of Hell from author Beverly Porter has all of these aspects in spades. The book is a shocking glimpse into law enforcement of the past, and an impressively complete account of the strange autumn and winter of 1887.
Inspired by a single newspaper article, this true story is a well-researched reconstruction of the dramatic events and players surrounding a trio of imprisoned brothers in Minneapolis more than 130 years ago. Pete, Tim and Henry Barrett sit […]
From the ancient trials of Galen, the second century’s most famous physician, to the terrors of the modern day in Turkey, this book is sweeping and ambitious, but also carefully penned, culturally sensitive, and finely polished. After a terror attack rips through […]
The American immigrant experience, particularly for those of Muslim descent, has become a front-page topic in recent years, giving This Ain’t My Life by author Bilal Alaji a true sense of import, for a timely and poignant read.
Recounting his life from childhood to the present, this is a brutally honest and precisely recorded story, one that feels very naturally told, but also framed within larger social issues and beliefs the author wants to highlight. The author’s youthful success and whimsy were dampened by brutal familial expectations, run-ins with the law, and self-professed mistakes in judgment. Despite repeated stumbles and […]
Scholars and thinkers have been seeking the substance of the soul since time immemorial, but author Chris Carvell proposes something entirely unique in his new book Strange Quantum Souls. Blending high-level mathematics with cognitive philosophy and quantum theory, this book is a wild and challenging dive into the realm of quantum consciousness.
Carvell’s argument combines ideas of micro-black holes and a Super-Ether that feed our brains information to form our thoughts and consciousness on an instantaneous level. If that single sentence is a struggle to unpack, you’ll have a truly tangled (and thought-provoking) time comprehending the rest of this […]
The mythology and mystery of ancient Britannia are brought vividly to life in Land of Kings, the second installment of Virginia Weldon’s Britannia Chronicles.
A decade after Regan, Valerius, Cara, and Alana’s lives first collide, peace feels like a distant dream and there are still many battles on the horizon. Regan, having honed his impressive battle skills in the gladiator pits, returns to Britannia with his freedom intact, fire in his belly and a singular goal of reuniting with the woman he loves. Meanwhile, the rebel forces of the island nation are amassing under Queen Boudicca, and Alana and […]
Professor Brad Parker, a department chair at one of Boston’s top universities, is about to meet with the dean for their annual budget meeting when a member of his department arrives, informing Brad that one of their graduate students was sexually assaulted the night before and that he believes a colleague has done it.
When Brad informs the dean, she assigns Karen Richmond, a top-notch investigator with the university police force, to conduct the investigation and orders Brad to assist Karen. As Brad and […]
Dr. Hiram McDowell is irascible, he’s arrogant, and he’s tough to love, except as a character, in William H. Coles’ riveting character portrait, McDowell.
A quintessential character who you love to hate, McDowell is indifferent to his wife (his third), his children, and his neighbors. He’s earned his pride as head of surgery in Denver, leading a foundation for the underprivileged in Nepal, and becoming a nominee for the U.S. President’s cabinet. However, with an almost superheroic degree of self-absorption, the novel challenges the reader to stick with a character who has so little to offer as a person.[…]