SPR’s book reviews of new self-published books
The book is touching and engrossing, and much more than a memoir of an illness. Constructed through actual email correspondence, the reader is unaware just what might happen next, offering a harrowing but compelling account of this tragic experience. Woven together with Greg’s own heartfelt recounting of that time in his life, […]
At age seven the author began to have seizures and blackouts. By her teens she began exploring a “daydream world.” Satanic beings threatened to kill her, tempted her with lust, or overwhelmed her with secular influences. Yet she often heard hymns or the voice of God, who several times saved her, she believes, from sin or death. She was once consigned to a locked […]
The powerful effects that dystopian realities can have on young people is a common element in post-apocalyptic fiction. In Escape the Future, the gritty new novel from Tom Schneider, this youthful perspective is highlighted, and in the horrors of a world where all the lights have gone out, three young protagonists must find a way to survive and protect those they love most.
In this raw depiction of the future, Schneider masterfully depicts Eva, Layla and Henry, three distinct and uniquely motivated young characters that infuse this story with authenticity. The family dynamic makes this story as powerful as […]
Karina Cardinal is smart, hardworking and, to her dismay, a good girlfriend, who instead of spending quality time with her boyfriend, is putting on airs at her in-laws annual holiday party. It is her attendance at this party that sets the story into motion when she catches a glimpse of a Vermeer painting in her father-in-law’s possession. Caught between contacting the police, which would inevitably lead to her boyfriend’s family’s demise, Cardinal makes the […]
Laskin writes with a light and humorous touch, portraying the absurd in such a clear and matter of fact way that you can’t help […]
After popping from a timeless void, a greater being bred his assistants, gods in all but name, who in turn designed humanity as one of many experiments. However, when those humans manage to escape into reality, they must wrestle with the philosophical weight of existence, as well as the knowledge that they were never meant to be real.
Koenigsmann takes a new angle on ancient mythology, with unruly children eventually betraying their […]
Jealousy, lust and ambition add to the chaos as the Midsummer Players spend two weeks rehearsing and lurch toward a fateful performance of the play. Midsummer’s Bottom by Darren Dash delights with Shakespearian couplets and a cacophony of human […]
Karma’s Envoy by Kevan Houser is very clear in its mission to displace the reader along with Todd, the main character, in a narrative that is at once humorous and haunting.
The story begins with the rapid thoughts and memories of a man who has just committed something unspeakable, which triggers a memory of his mom and dad, and the family’s trips to Oregon. However, it turns out that none of it was true, as Todd asks, “Was it a scene from a movie, or something I made up?”
With this page-turning ending to the prologue, we are thrown with […]