New Releases

SPR’s book reviews of new self-published books

Echoes from the Past by Peter Rimmer

Echoes from the Past by Peter RimmerThe year is 1887, and Sebastian Brigandshaw is stolen away from his lover, Emily, and forced across the sea in order to allow his older brother to take Emily’s hand instead. Cast into the wild and unknown colonies of Africa, Sebastian becomes one of the white hunters destined to see the bloodiest faces of man as the British face off against the Boers in their second war. Sebastian lusts for home, but must endure if he wants to survive in Echoes from the Past by Peter Rimmer.

The book is rather hefty at around 350 pages, yet comes full to […]

Jacob’s Odyssey By Russ Melrose

Jacob's Odyssey By Russ MelroseJacob’s Odyssey By Russ Melrose is an engrossing zombie novel in which a virus has decimated the country, and Jake, a fifth grade teacher, must travel across the Salt Lake Valley in Utah to survive – all the while haunted by more than world events. Jake has a troubled past, and he’s on a quest for redemption. When a woman and child are in need of help, Jake has found a way to redeem himself, just when the zombie apocalypse becomes even more dangerous.

While the set-up of Jacob’s Odyssey is not exactly new, the depth of Jake’s voice is. […]

The GreenSeed Conspiracy by Philip Benz

The GreenSeed Conspiracy by Philip BenzThe GreenSeed Conspiracy by Philip Benz gets to the heart of government corruption, as seen through the eyes of government contract-killer Duncan Jones. He’s done the dirty work for government agencies and then gets the job of his life. This time he’s not sure sure he’s getting rid of people who deserve it, and instead may be in the middle of a massive cover-up of human genetic experiments, and he may now be a new target.

Though the novel focuses on Stone, the story is told from several characters’ point of view, which works both for and against the book. […]

2020-02-21T05:56:25+02:00May 26th, 2016|Categories: New Releases|

The Path of Destiny (The Cremelino Prophecy #1) by Mike Shelton

The Path Of Destiny by Mike SheltonThe Path Of Destiny (The Cremelino Prophecy #1) by Mike Shelton is an exciting and character-rich young adult fantasy novel following the life of Darius, son of a councilor of the King of The Realm, who discovers he has the ability to create fire. Magic is forbidden in The Realm after a wizard rebellion a century before, so Darius is at risk of being banished from his home. Darius must choose whether or not to use his new powers, but finds he may have no choice at all.

Author Mike Shelton is expert at world building: both the world the […]

2016-08-12T07:45:57+02:00May 25th, 2016|Categories: New Releases|Tags: , |

Planet Tome Reborn by Helene Pilibosian

Planet Tome Reborn by Helene PilibosianPlanet Tome Reborn by Helene Pilibosian is a continuation of the story begun in her earlier work A New Orchid Myth. In this volume, Amethyst, Granite, and their daughter Taralee travel to Earth from their home planet Tome. Taralee meets and marries Ted in Boston, and the four protagonists embark on a mission to collect plant life and technology vital to Tome’s continued prosperity.

A hybrid of sci/fi fantasy and lyric poetry, the plot is a bit difficult to tease out from Pilibosian’s figurative lexicon and it is not always clear who is speaking or who is being referred […]

2016-05-23T09:22:30+02:00May 23rd, 2016|Categories: New Releases|Tags: |

Art and Faith by Cherie Burbach

Art and Faith by Cherie BurbachAt its most basic, Art and Faith: Mixed Media Art with a Faith-Filled Message is a portfolio for Cherie Burbach’s mixed media art, but this is no simple collection of images.  It’s art with a message.  Burbach first uses her testimony as an introduction, giving both new readers and longtime followers a glimpse at the Christian faith that acts as an inspiration for her creative gifts.

The expository passages in the book are brief and to the point, but they provide personal insight into Burbach’s background and the reasons she strives to bring hope to others through her creative skills.  […]

2016-05-23T09:41:23+02:00May 22nd, 2016|Categories: New Releases|Tags: |

Evelyn Dunbar and Other Comedies: Five One Woman Plays by Josie Peterson

Evelyn Dunbar and Other Comedies: Five One Woman Plays by Josie PetersonEvelyn Dunbar and Other Comedies: Five One Woman Plays by Josie Peterson is a collection of comedic monologues that act as short one-woman shows. In the collection, you’ll find an overworked waitress in a restaurant run by characters from Wuthering Heights, a classical music DJ who can’t stay on topic, a faded screen legend, and other eccentric, yet eloquent, characters.

These are challenging monologues that could be hit or miss with the wrong actress. Obviously, that’s the case with any theatre piece, but this is especially true for one-woman monologues as linguistially compact as these. There’s so much information […]

2023-01-26T13:42:11+02:00May 18th, 2016|Categories: New Releases|Tags: |

The Jellyfish Monster by Bryan Kwasnik

 The Jellyfish Monster by Bryan Kwasnik The Jellyfish Monster by Bryan Kwasnik, with illustrations by Jackie Hahn, is a sweet good-natured children’s book about Billy, who’s playing at the shoreline and comes upon a jellyfish creatures with arms and legs who he dubs the Jellyfish Monster. The Jellyfish Monster takes Billy on a journey through the undersea world, where sea life acts a lot like humans, and Billy gets to participate in things like a shark race, and getting swallowed by a whale.

The illustrations are professionally-done and full of detail, though they could have done with a splash of color to make them as lively […]

2016-05-18T04:43:24+02:00May 18th, 2016|Categories: New Releases|Tags: |
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