SPR’s book reviews of new self-published books
Astronomical by K.G. Bethlehem
Devon’s Blade by Ken McConnell
Devon’s Blade by Ken McConnell is a short novel companion to McConnell’s Starforgers series. Commander Devon Ardel is sent to a planet that’s mainly comprised of water to head a struggling starfighter squadron. The squadron is no match for their much better equipped adversary, especially since they are utilizing a newer and deadlier fighter. Devon has to rally the troops and adapt new inventive strategies if her squadron isn’t going to be wiped off the map.
The interesting conceit in this novel is just how much it veers away from science fiction to a present day story about fighter pilots […]
Midnight Heat (The Firework Girls Book 2) by J.L. White
Midnight Heat by J.L. White, the second book in the Firework Girls series, focuses on Chloe and her romance with the handsome Grayson. Basically left at the altar, Chloe has a passionate hookup with Grayson on what would be the night of her wedding. It’s all too much, given she’s on the rebound, so she flees the turmoil, regretting every moment, because her connection with Grayson is far more than sexual. So she wants him back in her life, only to find 9 months later that the love of her life is now hooked up with her best friend.
Having […]
Golden Notes by Samuel Joeckel
As Joeckel was formerly […]
Quiescence Terminated by Allan Greenbrier
The novel is exceptionally well-researched, weaving its way through Islamic culture, Catholicism, the halls of American government, and more, so the reader know they’re in the hands of an author who knows every element of his story’s environment.
A weakness in the book is that the narrative voice doesn’t change dramatically enough between characters. When it’s switching from an Islamic […]
Mays Landing by J.C. Mercer
Candor Candy: Global Poems by Helene Pilibosian
Candor Candy: Global Poems by Helene Pilibosian is a full-bodied collection exploring the space between humanity and nature, and the sadness and beauty therein, from the Amazon to the Thames to China and back to the US, where the poet resides, an Armenian-American, already by nature an international and globally-aware writer.
The poems strip back to the senses in color and form. They are somewhat reminiscent of Jon Fosse’s more nature-led pieces in form: combinations of natural elements and the senses, somewhat awry with the immediate and raw emotion of the poet in the moment, a cultural reference from modern-day […]
Reaper: A Lucky Dey Thriller by Doug Richardson
Reaper: A Lucky Dey Thriller by Doug Richardson takes place in a scorching Los Angeles summer, in which South Central murders are on the rise. Sheriff’s deputy Lucky Dey has something of a checkered past, skirting the line between good and bad guy, and wants to clean up a part of the city that’s been left to disintegrate.
An accomplished screenwriter (“Die Hard 2″ among others), Richardson writes with a cinematic quality – not in the sense that Reaper reads like a screenplay, but in how it establishes setting and character without slowing down the story. Richardson is especially good […]