SPR’s book reviews of new self-published books
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 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 […]
As Joeckel was formerly […]
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 […]