SPR’s book reviews of new self-published books
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 […]
The Dark Ones (Black Werewolves Book 1) by Gaja J. Kos
The Dark Ones (Black Werewolves Book 1) by Gaja J. Kos is a richly detailed and exciting werewolf novel in which a pack of Black werewolves attempt to uncover who or what is murdering White werewolves. Rose, the leader of the Black werewolves, enlists the help of Veles, lord of the Underworld, and finds herself falling for him. To win the war, the Black werewolves must become The Dark Ones – the brutal, violent pack of their ancestors – or risk having all werewolves wiped out forever.
A Slovenian author writing about a Slovenian setting, the book has an authenticity […]
The Improbable Rise of Paco Jones by Dominic Carrillo
Daydream and Shadow: A Collection of Poetic Images by Nicholas Nossaman
A bit too often, Nossaman relies on prose being reformatted into verse, rather than a poetic cadence of its own, but the images he conveys still remain expressive. The most powerful element of these poems is finding poetry in small moments (drinking a cup of coffee, smoking a cigarette), which makes the book’s subheading – Poetic Images – all the more […]