SPR’s book reviews of new self-published books
The Age of Amy: Behind the Fun Zone by Bruce Edwards
The Age of Amy: Behind the Fun Zone is the fourth novel in the “Age of Amy” series by Bruce Edwards. The Amy books put Amy, a rebellious and precocious teenager, into some fantastical scenarios. In the first book, she comes toe to toe with a farm animal that can manipulate time and space. Behind the Fun Zone is more sci-fi than fantasy, and puts Amy against a creepy new technology called the Jimmie, which implants cell phone technology into your head. Amy, who’s already averse to technology, is having none of it, and her aversion to the Jimmie is […]
The Fat Girls Club by Lila Johnson follows the lives of Sissy, Nicki and Angela who join together in an effort to lose weight. The novel had the possibility of being a bit superficial and weight obsessed – and indeed Nicki and Angela aren’t too happy at first about having their weight pointed out – but losing weight is a very real concern for most everybody, and the issue is handled sensitively, and humorously. It’s also an uplifting story about friendship and how important it is to have the support of friends during difficult times.
Murphy Drummer is bad luck personified. As Murphy’s Law states: anything bad that can happen will happen. This is Murphy’s lifelong mantra. After a lifetime of causing havoc wherever he goes, he becomes the ultimate agoraphobe and locks himself inside so he can’t cause any more damage. Keeping himself busy with a multitude of hobbies, Murphy becomes the “Hobby Guy” with a devoted following. Eventually, Murphy has to leave the safety of his cocoon and comes in contact with his polar opposite: Joy Daley, who is touched by lady luck wherever she goes, and who might just change Murphy’s luck […]
The Street Rod Mystery by Judy Iverson is a spirited and engaging mystery about the disappearance of a young woman girl at a fifties car show. The girl is kept captive by a car-obsessed man who first fell in love with a 1959 Buick Electra 225 convertible. A huge manhunt begins for the young woman, while she tries to evade her captor, and we learn of his twisted impulses that led to the abduction, a plan that was thirty years in the making.