Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: Fire Thief Reborn (The Edge of the Known Book 4) by Seth Mullins

★★★★★ Fire Thief Reborn (The Edge of the Known Book 4)

Fire Thief Reborn is the fourth installment in Seth Mullins’ riveting Edge of the Known series. In previous installments, we’ve seen the band Edge of the Known struggle in obscurity and then shoot to stardom, told through the eyes of its artistic visionary, Brandon Chane. Brandon’s had his struggle in relationships, and with the artistic process, through it all. Success isn’t always an answer.

In Book 4, it’s seven years after the band’s rise to stardom. Brandon’s found the peace of an artist who’s said everything he needed to say, and reached a willing audience. He’s content, for perhaps […]

Henry Baum2018-02-16T11:46:10+02:00April 3rd, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews, Men's Fiction Book Reviews, Music Book Reviews|

I’ll Be Looking at the Moon by Lucia Barrett

I'll Be Looking at the Moon by Lucia Barrett I’ll Be Looking at the Moon: A novel about finding Home by Lucia Barrett is a delicately poignant novel about finding yourself, and love, even if it takes decades to achieve.

Escaping her destructive family to Europe, Elizabeth Parker Morgan has a passionate romance with an Italian man who has a troubled life of his own. Their relationship is shattered and Elizabeth is forced to move back to the States, and finds out that she is pregnant. The reason for the separation from her true love has always remained a mystery, and she’s never lost her deep connection to him, […]

Lysa Grant2017-03-14T09:22:26+02:00March 14th, 2017|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews, Romance Book Reviews|

Review: Choice and Consequence of “Normality” by Albert Oon

★★★ Choice and Consequence of Normality

In Choice and Consequence of “Normality,” author Albert Oon challenges readers with a blunt and fast-paced tale of dangerous dreams and waking nightmares.

Rose, the heroine of this story, is having trouble sleeping through the night – what with the terrible nightmares that she’s been facing, which seem steeped in symbolism and prophecy, along with terrible monsters who seem determined to end her life. Reality and dreams begin to twist together, and this often-times terrifying story begins to get truly strange.

There are countless battles between Rose and unknown enemies, paranormal events and narrow escapes, set within a surreal […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2017-03-15T07:19:13+02:00February 14th, 2017|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews|

Fair Weather People by Roshni Hemraj Mudliar

Fair-Weather People by Roshni Hemraj Mudliar Fair Weather People by Roshni Hemraj Mudliar is a work of fiction about weathering bad people and bad events in one’s life – especially when it comes to earning money. The book begins with a short expose of people most of us know all too well: people who are there for you when you’re doing well, but turn their back when things turn south. Mudliar’s focus is fair-weather people in the workplace. After the introduction, the book then tells the story of a man named Henry, an immigrant, who struggles with difficulties both in the workplace and in his adopted […]

Henry Baum2017-10-09T06:50:49+02:00January 20th, 2017|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews, Social Science Book Reviews|

Review: Humanity’s Way Forward (The Edge of the Known Book 3) by Seth Mullins

★★★★½ Humanity's Way Forward (The Edge of the Known Book 3) by Seth Mullins

Humanity’s Way Forward (The Edge of the Known Book 3) by Seth Mullins finds the band Edge of the Known finally getting a real foothold in the music industry, and Brandon, their leader, as conflicted as ever. The band wins a battle of the bands, gets favorable reviews and a record deal, and with it massive success. All the while, Brandon is continually tormented by his troubled past, his girlfriend, Janie, as well as deaths that find their way into his life. The book is a meditation on artistic creation, fame and fate. It’s a novel, and a series, […]

Henry Baum2019-01-22T15:27:59+02:00November 28th, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews, Men's Fiction Book Reviews, Music Book Reviews|

Review: Skunks Dance by St. John Karp

★★★★

Spivey Spillane is an honest guy. He loves his grandmammy, he loves his home, and he would bring ruin to any man who would rob him of his simple happiness. It’s the American way, and it’s God’s too. Unfortunately for the Spillane family name, there is such a man, and he’s running loose across the state of California, tipping cattle and penning indecent plays under the guise of Spillane himself. Oh, and there’s the fortune that only he knows the location of, too. Just one more reason to find Alabama Sam and fill him with lead, really.

Meanwhile, several […]

James Grimsby2020-02-21T06:29:35+02:00November 7th, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews, Humor, Western Book Reviews|

Review: To Never Know by Thomas Duffy

★★★★ To Never Know by Thomas Duffy

It is a curse of memory and recollection that human beings are able to ask themselves, “What If?” For some, this question can be a harmless gateway to nostalgia, while for others, this perfectly natural musing is paralyzing, haunting and life-changing. In To Never Know, author Thomas Duffy initially presents the bleak portrait of a life never fully lived, due to the perennial longing of the main character, Steven. This isn’t a story about the “one who got away,” but rather the “one who he never even took a shot with,” which overwhelms him with uncertainty and the […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2020-02-12T10:01:46+02:00November 3rd, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews|

North by Amanda Linehan

North by Amanda Linehan Jayne is on the run – from the law, from her past, from herself. Unlikely events conspire to face Jayne with everything she’s tried to put behind her, for better or for worse. Making unlikely friends with a former victim of her crimes, Jayne only has one compass to lead her forward: her heart. She drives north, perhaps to face the family to which she once belonged, or to another life entirely…

North is a stirring read that starts much like an updated retelling of Hitchcock’s “Psycho,” if taken in a completely different direction – if the sad story of […]

James Grimsby2016-10-27T06:52:24+02:00October 27th, 2016|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews|