Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: 602 Brigade: If Honda Betrayed Japan by Musashi Miyamoto

★★★★ 602 Brigade: If Honda Betrayed Japan

602 Brigade: If Honda Betrayed Japan by Musashi Miyamoto is a gritty tale of surviving the horrors of war.

When an epic piece of fiction is set in the real world, within a context that almost seems plausible, it makes for truly unforgettable drama. That is precisely the atmosphere that Musashi Miyamoto creates for 602 Brigade. Not only is the premise of this novel frighteningly close to real-world events, at least in terms of tensions between Japan and the People’s Republic of China, but it’s also packed with exquisite detail and unique characters that immediately draw readers in.[…]

Mays Landing by J.C. Mercer

Mays Landing by J.C. Mercer is a dark but hopeful novel about a series of difficult subjects: suicide, mental illness, and life on the streets. The novel begins with Parkhill Mays laying in a Bellevue hospital bed, having attempted suicide. He soon meets T-Bone, a resourceful homeless man who gets by as a “human lab rat,” selling body parts and participating in clinical trials, and he teaches Mays to do the same. Together they live under the streets of New York City, as Mays tries to reconcile his new underground life with the world above ground, and the mental illness […]

Henry Baum2016-04-29T10:33:30+02:00April 29th, 2016|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Soldier On by J.D. Wynne

★★★★ Soldier On by J. D. Wynne

Soldier On by J.D. Wynne shows the behind the scenes action and emotional toll of war on those in uniform.

The September 11, 2001 attacks impacted the lives of so many in the United States, including Molly McKinney. Molly wanted to be a doctor and had joined the Army Reserves to help pay for college. After the terrorist attacks, she was deployed to Bagram airbase in Afghanistan as a Military Police (MP) specialist, forcing Molly to put her dream of becoming a doctor on hold.

War, even when not serving on the front lines, is a harrowing experience. Thousands […]

T B Markinson2020-02-21T06:18:57+02:00April 29th, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews, Military Book Reviews|

Review: Trust in the Unseen (The Edge of the Known Book 2) by Seth Mullins

★★★★½ Trust in the Unseen (The Edge of the Known Book 2)

Trust in the Unseen is the second book in Seth Mullins’ cerebral and inspiring Edge of the Unknown series. The first installment of the series found Brandon Chane in a band on the way up, Edge of the Unknown, and seeking spiritual counsel from the enigmatic Saul.

The second volume finds Brandon reeling from a break-up, even as his band is on the rise, and as visionary as ever. His mentor, Saul Mason, is having personal issues of his own, and may not be the spiritual rock he purported himself to be. One thing remains true through the turmoil: […]

Henry Baum2018-02-16T11:46:37+02:00April 25th, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews, Music Book Reviews|

Review: Bewilderments of the Eyes by Theresa Sopko

★★★★

Bewilderments of the Eyes by Theresa Sopko is a fascinating and heartfelt exploration into the crippling effects of depression.

Twenty-year-old Quinn Aldredge just wants to take back control of her life, but depression holds her captive. Can she find a way with the help of friends and loved ones to come to terms with her illness?

Mental illness, even in today’s world, is mostly a taboo subject. Sufferers, more often than not, feel ashamed. Those who aren’t afflicted, struggle over how to support loved ones or even how to broach the subject. However, thousands of people in the world […]

T B Markinson2016-05-13T04:43:24+02:00April 25th, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: The Adversary’s Good News by Israfel Sivad

★★★★ The Adversary's Good News by Israfel Sivad

The Adversary’s Good News Israfel Sivad is a surreal, philosophical novel about Christian Michael Anderson who decides to end his life. He’s got the noose ready and aims to go through with it until he has a change of heart at the last minute. Fortunately, he’s rescued from his attempt by a mysterious stranger named Evius, who informs him that he has, in fact, died.

This leads Christian on an odyssey through the underworld, where he meets gargoyles, demons, a drug-dealing Tinkerbell, but most of all begins to confront the demons within himself.

Sivad is an erudite and ingenious […]

Henry Baum2016-04-27T01:23:26+02:00April 14th, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews, Literary Fiction Book Reviews|

Review: Tangled Shadows by Xavier Richards

★★★ Tangled Shadows

Tangled Shadows by Xavier Richards is a dark, brutal, and self-reflective novel of modern life.

For readers seeking a painstakingly honest, post-modern crawl through the life and times of a nearly lost soul, Tangled Shadows is an excellent choice. However, for those expecting a traditional narrative with peaks, valleys, growth, and a satisfying conclusion, it might be best to look elsewhere. Xavier Richards delivers a probing and thought-provoking look into a listless and seemingly depressed man, Alex, who is caught in the sludge of Chicago’s millennial class – broke, alone, uncertain of the future, and relatively certain that he […]

John Staughton, Senior Reviewer2016-04-11T04:18:27+02:00April 5th, 2016|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews|

Fracktured by Lance Simmens

Fracktured by Lance Simmens is a political novel following the lives of three people: a politician and his wife, and a madam, all trying to navigate a world in which the political system is broken, affecting all our lives. Primarily, the book centers around the fossil fuel industry, and society’s addiction to oil. Far from touting “Drill, Baby, Drill” this is an anti-fracking novel to the core, exposing how toxic fracking has become: both in what it does to communities, and how toxic the political discourse has become.