Men’s Fiction Book Reviews

Review: A Season of Transitions by R.M. Gibson ★★★★

seasonof transitionSet in New York during the late 60s, A Season of Transitions by R.M. Gibson follows single father, Cam Gordon through his career and parenting episodes while maintaining a full dating life.

This book is presented to the reader with a fairly clinical analysis with a prologue in the form of a letter from the author to the reader mentioning “women’s lib” (in quotation marks as if it was but a fancy) and voting for “blacks”, setting the tone for the rest of the book: a pretty sterile, white, male perspective of the social aspects of 1960s and 70s America.[…]

Pipeline to Plenty by Paul Clifton

Pipeline to Plenty by Paul CliftonPipeline to Plenty by Paul Clifton is an exciting corporate thriller about building a pipeline in central Australia, which turns out to be a lot more complicated and dangerous than anticipated. James Clayton – newly marriage with a new child and new house in a wealthy section of Melbourne – is tasked with the monumental duty of building the pipeline, on the urging of the giant construction firm Robco. Things are not as easy as they seem as Clayton and his brother have to battle the rough Australian terrain, ambitious politicians, thieves, terrorists, and more, who all threaten to sabotage […]

2015-09-04T07:23:25+02:00September 4th, 2015|Categories: New Releases|Tags: , |

Review: Somerflip: Based on a True Story… Witnessed by Drunks by Daley James Francis ★★★★★

Somerflip: Based on a True Story... Witnessed by Drunks by Daley James FrancisSet in the British East Midlands, the small town of Oatvale is blessed with miles of countryside, a long drive from anywhere of interest, and a smattering of no less than seven pubs, some more disreputable than others. Almost a zoo of local “characters”, the only kind of normal occupying the town is “a little bit odd”, and someone almost average can hardly escape at least a story of something extraordinary. Such is the fate of one Rob Thomas, who’s bad luck is flipped almost as marvelously as how he once caused a trouble-maker to somersault over in a single […]

Review: Human by Den Holson ★★★★

Human by Den HolsonIn a time somewhere after 1952, and a place often known as Dundee, a man concludes the search for his mother’s grave, failing to find any remnant of a true piece of her being in her headstone and final remains, and thus giving up on his life-long quest. Rather than being the final conclusion to a wider tale, this event is at best a mid-point.

With his father’s spirit in his ear, and his mother’s photo as phone wallpaper, the narrator continues an introspective journey of the nature of truth, humanity, being, and a few other more interesting things, maybe. […]

Review: Spiritualized by Victor Levine ★★★★

SpiritualizedSpiritualized is a raucous rock and roll mystery, part of Victor Levine’s Spec Time Trilogy series of books, which follow the exploits of Jon Cells, an aspiring rock star (based on a real person and real musician). Spiritualized acts as a kind of prequel to Vaporized, taking place four years before, over four days in 1978. This novel covers everything from coke deals, to cow mutilations, to New Age Buddhists, to rock stardom, to Hollywood filmmakers, and more in this spirited and literary epic novel.

As in Vaporized, the city is a character all its own. Whereas in […]

Review: Ashes and Asphalt by Trevor Halloway ★★★★

Ashes“I’ll bet you twenty bucks that you won’t mess with that old man by the bar.”

The large man looked to where his friend pointed. He noticed a few bikers around him and shook his head. “I’m not messing with bikers, bro.”

And so begins the rocking story of the Florida Gearheads – but when the fight gets heavy, old Billy Byrne ends himself up in hospital, his son Mike has to make his way to his side, memories of his childhood alongside his biker dad flooding back to him. But when Billy doesn’t make it, and Mike and his […]

2019-01-22T15:49:57+02:00March 18th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , |

Review: Vaporized by Victor Levine ★ ★ ★ ★

VaporizedVaporized by Victor Levine follows the exploits of up-and-coming/down-and-out musician Jon Cells who’s looking for his big break in the New York music scene of the early eighties. In the meantime, he’s working at a perfume factory, which is under investigation by the FBI for possible drug connections. John Cell gets caught in between the rivalry between two familes, the Iranian Monsouris and Italian Pecorinos, when all that he wants to do is make music.

What makes Vaporized shine over other rock and roll novels is its authenticity. Jon Cells himself was an actual musician and the record he’s working […]

2019-01-22T15:50:18+02:00February 20th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , |

Review: Swim a Crooked Line by Al X. Griz ★★★★

Swim a Crooked LineSwim a Crooked Line by Al X. Griz follows several people’s lives in Nebraska: a farmer and his family including Chad who’s enlisted in the army in Afghanistan, and Rico, a linebacker for the Cornhuskers. Each character is richly imagined and contends with major societal issues. Swim a Crooked Line is a quiet novel about big ideas.

Griz is making a valiant attempt at writing the Great American Novel, in the sense that the novel is an epic that is very, very American. The book has Midwestern farming, corporate chain stores destroying Middle America, college football, and other uniquely American […]

2015-02-10T03:41:18+02:00February 9th, 2015|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: , |
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