From Ashes Arise: A First Look at Chapter One The wait is almost over. I am thrilled to pull back the curtain on From Ashes Arise finally. If you’ve been waiting for a story that blends the gritty, neon-lit underbelly of the drug trade with high-stakes cosmic fantasy, this is it. We aren’t starting in a castle or a battlefield. We’re starting in Allentown, in the shadows, where the only magic most people believe in comes…
Welcome to Pine Falls, where the past never stays buried. We’ve all had that one love. The one that burned too bright, moved too fast, and left a scar that never quite healed. For Misha, that love was Anna. Seven years ago, Anna chose the bright lights of Hollywood over a quiet life in Pine Falls, leaving Misha behind to pick up the pieces. Now, Misha has finally rebuilt her world. She has a steady…
How to Rid Your Swimming Pool of a Bloodthirsty Mermaid by Mick Bogerman My rating: 4 of 5 stars With a title like Slug Pie Story #2: How to Rid Your Swimming Pool of a Bloodthirsty Mermaid you know you’re in for an interesting take in children’s fiction. If there is any doubt allowed by such a title the cover says it all, reminding me of the classic horror-fiction of my youth. The two go…
Black Lies by Alessandra Torre My rating: 5 of 5 stars Black Lies might just be Torre’s biggest “totally did not expect that!” twist of a novel yet. Revolving around two main characters, Layana Fairmont and Brant Sharp, this novel takes you on an erotic mystery ride worth waiting in line for. I don’t want to talk too much detail of the plot in this review. Awhile back I had the chance to interview Torre…
Doom Absolute by R.T. Worth My rating: 5 of 5 stars My first point of note in reading Doom Absolute is the book’s cover art. A tri-pointed collage of the myriad characters shrouded by mist, it is appropriately allusive to the story contained within. The cover actually does more justice to the story than the blurb provided, which says nothing of the magic, mystique, and strangely alluring blend of human culture/mentality (particularly the extreme consumerism)…
Saving Gracie by Nancy DeMarco My rating: 5 of 5 stars Saving Gracie was a thoroughly delightful read. Much like a pot luck held by a denizen of quaint, seemingly quiet Coyne Falls, New Hampshire this story is a cobbling together of story elements that serves to satisfy a gamut of literary appetites. The book’s blurb only hints at what lies between the covers of this book. Discovering the myriad layers of this town’s mysteries…
Early Daze by Jennifer Gilby Roberts My rating: 5 of 5 stars Early Daze reads much like a memoir although from Roberts’ explanation (found included on the Amazon.com purchase page for the book) it isn’t meant to be. Although partially based on personal experience, this is not Roberts’ story of her daughter premature birth but an attempt to share the most important aspects of her experiences in order to bring light to what is ordinarily…
The Blessed Man and the Witch by David Dubrow My rating: 4 of 5 stars Dubrow delivers a novel that takes three seemingly disparate genres and smashes them all together like some author’s cruel joke on an unsuspecting literary Humpty Dumpty whose pieces were then somehow put back together in such a way as to make him Super Humpty. The resulting concoction turns out to be a suave story told from multiple points of view.…
Jackrabbit Messiah by Geoph Essex My rating: 5 of 5 stars >*Note: I received a copy of this text in exchange for an honest review. I’m sitting here attempting to write this review and pondering where to start but the only thought that comes repeatedly to mind is, I loved this book! However, I do need to offer something more substantial so we’ll begin with the cover. I’m of the divided mind (and maybe this…
Murder by Bequest (Sherrod Colsne Mysteries by John Spencer Yantiss My rating: 4 of 5 stars Murder by Bequest reads like a classic novel, notably something like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would have written in his Sherlock series, with highly complex sentence structure that gave the impression of an author with immense vocabulary and equally complex thought patterns but little regard for the ease of reading. At multiple points in the reading I did think…
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