Proxima by Chase Hildenbrand is a science fiction action adventure in which humans have ravaged Earth’s natural resources and must find a way to survive. The situation leaves the human race no choice but to build space arks and head for the nearest habitable planet, Proxima. However, not everyone wants […]
A hero who stands alone, malicious bandits, wild animals. Does that sound like a western? Surprise! It’s a fantasy. With western underpinnings but fused heavily with its fantasy elements, Calico Thunder Rides Again makes for one thrilling read. Inheriting a traveling circus from his father, Jake Strickland has been managing […]
Eden’s Voice by Catherine Stein is a steampunk fantasy set in Ann Arbor, Michigan in autumn of 1904. It’s the advent of the 1900s with a bustling University of Michigan campus, a new invention called motorcars, and this odd sport known as “American football.” This isn’t, however, historical fiction, so […]
The First Time I Hunted is the third in the Garnet McGee series by Jo Macgregor. A psychological thriller, Hunted expands both characters and setting beyond the world of Pitchford, Vermont. In this third installment, Garnet again becomes embroiled in the middle of a mystery with time running out to […]
Full disclosure that the author of Kataklusmos is my brother. As such, this will not be a normal review but a description of the novel. The following is reprinted by permission from the author. A Trio of Stories Collide The trilogy of Toward the Gleam, The Lucifer Ego, and Kataklusmos […]
Dead Leaves: 9 Tales of the Witching Season by Kealan Patrick Burke is a trick and a treat. The anthology contains nine short stories set in autumn closer to a night of ghouls and ghosts than of evenings of blessing food. Nothing juvenile about these stories, though. They are literate, […]
My Shadow Oaks series are five YA character-driven novels of adventure in a mysterious fictional town in Indiana. When sixteen-year-old Brian Rees visits the hidden neighborhood of his deceased mother, a town that forbids modern technology, he underestimates just what lies in store. Each novel is a self-contained story detailing […]
I reviewed the first book in the Havok series, Havok: Reborn, when it was published and immensely enjoyed it. Genre flash fiction that mostly hit the mark, the first offering was an entertaining read and has a place prominently on my bookshelf. I was excited to learn the second book […]
Pumpkin Spice Pie-Jinks by Selina J. Eckert is a delightful retelling of a famous short story I’ll leave for the reader to discover. The story introduces Reese, a baker, who lives in a small New England town co-inhabited by the fae. In fact, some special fairies are visiting from the […]
In the writing world, the words “Show, don’t tell” are often given as advice. Countless blogs describe why it’s better to show and not tell, how to show instead of telling, and (naturally) why sometimes it’s better to tell and not show. Let’s go beyond that and say you’ve mastered […]