September 19, 2022
A medical doctor finds his career derailed by the Vietnam War and an intense love affair in R.J. Mikelionis’ debut, Blue Fire.
As a medical student, John Cameron questions some of the practices he sees. As an intern, he fights hard for his patients but is demoralized by the tragedies he encounters. Overall, he finds […]
September 5, 2022
Steven T. Stevenson’s dystopian novel (which, according to the Preface, can be read as either the first of a two-book series or the second of a three-book series) follows an everyman through a cruel and absurd technocratic bureaucracy.
Protagonist Steven grows up in an orphanage. When he reaches age 30, the government sends him to […]
September 5, 2022
Mentions of climate change commonly raise the volume level of general discourse. Most people are believers or skeptics, with a few in the undecided camp. Stuart Griffith has written a novella that seems aimed at swaying the first and third groups.
Climate Change Apocalypse features Scott Paladino, a young environmental engineer embarking on his first […]
September 5, 2022
Edge of Madness is a poignant, coming-of-age novella set several decades into the future as a young girl, orphaned at age eight, moves across Australia struggling to handle life’s unexpected situations. Ultimately, she’s forced to deal with her declining mental health.
As the story opens, 26-year-old Marj Anderson reveals she’s at a mental health clinic […]
August 22, 2022
When a body is spotted at the base of a cliff in the tiny California town of La Sangre, old wounds are reopened and new secrets revealed in this last book of a trilogy.
A fisherman and his son are boating on Bodega Bay when the teen spots a body. This is the third consecutive […]
August 16, 2022
In her docudrama, Politicians in Purgatory, Kirsten E.A. Borg holds an imaginary trial for five politicians: Winston Churchill, Charles De Gaulle, Lyndon Johnson, Nikita Khrushchev, and Pandit Nehru.
These statesmen led their respective countries during the Cold War (1947-1991), and their trials are “to determine [their roles] in starting or maintaining” that war. Of the […]
August 15, 2022
Saratoga Turning Point is a historical novel set during the American Revolution. It follows the battle of Saratoga and the death of British General Simon Fraser, which resulted in England’s defeat there and eventually to America winning the war.
The story switches between large-scale events and historical figures and the character Philip Eames, a New […]
June 21, 2022
David Dorrough’s incisive novel, Revolution, charts the daily lives of a California-based couple and those within their social circle.
Yvonne and Bill Smede are an ordinary, middle-aged couple based in Los Angeles. Their diverse circle of friends includes: Irene, an ambitious woman pursuing a new business idea; Amy, who is searching for her biological parents; […]
June 7, 2022
This story of a talented baseball player straddles several countries as the protagonist settles scores with his past while moving forward with his life.
Sam Cloud-Carson, 24, recently finished a year with Diamondbar Security, which led to a nervous breakdown following a traumatic event. Now, he emerges from a Nicaraguan forest after a month alone […]
June 7, 2022
In this thoughtful novel, a grandmother and child of the Holocaust must face the secrets of her past to live more fully in the present.
When 82-year-old Daria Abramson begins having disturbing dreams and panic attacks, she decides to see a therapist to find relief. Through Dr. Metzger, she begins to peel back the layers […]