Review Tales
Trusted Reviews and Author Features Since 2016
Fat Books, Tolkien, and Resurrection Power by Michael Jack Webb
I can’t help myself—I write “fat” books! I’ve tried to write books under one hundred thousand words, but no matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to lose the weight. My very first novel started out at over two hundred thousand words—and became a trilogy. I’ve tried writing short stories. They turn into novellas. I’ve tried novellas. They turn into full blown novels. I’m a hopeless lover of deep characterization and back story, lots of action, and page-turning plots, something nearly impossible for me to do in less than one hundred thousand words. Plus, I want my readers to feel like they’ve eaten a ten-course meal when they finish one of my thrillers.
Read MoreCarrying My Father’s Torch: From Holocaust Trauma to Transformation by Gail Weiss Gaspar (Book Review #888)
Carrying my father’s torch is a beautiful story written about Gail’s life. It is personal and, at the same time, so relatable to many as her father shares what truly happened to him. At the age of 63, as he stands at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Gail’s father shares family secrets that were cherishable and admirable, inspiring her to do the same.
Read MoreChasing the dragon’s tail by Craig Fullerton (Book review #854)
Chasing the Dragon’s tail is a self-help book demonstrating how one could chase the Dragon’s tail to inspire and enlighten the Dragon’s tail from within. The aim is for the reader to achieve whatever they want once they finish reading the book. How? Well, the author begins by applying neuroscience and cognitive psychology. He discusses values and motivations, passion, mindset, and modeling, inducing certainty, and decisiveness.
A Grand Exposition by Kim Idynne (Book Review# 853)
A grand exposition is a historical mystery set at the 1889 World’s Fair. It begins with Elizabeth, who has recently lost her husband and son. She moves to Delhi with her daughter, Charlotte, and is told to stay away from the Indian neighborhoods. Things take a turn when Elizabeth falls ill, and Charlotte returns to the hotel only to notice that everything is changed. Her mother is gone, the room looks different, and no one believes anything she says.
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Getting Published by Michael Jack Webb
Okay, it’s not really “funny.”
I began brainstorming about becoming an author in my mother’s womb. As a child, I loved to make up and tell fanciful, exciting stories, or act them out. A couple of the kids I grew up with formed a neighborhood drama company, and we put on plays. The first one was about kings and queens and dragons and mythical characters. I wrote the stories. Later, I switched to poetry in high school and college, hoping to catch the ear of a fair maiden, then tried my hand at short stories.
Read MoreReborn by T.M. Parris (Book Review #852)
Reborn is a political/espionage thriller story set in Hong Kong, China. The story introduces Rose Clarke as a disgraced secret service officer who has been given a task to track John Fairchild, a mercenary down. John has created a network that appears to be trading British intelligence.
Howie, His Parcel Winch, and the Smothering of the Human Soul by Gavin Wicklow
There is a gem of an Italian film from the early 1970s that’s titled Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion and stars the late, great Gian Maria Volonté. While watching it, it isn’t terribly difficult, even for someone like yours truly, who was not alive at the time of its release, much less a resident of Italy, to detect the righteous indignation burning and bubbling up through the film’s celluloid. Having committed what seems to be a murder of ennui, a police chief, played by Volonté, takes charge of the investigation and proceeds to do everything in his power to incriminate himself, short of climbing to Rome’s rooftops and broadcasting his confession to the world. A wry, brilliant, darkly comic, and ultimately infuriating film, it leaves a viewer to wonder, while witnessing his repeated failures in his quixotic quest: How could his associates be so blind, corrupt, or both?
Pandora’s Gardener by David Charles Mason (Book Review #851)
Pandora’s gardener is a humorous adventure mystery novel written about John Gardener, who happens to be the holder or a seemingly harmless price of computer hardware that can cause enormous harm to humanity. The technology behind it can bring global domination; however, John has no clue.
You Won’t Know Unless You Try by June Rollins
In 1970, when I was in the eighth grade, I met with my guidance counselor to determine my electives. I told her I wanted to be an artist, and she registered me for Art 101. I still remember how eager I felt on the first day of class, sitting behind a huge paint-splattered table until the teacher began telling us what would be required in order to pass her class. Anticipation soon turned to fear, and I panicked. The occasional “C” was shame enough; to get an “F” would be mortifying. When the dismissal bell rang, I ran to my guidance counselor’s office and told her how I felt. If only I had. Instead, I told her I had been wrong. I thought art was boring, and I wanted to switch to Home Ec.
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