Review Tales
Trusted Reviews and Author Features Since 2016
The Reincarnation of Marie by Jim Woodman (Book Review #1933)
The Reincarnation of Marieby Jim Woodman is a hauntingly beautiful novel that weaves together the threads of history, love, and the supernatural in the vibrant streets of 1950s Paris. The story follows Yann Roussel, a young French Army officer, whose life takes an unexpected turn when he stumbles upon the diary of Marie Bashkirtseff, a 19th-century French-Russian aristocrat, beside the Seine.
Read MoreInterviewing ALAIN ROLLAND
What is Six Years of Absence about? It is a historical fiction about a French soldier’s journey through World War II inspired by true events. Alexandre leaves his wife and 3-month-old baby to join his engineer regiment and fights the first battles against the German army on the Eastern front. He is then stationed near the Belgian border and, on his way to Norway, he has to retreat to Dunkirk. After missing the last boat for England, as a prisoner of war, he transits through two camps in Pomerania and ends up working as a forced laborer. After many adventures during five long years of captivity, the Red Army liberates him, and he experiences new ones with the Russian soldiers before returning home.
Read MoreInterviewing Simon Jones
Tell us a little about where you grew up. What was it like there?
Unlike me, my past is unremarkable, but I will not get ahead of myself. You may have noticed I speak well. That is because for a long time I lived in a well-to-do area of Austrshir City, but I was born in a family of riversiders. You don’t know what that means? We lived next to the Ophidian River. A beautiful body of water rich in life, winding its way through the Arid Lands. It enters the east side of the city, where people built their homes next to its banks, hence the name ‘riversiders’. By the time the river flows through the city’s centre and out of the west quadrant, where grime meets beauty, all that remains in its currents is death.
For a boy of my talents, the city was a wondrous place.
Read MoreFade to Black: Noir Stories of Grifters, Drifters, and Unlovable Losers by Robert White (Book Review #1932)
Robert White’s Fade to Black is a masterful collection of 22 noir tales that plunges deep into the dark corners of human nature, where greed, lust, and revenge reign supreme. With a deft hand, White weaves stories that are as gritty as they are compelling, exploring the motivations behind the actions of society’s most desperate and depraved characters.
Read MoreAbout my book by Marc Rosenberg
I think authors are often asked where they get their ideas. It’s a good question. KYD’S GAME is an espionage thriller dealing with Russia’s complicity in a chemical attack in Syria (2017). I had seen a news video of a man and his young son who were hopelessly struggling to outrun the effects. It had a strong emotional impact on me. Evidence that the Russians were complicit is documented. I later read Bill Browder’s book “Red Notice”, which clearly illustrates the corruption and cruelty of Putin’s regime. Putting these influences together with my love of le Carre’s books pushed me forward.
Read MoreHappy New Year 2025!
Happy New Year 2025! 🎉
As we welcome another exciting year, I want to take a moment to thank you—our incredible community of authors, writers, publishers, and book lovers—for making 2024 such a fantastic year.
Read MoreTag, you’re it! What bookstores should learn from fanfiction by Strange Seawolf
A few years ago, publishers discovered tropes, and as someone who writes both fanfiction and original works (and who doesn’t agree that the first is somehow “lesser” than the second, but that’s a topic for another day), I am always stumped how little of their true potential is used by bookstores.
Read MoreWords of Wisdom by Rathan Krueger
It’s annoying when someone beats you with their pop culture “expertise”, isn’t it? We get it; they’ve read “The Silmarillion”. A lot. However, you shouldn’t let that overzealous author with the Quenya pen name deter you from enjoying pop culture references in literature. They’re succinct ways for the author to connect to you, and for you to connect to other readers. Historians appreciate them, too.
Read MoreThe Impetus of GRAPHIC NATURE by Daniel Damiano
After my first novel was published, there was a certain degree of satisfaction in both having completed a pretty sizable work and also being able to share it with the general public. However, upon completing it, I did not assume I’d have another idea with which to create a second novel with any expedience. Perhaps I was even content with having written a sole novel, having spent the majority of my career as a Playwright and Actor. But within a few months, I realized that an older play of mine would actually lend itself nicely to the novel form. The play and the novel it would soon become is called Graphic Nature.
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