Category: Literary Fiction Reviews

New giveaway!

We have a copy of WW II POWs in America and Abroad: Astounding Facts about the Imprisonment of Military and Civilians During the War by Gary Slaughter to give away!

To win, sign up for our Free Newsletter on the right-hand side of the site and enter via the newsletter. Winner will be chosen by the end of December from subscribers who enter via the newsletter. Good luck!

Great new giveaway

We have a copy of The Adventurer’s Glossary by Joshua Glenn and Mark Kingwell to give away!

To win, sign up for our Free Newsletter on the right-hand side of the site and enter via the newsletter. Winner will be chosen by the end of December from subscribers who enter via the newsletter. Good luck!

A review of April on Paris Street by Anna Dowdall

April on Paris Street has several areas of interest: the charms of Paris and Montreal; the varied work of a private investigator; the dark, dangerous world in which we live, and above all, the importance of staying connected to our families, whether they be blood relatives or “intentional families” of friends.

A review of The Museum of Heartache by Paul Luikart

Luikart’s short stories are like glimpses of reality television episodes of the down-and-out and downtrodden.  Each excerpt gives the reader a video clip in the mind, briefly immersing in the stories of bad parents, drug addicts, prostitutes, the suicidal, the desperately lonely, the neglected, the abandoned, the mentally ill, the grieving, and many more lost and despondent types.   His writing puts one right into the desperate situations and into the brains of his characters.

A review Poly by Paul Dalgarno

There are two things I appreciate most about this brave novel by Dalgarno. The first is that it explores so candidly the inner world of the narrator—Chris – who is painted with such pathos, to provoke tenderness and vulnerability in the reader and cast toxic masculinity under scrutiny. Secondly, I appreciate how it aroused in me important conversations on love and ethics, coloured by story.

A review of Naimah and Ajmal on Newton’s Mountain by Nancy Dafoe

For the conscientious writer, many experiences of loss and pain can be conveyed only by using a special language, one that stretches somewhat beyond the norm. To accomplish this, Dafoe chooses the method of writing her story as fantasy; she never strays from her course: that of allowing her characters to come to terms with their devastating losses and helping them promote their dream of peace to others.

Great giveaway

We have a copy of What If We Were Somewhere Else by Wendy J Fox to give away! To win, sign up for our Free Newsletter on the right-hand side of the site and enter via the newsletter. Winner will be chosen by the end of October from subscribers who enter via the newsletter. Good luck!

A review of Planetary Motions by William Seaton

Poetic truth is as open to interpretation as the movements of the planets. We add our own perceptions and perturbations which are subject to the fragmentations of an ultimately unknowable universe. Seaton accepts this and continues on his international travels with a universal perspective. He is now inter-galactic in his observations, pulling us out into the cosmos from our earth-tethered and more insular points of view. As a fully integrated inhabitant of the world, he has the weight of history in his pocket and cosmic, unbounded access. He seeks not to answer questions but to keep asking them.

The Hubris Of An Empty Hand by Mahyar A. Amouzegar

Amouzegar has this fantastic manner of urging his reader to put their “ear to the wall.” He constantly lures you in, requesting that you listen closely, that you read carefully, and that you ask questions. His gift of narration is dangerously cunning as well. Between and within his stories, he experiments with points of view, using narrative gymnastics to capture the most alluring perspective. Amouzegar holds the secrets close to the chest, withholding them until three chapters later, and or even indefinitely.

A review of Watched and other stories by Carol Chandler

Each story is a slice of life where the reader enters places and into the mind of the characters.  The characters are well developed, intriguing and mysterious, some live at the margin and others think at the margin. The plots are neat and compact with good time and pacing demonstrating the skills of the writer.