December 13, 2018

“The Night Crossing” by Robert Masello – Beyond the Shroud of Evil

The Night Crossing by Robert Masello (Book cover)
Robert Masello has never shied away from using the immense potential of his imagination to mix fact and fiction, two realms he is intimately familiar with.

In The Night Crossing , he does precisely that as he brings to us a fictionalized telling of Bram Stoker's life, expanding on the man far beyond his immortal novel.

A frustrated writer, he becomes drawn into a web of intrigue surrounding a safe haven founded by the wealthy elite, harbouring a dark and terrible secret, an ancient evil Stoker must confront lest thousands of lives are lost forever.

November 24, 2018

“The Storyteller's Secret” by Sejal Badani – In the Wake of the Fall

The Storyteller's Secret by Sejal Badani (Book cover)
Sejal Badani has made a veritable splash in the world of literature with a sensational debut out of nowhere, and her second novel titled The Storyteller's Secret carries in the same vein.

It tells the story of Jaya, a New York journalist who, in the wake of her third miscarriage, decides to travel to India and rekindle with her culture.

In the process, she comes to learn about the incredible story of her grandmother through the words of the old family servant, embarking us on a tale of hopeful love and tragic struggle during the British occupation of India.

November 6, 2018

Interview with Nina Romano – Inexhaustible Inspirations


While there are a few careers where it is possible to learn everything there is to, authorship fall as far from this category as humanly possible.

Virtually every single author, whether they've written a hundred novels or a hundred words, will admit they always have more to learn and new horizons to explore... it's a never-ending journey towards knowledge.

Though Nina Romano definitely doesn't hold all the answers, she has been walking on this path since her early years and possesses a certain aptitude which can only come through time and experience: she understands herself within the context of her work better than most others.

In our interview with her, we discuss her methodology as an author, how she approaches the writing of a book, and the many milestones she has traversed in her literary life.

October 29, 2018

“Pronto” by Elmore Leonard – The Sins of the Accountant

Pronto by Elmore Leonard (Book cover)
Elmore Leonard has time and time again surpassed himself and entertained the masses in his long and storied career, and his novel Pronto, like many others, illustrated his many qualities to near-perfection.

The story follows U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens as he races against the Miami mob and a Sicilian hitman to find a runaway bookie hiding away somewhere in Italy... a bookie who already escaped him once before.

October 16, 2018

“City of Endless Night” by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child – The Headless of the Metropolis

City of Endless Night by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (Book cover))
Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child combine forces once again to create City of Endless Night. In this investigative mystery we embark on a hunt for a serial killer whose first strike was directed at the reckless daughter of a wealthy tech billionaire.

Lieutenant Vincent D'Agosta is on the case, but little does he suspect, this is the one case which will push him over the edge and have him face a foe with much more profound motivations than he could suspect.

October 9, 2018

“Where Are They?” by Steven Lazaroff and Mark Rodger – The Search for Spacial Kindred

Where Are They? by Steven Lazaroff and Mark Rodger (Book cover)
Steven Lazaroff and Mark Rodger certainly take the exploration of alien life and what it might entail far beyond most other authors in their non-fiction book titled Where Are They?

Obsessed with the possibility of visitors from the great beyond ever since lights appeared in the night sky before our ancestors, humanity has made many curious practical, theoretical and philosophical advancements in this sphere.

Lazaroff and Rodger attempt to bring us the sum of this knowledge and explore both sides of the argument as to whether or not we might encounter alien life forms.

September 22, 2018

“My Dear Hamilton” by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie - A Woman of the Revolution

My Dear Hamilton by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie (Book cover)

Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie have established themselves as a powerhouse in historical literature, demonstrating a real knack for the ability to deliver accurate facts in entertaining fashion.

In their latest joint adventure, titled My Dear Hamilton, they explore the storied biography of a woman often overshadowed by history, Eliza Schuyler Hamilton, wife to founding father Alexander Hamilton.

September 8, 2018

“Gunpowder Moon” by David Pedreira – The First Lunar Murder

Gunpowder Moon by David Pedreira (Book cover)

David Pedreira begins his foray into the realm of literature with great aspirations, unravelling the webs of treachery behind the first murder of a man in outer space in his first novel, Gunpowder Moon.

We are taken to visit a future where Earth's survival depends on lunar helium, one where the chief of U.S. mining operations finds himself racing against the clock when one of his workers is killed by a bomb. Whether on Earth or beyond the skies, the evil men do thrives onwards.

August 29, 2018

“In America” by Nina Romano – The Great Depression of Dreams

In America by Nina Romano (book cover)

Nina Romano has taken us travelling through the tunnels of time and love in the first two books of her Wayfarer Trilogy, and with the third one titled In America, the time has come to conclude the series.

We are taken to 1920s Brooklyn where Marcella Scimenti, daughter of Giacomo, chases her dream of being a singer in Hollywood, all while growing out of her shell and butting heads with love in the most unexpected ways. Supported by her big Italian family, the headstrong Marcella is about to learn what real life is all about.

August 20, 2018

“Dreaming At the Top of My Lungs” by Israel Finn – Brief Pictures of Horror

Dreaming At the Top of My Lungs by Israel Finn (Book cover)
Israel Finn has won the 80th Annual Writer's Digest Short Story Competition with his collection titled Dreaming At the Top of My Lungs, containing within twelve dark short stories.

Ranging from a woman being on trial in a world where telling the truth is a crime to a man who finds himself in a surreal nightmare after losing his son, these stories aim to prod the human soul from all possible directions and take us on a journey in the profound recesses of human nature.

August 11, 2018

“Lemon Blossoms” by Nina Romano – Nothing More Precious than Family

Lemon Blossoms by Nina Romano (Book cover)
Nina Romano has begun the Wayfarer Trilogy with her first book touching on the subject of star-crossed lovers and cultural differences.

In this second chapter of the series, titled Lemon Blossoms, we are presented with a girl by the name of Angelica Domenico whose early life is characterized by her faith-based upbringing.

As she confines herself within the arms of seclusion and dedication to her religion, a certain Italian man by the name of Giacomo Scimenti enters her family shop and changes her life forever.

August 4, 2018

“The Woman in the Woods” by John Connolly – From the Belly of the Beast

The Woman in the Woods by John Connolly (Book cover)
John Connolly never ceases to deliver thrills and chills in his wide range of mysteries and detective stories, returning to helm his ship the best way he knows with his new novel The Woman in the Woods.

The sixteenth book in the Charlie Parker series, it follows the private investigator as he is hired to shadow a police investigation into the recently-discovered, half-preserved body of a woman in the woods, bearing all signs of having given birth shortly before her demise.

Though the child doesn't know it, all sorts of parties are out looking for him... even a dead woman.

July 24, 2018

“The Secret Language of Women” by Nina Romano – Daggers in the Heart of Fate

The Secret Language of Women by Nina Romano (Book cover)
While love isn't something we can ever hope to truly understand, there are wiser folk such as Nina Romano who might be a bit closer to the truth by virtue of their life experience.

In The Secret Language of Women she puts all of it to good use as she kicks off the Wayfarer Trilogy, transporting us to the very end of the 19th century in China.

We are introduced to a Eurasian healer and an Italian sailor whose love for each other is consistently thwarted by the chains of duty and fate amidst the violent Boxer Rebellion.

July 20, 2018

“The Glass Forest” by Cynthia Swanson – Threnody for a Marriage

The Glass Forest by Cynthia Swanson (Book cover)
Cynthia Swanson has always had an amazing superpower as a writer: the capacity to delve profoundly into the minds of her extremely complex characters and base the story around their unravelling.

In The Glass Forest we are treated to this sort of scenario as we follow a recently-married couple, Paul and Angie, who find themselves having to take care of the husband's seventeen-year-old enigmatic niece after her father commits suicide and her mother vanishes.

As the trio isolate themselves in a modern house on the edge of the woods some uncomfortable secrets begin floating to the surface, forcing Angie to question much of her own existence.

July 14, 2018

“A Casualty of War” by Charles Todd - Scars of the Mind

A Casualty of War by Charles Todd (Book cover)
Charles Todd, the pen name by which a mother and son writing team go, have written quite a number of novels revolving around the First World War, and Casualty of War is yet another to add to that last, this time being part of the Bess Crawford Mysteries.

In this one, we follow Bess, a British Army nurse, as she witnesses first-hand the profound and everlasting effects the war has on people through the path walked by a certain Captain Alan Travis who insists his cousin shot him twice.

July 7, 2018

“Another Woman's Husband” by Gill Paul – A Tragic Spotlight for Women

Another Woman's Husband by Gill Paul (Book cover)

Gill Paul's Tale of Betrayal and Friendship


Princess Diana is one of the few figures in modern history found fascinating all around the globe. Today, what most people remember about the woman is her tragic ending as well as the controversy surrounding it... even to this day the question hangs in the air as to what really happened in that car crash, and how accidental it was in the first place.

June 30, 2018

“Operator Down” by Brad Taylor - The Nuclear Anti-Democracy Party

Operator Down by Brad Taylor (Book cover)

Brad Taylor has delivered excitement in spades time and time again with his spy thrillers, and in Operator Down he returns to the fore, once again thrusting the former special forces officer Logan Pike into the heart of mayhem.

In his search for a Mossad agent, Pike stumbles into something much more sinister involving nuclear weapon sales and a giant conspiracy to topple a democratic African country.

June 20, 2018

“Fraulein M.” by Caroline Woods – The Immense Weight of Family Roots

Fraulein M. by Caroline Woods (Book cover)
Caroline Woods may not be a famous author yet, but nothing has stopped her for writing an ambitious and far-reaching family drama titled Fraulein M.

It opens by taking us to 1930s Berlin, where two sisters are raised in a Catholic orphanage and find themselves trying to navigate the equally grandiose and terrifying waters of Nazi Germany.

Fast forward almost forty years in the future, and we are presented with a woman in South Carolina who is determined to learn more about her family's history following the death of her father... a secretive history, tracing its roots all the way back to the Third Reich.

June 11, 2018

“The Wonderful World of Bernies” by Bernard M. Patten – The Emergence of a Genius

The Wonderful World of Bernies by Bernard M. Patten (Book cover)
Bernard M. Patten is today known as one of the foremost medical experts on the planet, being the leading specialist on Myasthenia Gravis as well as part of the team of physicians who discovered the current treatment for Parkinson's disease.

However, just like every other person on Earth, his life began just like every other one: in total ignorance. After many years of teaching, experimenting and learning, he has decided it was time to write his autobiography telling the whole story from his earliest chaotic days, and he titled it The Wonderful World of Bernies.

June 9, 2018

“The Most Beautiful Woman in Florence” by Alyssa Palombo – Passion Immortalized

The Most Beautiful Woman in Florence” by Alyssa Palombo (Book cover)
Alyssa Palombo is certainly carving a place for herself in the historical romance genre, with her second novel, The Most Beautiful Woman in Florence, transporting us back to the lush and passionate streets of 15th century Italy.

We follow the story of a certain Simonetta Cattaneo, about to marry a young, handsome and well-educated man which in turn plunges her into the circle of people surrounding the Medici family, all wealthy and important. She catches the eye of many people, but none see the beauty in her like a young painter, Sandro Botticelli.

May 30, 2018

“Robicheaux” by James Lee Burke – Grasping Hands from the Darkness

Robicheaux by James Lee Burke (Book cover)
James Lee Burke has done a great service to the world of literature when he gave birth to the Dave Robicheaux series, the scarred and damaged investigator trying to stay afloat amidst a sea of demons, personal and otherwise.

In Robicheaux, the titular character returns to the gritty backwoods of Louisiana to investigate a murder involving the man who killed Dave's wife.

May 5, 2018

“Love and Other Consolation Prizes” by Jamie Ford – Raffled into a Pilgrimage

Love and Other Consolation Prizes by Jamie Ford (Book cover)
Jamie Ford has established himself as one of the few authors out there willing to tackle the uncomfortable subject of the oppressed existence led by many Asian-Americans during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

In Love and Other Consolation Prizes he returns to his forte once again, telling the story of a young Chinese boy who is first sold by his mother as a means of getting him a better life, and then auctioned off to the madam of a brothel in the red light district.

Curiously enough, it's where the boy begins to form his first semblance of an actual family and is embarked on a lifelong journey few could have ever predicted.

April 24, 2018

“Blood of the Four” by Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon – An Odyssey of Gods and Slaves

Blood of the Four by Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon (Book cover)
Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon, two highly reputed authors in their own rights, have joined forces together for Blood of the Four and managed to come up with an original novel drawing on the best of what the two men have to offer.

In this tour-de-force we are introduced to a kingdom where virtually every person is a slave, where the divide between the royals and the poor is as wide as it has ever been, and magic has been trampled into dust.

We follow a young Princess Phela whose ambition for power leads her to shatter the careful balance established over innumerable years, leading to either her dominion or everyone's death.

April 8, 2018

“Knight's Shadow” by Sebastien de Castell – The Homeland Under Siege

Knight's Shadow by Sebastien de Castell (Book cover)
Sebastien de Castell has set the stage in his first book of The Greatcoats series, Traitor's Blade, for adventures grandiose and innumerable in an epic and fantastic world complete with deadly swashbuckling and unforgiving politics.

In the second book of the series, titled "Knight's Shadow" , we follow Falcio val Mond, First Cantor of the Greatcoats and master swordsman, as he investigates the murder of a duke in his family, all while the country is being plunged into civil war and chaos.

To make matters even more interesting, Falcio has found out one of his oldest and most dangerous enemies has actually poisoned him, drastically shortening the time left on his clock.

March 27, 2018

“House of Spies” by Daniel Silva – Destroyer of the West

House of Spies by Daniel Silva (Book cover)
Daniel Silva has introduced us seventeen books ago to Gabriel Allon, legendary spy (now chief of Israeli Intelligence) and art restorer on the sly.

His adventures have taken him around the entire world as he stopped one terrorist threat after another, and in his latest outing titled "House of Spies" , he sets on the trail of a very dangerous man who left London's West End in ruins more or less.

In order to get to him, Allon makes an uneasy alliance with an enormously wealthy drug dealer who conducts business with the wanted man.

March 13, 2018

"Mississippi Blood" by Greg Iles – Beneath the Veil of the Deep South

Mississippi Blood by Greg Iles (Book cover)

Into Cruel Territory with Greg Iles


The United States might officially be a single entity, but one could make the argument the divisions between its various subcultures are so pronounced the country is in fact composed from a few smaller countries roughly-slapped together.

The difference in the people's mentalities and customs are quite noticeable from coast to coast and border to border, and I believe it's fair to say the Deep South is certainly one of more interesting microcosms on this continent.

March 7, 2018

“The Gift” by Louise Jensen – The Balance of Life and Death

The Gift by Louise Jensen (Book cover)
Louise Jensen has a special knack for crafting unusual thrillers and mysteries with unique story elements we'd be hard-pressed to find elsewhere.

In her novel The Gift she presents us once again with a bizarre scenario, as we are introduced to a young woman, Jenna, who just got a second lease on life after receiving a donor heart from a young girl.

“Points of Impact” by Marko Kloos – The Critical Turning Point

Points of Impact by Marko Kloos (Book cover)
Marko Kloos has chronicled humanity's epic saga in its fight against the alien invaders known as the Lankies in his Frontlines series, and in the newest addition, Points of Impact , it looks like the tables might finally begin to turn.

As Earth's armed forces have stopped the alien advance, they are also preparing to launch into play advanced new ships and weapons that would, for the first time ever, put them on equal footing with the invaders. Of course, the course of war waits for no man, and these formidable foes also have a few tricks left up their sleeve.

"Two Nights" by Kathy Reichs – A Life Buried Deep

Two Nights by Kathy Reichs (Book cover)
Kathy Reichs takes us back under into a cruel and morbid world in Two Nights, where happy lives and endings never come without a tremendous price. We are introduced to a woman named Sunday Night, carrying around enough physical and psychological baggage around to fill an entire warehouse.

Having successfully built a life of self-sufficiency and isolation, she needs no one, and nobody needs her. That is until the day a girl disappears in the aftermath of a tragic bomb explosion, and the girl's family need Sunnie's help to find her.

“Dark Network” by James McCrone – An Election of Spies and Traitors

Dark Network by James McCrone (Book Cover)
James McCrone certainly isn't finished with Imogen Trager or her penchant for saving the country, thrusting her right into the deep end of the pool in the second book of her trilogy, Dark Network.

In the aftermath of what happened in the previous book, the FBI is still reeling but slowly coming back into shape, believing the election to be safe and sound.

However, what they thought would be a simple clean-up process reveals that the enemy's plan has only begun, and the real threats are yet to come... whether from outside, or within the FBI itself.

“Awakening Macbeth” by Carmen Amato – Staking a Soul

Awakening Macbeth by Carmen Amato (Book cover)
Carmen Amato has published a large number of novels taking place in Central America, a place she is well-acquainted with from her time spent living there.

However, for one of her latest novels, Awakening Macbeth, she decided to stray far from her comfort zone and go all the way to Scotland, telling us the story of professor Brodie Macbeth from the University of Virginia.

“Phenomena” by Annie Jacobsen – The Top Secret U.S. Telepathy Program

Phenomena by Annie Jacobsen (Book cover)
Annie Jacobsen is an author who has taken it upon herself to bring the truth to light no matter how uncomfortable it may be, with her area of speciality seemingly revolving around government affairs.

In one of her latest books, Phenomena, she decides to delve deep into the four decades during which the U.S. government intently poured their resources into extra-sensory perception research, attempting to develop and unlock the secrets of telepathy and psychokinesis.