John Staughton, Senior Reviewer

An unflinching story of overcoming unimaginable loss and fitting into an unforgiving world, A Walk Through the Neighborhood by Nathan D. Boyd is a moving portrait of gritty city life and the trials of youth. After a heartbreaking betrayal by his father, Timothy Valentine II is sent to live with his Aunt Claire, where he is painfully forced to navigate the rougher sides of his new neighborhood. From first-time fistfights and side-money hustles to watershed decisions about burning out or getting out, this hard-edged novel pulls back the curtain on the crucible of poverty, violence, and desperation for many young […]

A relentless sci-fi thriller with touches of dystopian fiction, space opera, and even Lovecraftian horror, The Call of Abaddon by Colin Searle is an electric mash-up of genres. Eight years after escaping from a top-secret research institute, Jason finds himself scavenging in the depths below New Toronto, while his prodigious psychic abilities continue to grow. Hunted by a supreme alien intelligence and desperate governmental forces who need his untapped powers, Jason must learn to shield his mind from their control and unleash his full potential before an inconceivable cataclysm finishes humanity once and for all. With intricate world-building on the […]

In this neatly crafted Book 2 of The Ring Fold Chronicles by Scott Swisher, the youthful time-jumping heroes of The Ring face off against their own descendants in an epic showdown that threatens the integrity of reality and the timestream itself. Jordan again carries this action-packed tale as the epically powered but reluctant leader, while the multilayered storyline is driven by rich character development, fascinating theoretical science, and myriad ethical dilemmas – the kind that make superheroes and science fiction such an irresistible canvas to portray humanity’s very real underlying issues. The prose could use a further edit for tone […]