The New York Times has a story on the rise and fall of GettingBookReviews.com, a service owned by Todd Rutherford where, for a fee, authors could commission several dozen 5-star reviews and get them posted on Amazon and other online markets. “I was creating reviews that pointed out the positive things, not the negative things,†[…]
Read MoreBook Review: Oathbreaker, Book 2: The Magus’s Tale by Colin McComb
Originally posted at The New Podler Review of Books. The Magus’s Tale, book two in Colin McComb’s Oathbreaker series, primarily follows young Alton, a boy plucked from certain death by Magus Underhill to become the elderly magus’s apprentice. Alton spends his childhood and adolescence excelling at powerful magic despite abusive treatment from his master. Once Alton becomes […]
Read MoreBook Review: The Weight of Blood by David Dalglish
Originally posted at New Podler Review of Books. Harruq and Qurrah Tun are half-elf/half-orc brothers who’ve been mocked and beaten their whole lives for their mixed blood. They eke out a living in squalid conditions through odd jobs and thievery, only wanting to be left alone. But trouble always finds them in the form of […]
Read MoreReview for ASPECT OF PALE NIGHT
I just got a nice review of my mystery novel ASPECT OF PALE NIGHT from the Good Book Alert review site. An excerpt: Rob Steiner describes mystery ASPECT OF PALE NIGHT as having a similar voice to Stephanie Plum, which drew my interest right away. Plum is a quirky character with a lot of spice […]
Read MoreBook Review: Lacuna: Demons of the Void by David Adams
Just posted my review of Lacuna: Demons of the Void by David Adams on the New Podler Review of Books. Fans of straight-forward alien invasion stories will like this one. I liked it, too, despite some copy editing issues and dubious economics. Here’s an excerpt from the review: Adams has written an action-packed story that […]
Read MoreBook Review: Oathbreaker, Book 1: The Knight’s Tale by Colin McComb
Oathbreaker, Book 1: The Knight’s Tale by Colin McComb, is a riveting debut fantasy from an author who knows what fantasy fans love (he wrote adventures for TSR, after all) – visceral prose; logically sound and creative world-building; and fascinating characters that do not follow genre conventions. Sir Pelagir, a Knight Elite in the Empire […]
Read MoreBook Review: Creepers by Bryan Dunn
My review of Creepers by Bryan Dunn is up at the New Podler Review of Books. Fans of B horror movies will love this one: Creepers follows the same pattern as my beloved SyFy movies – cut-out characters, dubious science, mortal peril for all involved. But that’s what I love about those movies and this […]
Read MoreThe positives of negative reviews
I review small-press and self-published books at the New Podler Review of Books, and I’ve unfortunately read my share of, shall we say, “challenging” books. I hate writing bad reviews. I’m an author, too, so I know how much blood, sweat, tears, love, and butt-in-the-chair time writers put into their work. I know how much […]
Read MoreI Review Books, Too!
I’m a very, very naughty book reviewer. Very naughty. I’ve reviewed indie books at the New Podler Review of Books for almost a year and have failed to promote my reviews on my own blog. I’m hanging my head in shame right now… So here they are: » Lodestone Book One: The Sea of Storms […]
Read MoreBook Review: Hell House by Richard Matheson
You know you’re reading a great horror novel when you have to keep your eyes open in the shower — despite the shampoo stinging the hell out of them — so you can be sure there’s no rotting-corpse-ghost peeking in at you. Hell House by Richard Matheson is such a novel. Billionaire Rudolph Deutsch is […]
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