by Christy J. Breedlove Rating: **** Desperate to escape their bleak existence in Cloud’s Rest , a dystopian city built in the sky and governed by oppression, four teenagers escape to the ground below, an unrecognizable landscape ravaged centuries earlier by an earthquake and consequent tsunamis. The four hope to find sanctuary with a community of like-minded individuals rumored to reside in the devastated environment, but instead, they encounter vicious, mutated animals and

by Cecelia Tichi Rating: **** When a Newport society picnic hosted by their normally charming friend, Theo Bulkeley, takes a strange turn and Theo disappears, Val and Roddy DeVere don’t hesitate to meet him in New York as requested. Theo is a broken man and begs for the DeVeres’ help. He is convinced that his cousin Phoebe’s Irish butler, Anson Burke, is planning to murder her, just as Theo is confident Burke killed her twin sister, Judith, a year earlier. Val has doubts abou

by Mark N. Drake Rating: ***** In Bogganmor , Jack Glennison is forced to revisit the distressing events that occurred in the University of Mercia library vault fourteen years previously and discovers that the Head Librarian, Arthur Grainger, absconded shortly after the bizarre night with a book from the University’s special collection, a book thought to have been destroyed… Glennison must find Grainger and the Liber Umbrae  ( Book of the Shadow ) for the University and perso

by Gail Ward Olmsted Rating: **** Sassy, whip-smart legal aid attorney Miranda Quinn is back for a third installment * in Olmsted’s Miranda Fights  which finds her juggling family life with counseling at-risk, troubled young women, some of whom seem to be disappearing… Meanwhile, Lennon Gallagher, the daughter of an old, estranged high-school friend, turns to her for help with a minor misdemeanor. Miranda is intrigued and does not hesitate to represent her. When Lennon expre

by Elizabeth Chater Rating: **** Beginning in 1988, Centering  unfolds the story of Alexandria “Alixe” Blair, a young, gifted ballerina whose promising career is sabotaged as she dances her first solo with The Imperial Ballet School in London and forces Alixe to end her intense romance with principal dancer, Marc Dumont. Alixe returns to California to heal. She dances for The Manhattan Ballet Company before joining the world-renowned teacher Madame Irina Karlova at her Grand

by Jim Bates Rating: ***** The Stargazer  is a collection of thirteen slice-of-life stories, each with a subtle twist. In most tales, Bates’ engaging characters meet random, unorthodox strangers who affect their lives, often leading to profound epiphanies, ramifications, or a personal ideological shift. Several recurring motifs, likenesses, and pop culture references filter delicately through the compilation. There are similarities in a number of the characters’ backgrounds,