Duane Smith is the renegade teacher referred to in the title. His own schooling had been less than an optimal experience due to learning difficulties, and he ended up in the Armed Forces after several failed attempts at college. While there, he was assigned the...

Relationships aren’t easy to begin with, but add the element of being a long distance apart and the difficulty increases exponentially. After making it through the storm and staying together, Chris Stinchfield and Teresa LaVine decided to write The Keys To A Long-Distance Relationship:...

In Better Dead than Never by Laurent Boulanger, we seek to separate truth from lies. Ten years ago, Beh Mohammed Shah was jailed for the rape and murder of Steven Donnelly. Now Patricia Lunn has been asked to investigate a possible miscarriage of justice. An...

Love Triangle: XY Version by Magus Tor and Carrie Lynn Weniger is a story of love, lies and deception. Sydney is about to graduate from college when her boyfriend Joe tells her he can’t be with her anymore because of her homophobia. Five years later,...

"Being a birth parent in the adoption world can be difficult. It is hard to talk or write about." So confides Darrick C. Rizzo, author of The Open Adoption. That difficulty takes on a special meaning for birth fathers, silent voices rarely heard regarding the...

The Singing Stones of Rendor is Book 1 from the Eidolon Trilogy by Neils Knudsen. When K’Las was born to tinkers, Willim and B’Tris Campanill, his aunt Haegatess transferred her potent magical powers to him before dying. His parents also possess this magic known as...

In Dead Money Run by J. Frank James, Lou Malloy has just maxed out on a fifteen-year prison sentence for the theft of $15 million dollars. Right before leaving prison, he learns that his sister is brutally murdered. Even though he has 15 million reasons...

One perfect word quickly comes to mind when trying to distill the effect of Theodore Jerome Cohen’s collection of short (truly short) stories in The Road Less Taken. The word is: Gripping. And I do not use that word lightly. I mean, utterly, sometimes devastatingly,...

I had the great privilege to review Theodore Jerome Cohen’s Book 2 of The Road Less Taken, and I mentioned there the primary descriptive word for his great skill at short story writing: Gripping. Actually, I may have said: Utterly Gripping. Having the honor then...

Changes: Buckland Gap 2 by Charles Stanley Wiltshire is an inspiring story that follows Steven Harding, a man who finally returns home from prison, reformed and looking forward to a new start in life, but who meets a society that hasn’t outgrown its moral standards...

The Field by Ian Dawson is a fairly straightforward YA novel about two friends, Daniel and Kyle, and what happens when one of them is kidnapped. The book starts with an introduction to both boys and their friendship, and all of the normal adolescent...

The 'Great' Kickin' Dog: A Family Tree by Kenneth Allen Crutchfield, Sr. is a novel with its own beauty and dignity in exploring the life of a dysfunctional family. John Coleman is the main protagonist, an ex-musician, assembly line worker, and alcoholic. Don’t call him...

Prompt Excursion is a work of fiction in the science fiction, adventure, and intrigue subgenres. It is suitable for the general adult and older teen reading audiences. Penned by author Lewis S. Kingston, this highly engaging novel takes readers on a suspenseful journey aboard a...

From the Dedication “to all the world’s children,” to the last page, Captain Crossbones in The Treasure Hunt, written and illustrated by Victor Ramon Mojica, delivers a delightful tale for children of all ages. In verse form, Captain Crossbones tells of a treasure he must...

A Mere Christian by Ron Smith MD is a book with a spiritually uplifting theme. The author has tried to reveal the mystery surrounding God and our beliefs in Him. The author shares what he has learned from Lewis, Chamblin, and others and tries to...

In a fun, funny and adventurous new story targeting children in later elementary grades, The Land Without Color is the first book in a new series by the same name written by author Benjamin Ellefson. This book will engage its readers from the very beginning...

The Great Sugar War is an adventure fantasy novel for children and preteens written by Benjamin Ellefson and illustrated by Kevin Cannon. Brandon wasn't crazy about school; he was able to do his assignments and get good grades without too much effort, but he'd much...

What Happened to Flynn by Pat Muir follows Afro-American detective Shane Notfarg as she is given a missing persons case to follow. Arthur Flynn disappeared in 2008, leaving his neighbor to look after his house and cat while he went fishing. He never returned. Why...

In a detailed account of misfortunes and joys, Russell H. Plante tells the story of an abandoned kitten that learns the intricacies of survival the hard way. While reading this fast-moving tale, I found myself constantly glancing over my shoulder at my own beloved feline...

It was an experience of joy, sadness and of family love that made reading Heart of Steel by Kevin D. Miller unforgettable. We meet young Stanley Pulchalski, his brothers, sisters, mom, and dad and share in their life experiences right alongside them. Heart of Steel...