Reviewed by Aaron Lee Moore Louis Gallo’s latest collection of cerebral poetry, CRASH, lives up to its title as a thrilling, haunting, and emotionally undulating read. The cover of the book announces its overall theme well—an intriguing black and white photo capturing the pinnacle of a wave as it crashes upon shoreline rocks with the […]
“Rules for the Southern Rulebreaker,” by Katherine Snow Smith
November 12, 2020 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Rhonda J. Ray Reading Katherine Snow Smith’s Rules for the Southern Rulebreaker (She Writes Press, 2019) is like bumping into an old friend or meeting someone you hope will be a friend. I grew up reading The News & Observer, delivered every morning to my family home located a half hour from North […]
“Miraculum,” by Steph Post
November 5, 2020 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Honey Rand There must be something in the water in that part of Florida. Steph Post gets hers in Brooksville, and fantasy writer Piers Anthony drinks the water just a few miles north. Either way, whatever is in the water produces imaginative stories that readers love. The word miraculum doesn’t have contemporary meaning; […]
November Read of the Month: “Tampa Bay Noir,” edited by Colette Bancroft
November 3, 2020 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Claire Hamner Matturro Akashic Books has long made a name for itself with an impressive string of award-winning original noir anthologies; thus, it is no surprise that its latest, Tampa Bay Noir, continues in that edgy, first-rate, compellingly dark tradition. Edited by Tampa Bay Times Book Critic Colette Bancroft, Tampa Bay Noir contains […]
“The Red Dirt Hymnbook,” by Roxie Faulkner Kirk
October 29, 2020 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Claire Hamner Matturro The Red Dirt Hymnbook (Fine Dog Press 2019), by emerging author Roxie Faulkner Kirk, is a chilling story of an innocent young woman tangled in a snare of religiosity, domestic abuse, and her own claustrophobic fears. The writing and perceptions in this book are bold, tasteful, and exceptionally well done. […]
“Even As We Breathe,” by Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle
October 27, 2020 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Donna Meredith Infused with Cherokee myth and the history of North Carolina’s famous Grove Park Inn, Even As We Breathe is a stunningly beautiful coming-of-age novel. With its publication, Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle joins Louise Erdrich, Sherman Alexie, N. Scott Momaday, and Leslie Marmon Silko as a new and important voice in Native American […]
“Gone This Long,” by Jeffrey Alfier
October 22, 2020 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Bruce Craven Gone This Long: Southern Poems, a new chapbook by prolific poet Jeffery Alfier, captures the intense beauty of a natural land impacted by the hopes, joys, and sorrows of humanity, Alfier, who holds an MA in Humanities from California State University at Dominguez Hills and is an Air Force veteran, lives […]
“The Other Morgans,” by Carter Taylor Seaton
October 15, 2020 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Donna Meredith When readers first encounter AJ Porter in Carter Taylor Seaton’s novel The Other Morgans, they would be forgiven for judging AJ with a critical eye. The college dropout lives in a rural region of southern West Virginia, can’t pay her taxes, and uses grammar certain to make every teacher flinch. At […]