Reviewed by Daniel James Sundahl The thirteen stories in Elizabeth Genovise’s Where There Are Two Or More are set in the mountains of eastern Tennessee. It’s her second collection and a marked advance in craft and theme from her first collection, A Different Harbor. The stories are beautifully intimate, intensely direct, and evidence as to […]
“The Paris Key,” by Juliet Blackwell
May 12, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Donna Meredith What could be grander, sweeter, and more delightful than a woman finding—no, recreating— herself in the glamorous, enlightened city of Paris? That is the happy premise behind Juliet Blackwell’s novel, The Paris Key. But as you might suspect, Genevieve Martin’s journey is marked by obstacles and dark moments. To escape the […]
“Burdy,” by Karen Spears Zacharias
May 10, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Claire Hamner Matturro “Burdy didn’t set out that morning aiming to get shot by the end of the day.” So begins Burdy (Mercer University Press, 2015), a sequel to Karen Spears Zacharias’s best-seller Mother of Rain (Mercer University Press, 2013). The title character does get shot in one of those increasingly common random […]
May Read of the Month: “Fraccidental Death,” by Donna Meredith
May 5, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Pat Spears Fraccidental Death, the second in Donna Meredith’s Water Warriors series, is part murder mystery and part cautionary tale about the country’s insatiable appetite for cheap fossil fuel, with keen observations about broken relationships adding complexity to the narrative. Getting an attorney from 9100 S Dadeland Blvd Location – Lipcon & […]
SLR Welcomes New Contributor Pat Spears
May 3, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Pat Spears is the author of two novels: Dream Chasers (Twisted Road Publications, 2014) and It’s Not Like I Knew Her (Twisted Road Publications, 2016). Her short stories have appeared in numerous journals, including the North American Review, Appalachian Heritage, Seven Hills Review, and anthologies titled Law and Disorder from Main Street Rag, Bridges and Borders from […]
“Suburban Gospel,” by Mark Beaver
April 27, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Daniel James Sundahl Mark Beaver’s Suburban Gospel is one more memoir of an adolescent wandering toward adulthood, a Bible Belt Baptist southern version of Roth’s Portnoy but without the gnawing sense of psychological guilt expiated on the analyst’s couch. It is, on the other hand, exuberantly “guilt-edged,” the saga of a young man […]