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Never Believe a Lie Twice
Kathleen Troy’s Never Believe A Lie Twice follows the rough-and-tumble journey of Sage Christopher, a sharp-witted thirteen-year-old suddenly orphaned and thrust from a seedy life in Las Vegas into a sleepy Connecticut town with relatives he’s never met. Sage’s dad, Marty, a grifter with a knack for making terrible choices, dies in a drunk driving accident, leaving behind a duffel bag full of mysterious clues tied to a decades-old disappearance. As Sage tries to dodge the foster system, he gets shipped off to Evansville where he finds new family, old secrets, and the creeping sense that someone dangerous may still be watching. What unfolds is part mystery, part coming-of-age, all heart.
I went into this book expecting a fairly straightforward YA mystery, but Troy surprised me. Her writing is snappy and clean, with a rhythm that grabs you right from the first jail cell scene. Sage’s voice is pitch-perfect, equal parts street-smart and vulnerable. There’s a thread of dry humor running through the entire book that kept me chuckling even when things got dark. The pacing never lagged, and the scenes often flipped with just the right mix of tension and heart. Troy doesn’t dumb things down for young readers either; she lets Sage wrestle with real danger, real grief, and real moral dilemmas. That kind of honesty, especially from a young protagonist, was refreshing.
What I loved most, though, was the way Troy builds her characters. Sage isn’t just another scrappy orphan hero; he’s damaged, sometimes too clever for his own good, and constantly teetering between trust and survival. The supporting cast, especially Pops and Gram, are warm without being sappy. I found myself rooting for Sage to get his happy ending, but I also wanted him to stay a little rogue-ish. There were a few plot turns that felt slightly convenient, but I forgave them because the heart of the story was so strong.
Never Believe A Lie Twice is the kind of book that sneaks up on you. It has guts, charm, and a whole lot of soul. I’d recommend it to readers twelve and up who love mysteries with a bit of grit and a lot of warmth. Fans of Louis Sachar or Kate DiCamillo will feel right at home here. And honestly, adults could do worse than spending an evening with Sage Christopher. I did, and I loved every minute of it.
Pages: 288 | ASIN : B09RQS93KQ
Sins of the Saviors Book 1: Escape From the Culling Box
In Sins of the Saviors, TJ Relk throws us into a grim but not entirely hopeless future where war, artificial intelligence, and blind patriotism have reshaped what it means to be human. The story centers on David, a soldier who returns from decades in a senseless, eternal war to a world governed by AI, propaganda, and engineered peace. The tale winds through his memories, regrets, and slow-burning defiance as he comes to understand the true cost of “utopia.” Flipping between David’s perspective and those of his aging mother Gale, his idealistic sister Mary, and his rebel sibling Jane, the book dives into what happens when free will is exchanged for safety, and what’s left when even memory is no longer trusted.
I liked how the book captured emotional decay. The slow erosion of identity in a world that insists it’s perfect. Relk’s writing is sharp. The style is lean and introspective, often haunting in how casually it delivers gut punches. There were pages I read twice because a single line kept ringing in my head, like David’s quiet desperation or Jane’s fiery truths about a world that stopped caring about real truth. Some scenes, like the slow fade of old friendships or Gale’s annual ritual to honor a son who might as well have been a myth, cut deeper than expected. They felt real. There’s no clean villain here, just systems of thought that got out of hand.
Sometimes the pacing slows, especially when the narrative shifts to Mary’s point of view. The dystopian future is vividly imagined. I was left wondering Goliath the network or a god? Sometimes both? Sometimes neither? I got the sense that Relk wanted that ambiguity, and it left me craving answers a few times. Still, I appreciated that the story didn’t spell everything out. There’s something gutsy in trusting readers to make their own calls about what’s real, what’s right, and who, if anyone, is actually free.
I’d recommend Sins of the Saviors to anyone who likes their dystopias philosophical, their heroes broken but not beaten, and their science fiction tangled up with questions about memory, identity, and whether safety is ever worth the soul. It reminded me a bit of 1984 with the heart of The Road, but written for today’s digital chaos. If you’re someone who’s ever worried about where all this tech and tribalism is going, this book might hit a little too close to home.
Pages: 199 | ASIN : B0FDBN6KMT
Aerie: Dragon Guild Book 2
After reading Aerie by P.T.L. Perrin, I can confidently say it’s a thrilling and emotionally charged continuation of the Dragon Guild saga. The story follows Gabri and her dragon Makani as they settle into Aerie, a refuge in the sky, after surviving intense battles. But peace is short-lived. The looming threat of Ozul, a power-hungry villain, continues to grow, and Gabri’s past still haunts her, particularly the people she left behind on Terra. Meanwhile, her friends, including Donny, engineer a rescue mission, navigating bizarre time shifts and dangerous new worlds to bring her home. Across realms, dragons, telepathic links, and sinister plots collide as allies and enemies take flight.
What stood out to me most was the sheer heart behind the writing. Perrin writes with deep affection for her characters, and it shows. The dragons feel real, not just as majestic creatures, but as personalities with quirks, wisdom, and loyalty. Gabri’s bond with Makani is beautifully rendered, and her struggles with love, identity, and loyalty tugged at my emotions more than once. The writing shines brightest in quieter moments, like a dragon’s gaze or a simple sunrise over Sanctum. It’s those little details that made me slow down, take a breath, and feel like I was there. That said, some scenes leaned heavily on exposition or explanation, which pulled me out a bit. Still, the world-building is immersive, and the stakes always feel personal.
The villains, especially Ozul and Kierra, bring a classic, almost mythic energy to the story. Their presence is dark, chilling, and undeniably larger-than-life, which adds a strong contrast to the warmth and heart of the heroes. While their mysterious nature leaves some questions unanswered, it actually enhances the sense of dread that surrounds them. They feel like shadows lurking just beyond the light, and that uncertainty keeps the tension high. The pacing during the interdimensional travel scenes allows time to breathe and reflect, offering space between high-stakes encounters. And just when things seem quiet, Perrin delivers a gut punch, a dragonet in chains, a telepathic cry for help, and suddenly the heart is racing again. There’s a rhythm to the book, a kind of dance between fear and hope, and when it clicks, it really sings.
Aerie is a warm, fierce, and imaginative tale that blends fantasy, science fiction, and deep emotion with a confident hand. I’d recommend it to anyone who loves dragon stories with heart, or readers who enjoy found-family themes and interplanetary adventures. It’s especially good for teens and adults who crave character-driven fantasy.
Wolfhound: The King’s Hounds Book I
Wolfhound is a gritty and heart-wrenching fantasy tale that follows Cassian, the leader of a King’s Hound team—elite enforcers of royal justice in the kingdom of Fentia. When a mission to arrest a treacherous baron goes terribly wrong, Cassian is forced into a desperate escape that leaves him with nothing but the duty to report the betrayal and the weight of lost comrades. Along the way, he crosses paths with a scrappy, abused orphan boy named Theo, and what begins as a simple act of mercy turns into a test of Cassian’s soul. The story weaves together themes of loyalty, honor, justice, and grief with an emotionally raw and action-packed narrative.
Austin Davis knows how to keep your heart pounding with intense action scenes that don’t let up, but what surprised me most was how emotionally resonant it was. Cassian isn’t some one-note hero; he’s wrecked and angry, grieving and fiercely loyal. I felt every moment of his pain and frustration. The writing strikes a balance between immersive world-building and intimate character focus. Davis doesn’t get lost in fantasy tropes. Instead, he pulls you into the dirt and grit of being a King’s Hound. I especially loved the way he handled Theo—what could’ve been a tired “rescued orphan” trope felt alive, vulnerable, and earned.
Some scenes, especially action-heavy ones, occasionally ran long. But those dips are minor compared to how invested I was. I laughed at Cassian’s sarcasm, teared up more than once (no shame), and fist-pumped when justice was served. The dialogue felt natural and snappy, with a good amount of humor even in the darkest moments. Most of all, I appreciated that this wasn’t just a fantasy adventure—it was a meditation on loss, found family, and the cost of doing the right thing when it’s hard. And the horses? Don’t even get me started. I’d follow Strider into battle, no question.
If you’re into emotionally charged fantasy with grounded characters and a dash of political intrigue, Wolfhound will be right up your alley. I’d recommend it to fans of Joe Abercrombie, Brandon Sanderson’s grittier moments, or anyone who loves loyalty tested in the fire. It’s perfect for readers who want more heart than high magic, more scars than spells. Just don’t expect to walk away without feeling something deep in your chest.
Pages: 297 | ASIN : B0F8FS1HYD
Cotton Wood Adventures: New Beginnings
Cotton Wood Adventures is a wholesome, heartfelt story centered around a young girl named Macy and her journey to find connection, responsibility, and confidence through the dream of owning her very own horse. Set against the wide-open beauty of ranch life, Macy’s world is full of playful dogs, best-friend mischief, and the deep yearning for a horse she can call her own. When she’s finally gifted Apollo, a majestic black gelding, what follows is a bumpy but beautiful ride, full of setbacks, fear, triumph, and love. This is not just a story about getting what you want, but learning how to earn it, care for it, and understand it.
I was pulled into the warm and nostalgic atmosphere of the ranch. The writing has a gentle rhythm, like a quiet afternoon breeze through the cottonwoods. It’s charming, uncomplicated, and filled with lovely imagery—sun-dappled rides, muddy mishaps, giggles over licorice treats. But what really got me was the emotional depth beneath the simplicity. The tension between Macy’s dream and the reality of responsibility was real and raw, especially when Apollo challenges her. I felt her joy, her embarrassment, her heartache. That moment she was bucked off was gut-wrenching. The rescue in the storm was absolutely gripping.
Some plot developments happened quickly, especially around Apollo’s early behavior. I would’ve liked a deeper dive into why he was so stubborn or how his past might’ve shaped him. Still, the emotional payoff in the end made up for it. The growth felt genuine. Macy learned not just how to ride a horse, but how to lead one, how to listen, how to grow up. Her friendship with Kate adds a lovely, grounding layer to the whole thing. Just the right mix of laughter and loyalty to carry Macy through the tough moments.
Cotton Wood Adventures: New Beginnings is a warm hug of a book. It’s perfect for young readers who are just beginning to grapple with responsibility and self-doubt. Horse lovers will be absolutely hooked, and adults reading alongside their kids might just find themselves unexpectedly choked up by the final chapters. If you’ve ever dreamed of having a horse—or a best friend who gets you inside and out—this book is for you. It’s a story about falling down, getting back up, and building a bond that can weather even the worst storms. I loved it.
Pages: 82 | ISBN: 1923163841
UNSPOKEN
Jann Alexander’s Unspoken transports readers to the bleak and unrelenting dust storms of the 1930s Texas Panhandle, blending a vivid historical backdrop with heart-wrenching family drama. The novel opens with Ruby Lee, a young girl, grappling with the twin tragedies of her grandmother’s and baby sister’s deaths. Through her eyes, we witness the despair of her family as they fight for survival in a time and place where hope is as scarce as rain. The story spans Ruby’s journey from her dust-laden home to Waco and beyond, interweaving themes of resilience, sacrifice, and belonging.
Alexander’s prose is breathtakingly visceral. Her descriptions of the black blizzards felt suffocating. The moment in the opening chapter where Ruby witnesses birds panicking inside the church while a dust storm barrels toward them was especially haunting. The interplay of nature’s fury and human helplessness sets a tone of impending doom that lingers throughout the novel. This strong, sensory writing was a highlight.
The story shines brightest in its quieter, emotional moments. Ruby’s internal struggle after being sent to live with Cousin Bess in Waco adds depth to her character. I felt her rage and heartbreak as she battled feelings of abandonment and alienation. Her mute defiance, coupled with her obsession over colors and rain, was both poignant and relatable. However, some of the flashbacks, particularly those involving her mother’s mental deterioration, left me craving more development to fully understand their fractured bond.
Perhaps the most compelling aspect of Unspoken is its exploration of human resilience. Despite their desperate circumstances, Ruby’s family clings to slivers of hope. Her father’s quiet determination to rebuild their farm and Ruby’s eventual journey toward self-discovery remind us that even in the harshest conditions, life persists.
Unspoken is an evocative story best suited for readers who appreciate historical fiction steeped in grit and emotional intensity. Fans of novels like The Grapes of Wrath or The Nightingale will likely feel at home here. I recommend it for anyone ready to weather an emotional storm in exchange for a beautifully written tale of survival and hope.
Pages: 426 | ASIN : B0F2GMQF75
Deception’s Edge
From the very first chapter, Deception’s Edge plunges you into a world that fuses action, espionage, faith, and deep personal trauma into a globe-spanning narrative. The story follows Blade Broussard, a knife-throwing performer with a haunted past, and a covert brotherhood known as the Soldati di Cristo, as they navigate an escalating series of violent confrontations and spiritual reckonings. Across cities like New Orleans, Rome, and Pyongyang, Potter weaves together a story that pits characters against ruthless regimes, their own inner demons, and a ticking clock that adds weight to every decision.
I found myself torn in the best possible way while reading this book. On one hand, the writing is brisk, full of punchy dialogue and vivid action that reads like a cinematic thriller. On the other hand, there are deeply reflective moments, grief, redemption, and hard-won faith that give the story emotional muscle. What impressed me most was Potter’s ability to bring out the complexity in her characters. Blade isn’t just a revenge-driven protagonist; she’s deeply flawed, grieving, sometimes reckless, but always inching toward growth. And Chase, who starts out as a bit of a mystery, becomes a steady heartbeat in the chaos, a man whose convictions give the plot real weight. Potter doesn’t just throw her characters into wild situations; she lets them break, rebuild, and wrestle with truth.
With a cast this large and subplots this layered, I sometimes struggled to keep track of shifting motivations, especially across the international set pieces. The story juggled many threads, action, espionage, faith-based conflict, and interpersonal drama. But I can’t deny that even when the plot got tangled, the emotional stakes stayed strong. The writing has heart, and that matters more to me than perfect pacing.
Deception’s Edge surprised me. It’s not just another thriller. It’s part Jason Bourne, part missionary story, part personal redemption arc. I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys high-octane action with soul. It’s especially a good fit for readers who appreciate stories that ask hard questions about faith, forgiveness, and how we move forward when everything’s been taken from us. If you want a thriller with grit and grace, give this one a shot.
Driven to the Edge
Car Trouble follows a young man staggering under the weight of personal chaos, societal dysfunction, and one disaster after another—starting with his car catching fire on the freeway. Jim Crack is a fascinating character. What scene was the most interesting to write for that character?
The scene that got the ball rolling was walking down the sidewalk with my/his shirt off like at the beginning of the novel. Jim is a very personal character; he’s not me, but parts are; When I was in my early twenties, I was parking cars and working at a liquor store and had gone through a series of breakdowns, car-wise, if not mentally, including having a car breakdown on the way to get to a car that had broken down, and in the midst of being car-less, I was walking down the street with my shirt off on a hot day to my drug dealer’s house and imagined I must look like a desperate character to people driving by in their air-conditioned cars; This Jim Crack fellow was born of that, combined with having had a car burn down at an earlier point in my life on my way to a theme park where I worked (not Disneyland). Of all the stupid things I’ve done, maybe the dumbest was taking a ridiculous number and variety of guns a housemate had in his room because he owed money for rent. I drove around with them in my trunk for several weeks, during which I risked being pulled over for driving in a condition in which society prefers we not drive. I was also arrested once for stealing my car from a tow yard after a situation similar to Jim’s. I tried to build this into long-form, character-driven fiction. It was my first attempt at writing a novel, which I’m sure shows, but in trying to weave together a coherent narrative, the entire sentence-by-sentence process was interesting.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Being young and without resources while being maladapted to consumer culture underlies the main conflicts in the story. Without him realizing it exactly, Jim senses that the mechanized manner in which we live, represented especially by the automobile, is unnatural, and in certain terms, bad for the soul and the planet. Jim is a character driven to the edge of madness by the capital necessities to which we must all adapt every day or risk pushing our belongings around in a shopping cart, begging for food—which we see reflected in reality by the crisis of homelessness throughout the US. This idea is in opposition to the fantasy of Disneyland, where we find the sanitized version of the American Dream, where everyone is moral and upstanding. Against this backdrop, Jim seeks human connection, which for him comes through a VCR, while for Adam and Tink, sexuality is at odds with religious principles, and so the primate human animal desire is at odds with civilization as envisioned by Disney, Christian conservatism, and corporate America: that people grow up in happy homes with parents who love each other.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when can your fans expect it to be out?
Fans. Ha. My next book, Maineiac, is a memoir about a time when I was not much older than Jim Crack, and I was doing a lot of psychedelics and drinking too much but was in love with a good Christian woman who was a friend from high school. I followed her out to Maine, driving across America, where I got a job on a lobster boat, and tried to work up the courage to tell her how I felt while struggling with alcoholism and doubts about religion. It’s set to be released by MSI/San Juan Press near the end of August.
Author Links: GoodReads | Amazon
When his car burns to the ground, wallet and keys inside, twenty-one-year-old anti-hero Jim Crack is launched into an epic journey. He goes from being a Disneyland Goofy caught in a love triangle to jail for grand theft auto and from a reunion with his estranged father to running guns for a possible terrorist cell in Las Vegas. Jim’s only hope of redemption seems to be following his alcoholic Mormon friend back to Utah, where he hopes to get clean and escape to a more natural way of life.
LITERARY TITAN 