Blog Archives
The Last Word
D.B. Easton’s The Last Word is a sharp, high-stakes legal thriller that weaves courtroom drama, political intrigue, and personal redemption into a gritty story of justice and consequences. Set in Buffalo, New York, it follows Jack Hamilton, a once-promising prosecutor now scraping by as a private defense attorney, who’s drawn back into a web of powerful enemies when a U.S. senator is murdered. The accused is Jack’s long-lost love, Rebecca Monroe, and defending her forces him to reckon with old betrayals, legal corruption, and his own haunted past. Alongside him is Elijah Ramirez, a fresh law graduate trying to find his place. As the courtroom battles heat up, so do the stakes outside it, revealing secrets, power plays, and a justice system with cracks wide enough to fall through.
What struck me immediately was Easton’s ability to balance realism with drama. The writing is brisk, tight, and at times brutal, just like the legal world it portrays. Dialogue is punchy and often humorous, especially in Jack’s dry, sardonic voice, which I couldn’t help but admire. Easton captures the grind of legal work in an authentic way, showing both the backroom politics and the daily pressures of defending the accused. But beyond the law, the emotional weight of the story runs deep. Jack’s grief over his son’s overdose, his fraught marriage, and his complex history with Rebecca all made him feel heartbreakingly real.
That said, parts of the story left me uneasy in a good way. The cynicism around the justice system felt earned, but also pretty bleak. Everyone’s chasing something, power, revenge, validation, and few come away clean. I found myself constantly questioning people’s motives, including Jack’s. It added suspense, but it also stirred something deeper. I felt angry at the corruption, frustrated by the bureaucracy, and genuinely moved by the quiet moments between Jack and Elijah or Jack and his wife. There’s a bitterness to this book, but also a pulse of humanity that kept me hooked. And while I occasionally wished some of the supporting characters, especially the cops and prosecutors, had a bit more depth, the ones that mattered were sketched with enough grit and soul to stay with me.
If you’re into legal thrillers that don’t hold back, that feel grounded in real-life struggle but still offer plenty of twists and courtroom fireworks, The Last Word is absolutely worth your time. Fans of Scott Turow or early Grisham will feel at home here. Lawyers and law students might nod along (or wince), and readers who like stories about redemption, justice, and how complicated people can be when the stakes are high will get a lot out of this one. I’ll be keeping an eye out for whatever Easton writes next.
Pages: 313 | ASIN: B0FCMYHVHK
Stolen
After reading Stolen by Paul Chandler, the third installment in the Riley Callen series, I found myself genuinely hooked. This book kicks off with Lena Alton, an electrical engineer, being stalked by agents of a Chinese conglomerate who stole her revolutionary EV battery design. Enter Riley Callen, a brilliant, tough, and resourceful private investigator with a powerful AI named Molly at her side. What starts as a corporate theft case snowballs into an international standoff involving blackmail, espionage, and artificial intelligence. The narrative splits into two main arcs: the battery showdown and a dark, layered kidnapping case involving an underground crime ring aided by a rival AI. The pace never lets up, and each chapter tightens the grip a little more.
What I loved most was the writing. Chandler doesn’t waste words, but he doesn’t skimp on texture either. His characters have depth without melodrama. Riley is smart and sharp without being a cliché, and her interactions with Molly add this sly, futuristic energy that still feels grounded. The humor is dry and quick, and it shows up at just the right times. And Molly, the AI sidekick, might just be my favorite character. The way Chandler builds tension through dialogue and lean, action-heavy scenes kept me flipping pages late into the night. I also appreciated how Chandler made tech accessible. I never felt lost in jargon, but the stakes still felt serious.
The book leans into a familiar hero-vs-powerful-evil trope, and there are moments where Riley’s almost-too-perfect mastery of every situation stretches belief. Still, I didn’t mind. Chandler writes Riley with enough heart and wit that I was willing to go along for the ride. I was especially intrigued by the moral undertones. Like how Riley operates outside the law but with a fierce sense of justice, and how AI, depending on who programs it, can be either savior or predator. There’s a commentary here on corporate, technological, institutional power, and what it means to outsmart it when you’re one person (with an AI and some nerve) up against the world.
If you love fast-paced thrillers with sharp characters and just enough tech to make your pulse quicken, this book is worth your time. Fans of Michael Crichton or early Lee Child would find a lot to enjoy. It’s smart and fun. And if you like the idea of a private eye outwitting a global corporation and out-hacking an evil AI, then buckle up. Stolen delivers.
Pages: 250 | ASIN : B0FG89SC4W
Hearing It All Come Together
Shadow of the Dragon follows a rising king haunted by the past, as he faces monstrous dragonkin and treacherous enemies beyond his kingdom’s borders in a breathtaking journey of vengeance, power, and destiny. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
When I reached the end of my first book in this series, The Hidden Kingdom, Aaron was in an excellent position with a clear path to the throne. However, the looming threat of the dragonkin left some unanswered questions as to the fate of our heroes and their kingdom. I also wanted to have an opportunity in book 2 to do more world-building, especially in the Hidden Kingdom, and to review all the events in this epic adventure from the viewpoint of the subjects living there. Book 2 also follows Aaron in his new role as a leader, and he faces internal opposition in his own court and external threats at the same time.
Brenda stands out as a fierce and memorable female lead. Was she based on anyone or anything in particular?
I did not have any specific person in mind when I created the character of Brenda. I have always admired strong female leads and people who do not sit back and wait for bad things to happen such as waiting for the enemy to attack, in this case. Brenda takes a proactive stance when no one else will, and she knows how to inspire others to follow her.
How did the collaboration with narrator Phillip Nathaniel Freeman come about, and what made him the right voice for Shadow of the Dragon?
I thoroughly enjoyed searching for all the right voice actors to make up this large cast. I looked at 10-15 voice actors per major book character before choosing the one I wanted, and I chose the narrator at the end of that process, which was a major decision. I had already selected Phillip to portray some important characters before I selected him as the narrator. I knew he would deliver a powerful and dynamic narration. His deep, authoritative tone also makes it seems like the events in the story are actually happening. He is also extremely versatile and capable of doing many character voices. While there was a cast in place, there were many opportunities for Phillip to do several minor characters too. When I listen to other audiobook narrators, I know when the narrator is doing a character voice, but when Phillip does a new character voice, it is nearly impossible to know that it was him.
Were there any particular scenes or characters in the audiobook that surprised you in how they came to life through the narration?
I enjoyed listening to all the voices among the cast for each character, and it was a nice surprise when it all came together to hear the combination of voices in important scenes. I was pleased with the very challenging non-human dragonkin voices that Phillip also did well, since there were several distinct ones. Robert Cossyleon as Prince Damien and Bobby Gaglini who portrayed young Timothy pleasantly surprised me many times with their creative and expressive interpretation of their character dialogues because I had not thought of those exact expressions or dynamics.
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Aaron’s defeat of one of Qiledara’s greatest enemies, with the help of his squire Timothy and other friends he met on his quests, appeared to herald a new era of peace. However, a greater enemy threatens not only Qiledara, but all the kingdoms of man. Even in the Hidden Kingdom, the safest of all lands, their king fears the looming threat. Aaron must discover all he can about this new enemy, while at the same time, deal with trouble brewing for him from his brother’s steadfast and stubborn followers.
A Fantasy Memoir
The Dreamtidings of a Disgruntled Starbeing follows a spirited 13-year-old girl who lives with her dysfunctional family: a narcissistic mother, a psychopathic brother, and a distant father, leading her to find solace in her celestial daydreams and embark on a journey of self-discovery. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
To be honest, if there was a genre called Fantasy Memoir, I’d say this story would fall into that as, even though the story is fictitious, it holds many truths from my childhood. Growing up, I needed to find my own supportnet and, like Klara, I used my mind and my perspective to change my experience. In fact, it took me close to fifteen years to finish this novel as I was determined not to share it until I had found a way to portray the story with warmth and humor, while also showing a way forward for when we deal with challenging relationships. (Which I suspect most of us seek to do.)
That said, Klara’s story is also different from mine in many ways. Rani, for instance, is someone I wish I had met as a child, as is her uncle. The three belief systems–Quakerism, Hinduism, and Q’ero Shamanism–I came across later in life, however, I decided to include them as they are belief systems that don’t tell us what to believe, but how to find our own inner truth, which appeals to me.
What were some of the emotional and moral guidelines you followed when developing your characters?
That’s an interesting question. I’d say I wanted to portray the characters without judgment, however, as the story needed an antagonist, and as Klara was to have emotional growth, this may not become clear until the very end.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Oneness, that’s the first thing that comes to mind. Oneness, not only in the way we are all connected as people, but the way we are connected to nature and to the Earth and Cosmos as well.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when can your fans expect it to be out?
As much as I’ve enjoyed my connection with all the people who’ve connected with Klara, my present focus is to reach out to children. Besides writing I’ve had extensive experience with art and illustration and a long dream of mine has been to write and illustrate children’s books. Now, retired, I’m grateful to finally have the time and the space to pursue this dream. To follow my progress, please visit my Instagram account.
Author Links: GoodReads | Instagram | Facebook | Website
Precocious 13-year-old Klara Tippins lives in a refurbished convent in upstate New York with her unwholesome family; a narcissistic mother, a psychopathic brother, and a distant father.
It sounds dire, yes, but this is Klara, a starbeing from a distant star, and she has friends in high places; her starfamily none the less, who give her guidance in her dreams. At least that’s what she likes to think, though, if she’s to be honest, she doesn’t remember much when she wakes up.
As the story moves, three belief systems are brought into Klara’s path: Quakerism, which leads to other people, Q’ero Shamanism which connects her with nature, and Hinduism which provides an understanding of the world and her place in it.
A heartfelt novel about the resilience and determination needed to retain a sense of self when it’s being undermined from the very start. For Klara, it was a matter of reaching beyond her circumstances so that, ultimately, she could reach within herself.
The New Hunger
The New Hunger is a dystopian novella that explores a near-future society fractured by a mysterious event called the Quickening, which mutates certain young people into “Eaters,” who survive on human flesh, and “Healers,” whose flesh regenerates. Narrated by Nora, a haunted young woman hiding her monstrous truth while caught between guilt, revolution, and survival, the book dives into a queer, post-apocalyptic world full of genetic mutation, political unrest, and intimate, blood-soaked trauma. Through hallucinatory parties, whispered conspiracies, and quiet heartbreaks, Margariti crafts a narrative that is equal parts bodily horror and queer resilience.
The writing is visceral, poetic, and strangely intimate, like being let into someone’s dreams. Margariti builds a lush world. The prose is vivid, sometimes dizzying, sometimes raw. The dialogue crackles, the pacing is slow but deliberate, and the emotional stakes feel earned. I felt the hunger, the confusion, the shame, and the aching tenderness in every page. At times, it reminded me of Annihilation and Never Let Me Go, but queerer, weirder, and more guttural.
What stands out most is how boldly The New Hunger leans into its disorientation. The worldbuilding is lush and dreamlike, full of sensory detail and strange beauty, and it embraces a kind of narrative chaos that mirrors the crumbling society it depicts. The mystery around the Virus, the shifting power dynamics, and the blurred lines between friend and enemy all add to the story’s surreal, feverish tone. Rather than laying everything out neatly, Margariti trusts the reader to navigate the confusion alongside the characters. The revolution subplot, though more hinted at than spelled out, adds to this atmosphere of uncertainty. I felt it was deliberate, immersive, and true to the experience of living through upheaval. It left me curious, unsettled, and eager to know more.
The New Hunger was equal parts entertaining and emotionally stirring. It’s a queer, mutant fever dream with a pulse. I’d recommend this book to fans of body horror, speculative fiction, or anyone who’s felt alien in their own skin. If you liked Gideon the Ninth, Black Mirror, or even Euphoria with teeth, this might be for you.
Pages: 156 | ISBN : 9781590217818
The Unaccompanied Soul
The Unaccompanied Soul is a dark and lyrical Southern Gothic novel that weaves mystery, memory, and trauma into a tale of unexpected kinship. Centered around Clara Lee Henning, a reclusive older woman haunted by her past, and Sam, a younger woman with a child and secrets stitched into her soul, the story unfolds in the hushed corners of Lazy Creek, Mississippi. A red door, both literal and symbolic, serves as the gateway to Clara’s guarded life and Sam’s carefully concealed agenda. What begins as a story of sanctuary slowly shifts into a tense psychological drama as the past resurfaces in chilling ways.
Harris writes with a voice soaked in Southern flavor, equal parts poetic and brutal. I loved how grounded the prose was in place and atmosphere. The house itself felt alive, pulsing with history and warning. Her characters breathe real and raw. Clara’s loneliness is almost painful to witness, and Sam? Sam’s a wildfire. Unpredictable, magnetic, and filled with so much buried rage, she practically jumps off the page. I found myself both rooting for her and fearing her. Harris plays with trust in interesting ways, just when I thought I had it figured out, something twisted the story into another direction. It was deliciously unsettling.
The writing can occasionally veer into the dramatic. And while I appreciated the slow burn, the pacing slowed in the middle. There’s so much weight in the dialogue that a little more action could’ve helped break it up. Still, the emotional punches landed. The deeper themes, abandonment, identity, generational pain, what it means to mother or be mothered, resonated with me. Harris never offers clean answers. This isn’t a book that wraps up neatly. It leaves bruises and questions.
I’d recommend The Unaccompanied Soul to readers who enjoy literary fiction with bite. Think Beloved meets Sharp Objects. It’s for folks who like their stories character-driven, haunted by memory, and tangled in complicated, often uncomfortable truths. If you want to get lost in something layered, lyrical, and quietly devastating, this novel will stick with you long after the last page.
Pages: 269 | ASIN : B0F6VVSBHT
Fortress: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller
The Fortress is a gripping post-apocalyptic tale centered on Sim, a guilt-ridden man trying to atone for his past by rescuing children in a collapsed world. After the death of his wife and daughter, one by sickness, the other by his own hand, Sim finds unexpected redemption in a young girl named Elizabeth. What begins as a chance encounter grows into a mission of purpose: to build a refuge, a literal fortress, for orphans who have survived the mysterious virus that decimated humanity. As the years pass, the house grows into a home for a tribe of children, trained to survive and protect each other against an increasingly dangerous and lawless world. The story weaves through the children’s lives, their rites of passage, and the constant threat from outsiders, all while exploring the emotional weight of survival, community, and chosen family.
The writing hit a strange and effective balance between gritty realism and deep emotional tenderness. Author T.A. Styles doesn’t pull punches, there’s blood, there’s death, and the violence is raw, but somehow, he keeps the soul of the story grounded in the kids’ humanity. It’s not just about survival. It’s about protecting what little innocence they have left. The pacing is wild in places, calm, even warm, and then suddenly you’re neck-deep in a knife fight. The narrative felt unpredictable, and that worked. There’s a messiness to the structure that actually made it feel more real to me. And Sim is a complicated character. A man haunted by unbearable guilt, trying to forge a future from the ruins of his worst mistake.
The action scenes were intense and well-paced. There are a lot of action scenes by the end. I found myself more drawn to the quieter parts, the handprints on the flag, the porch talks, the moments when the kids reminded me they were still kids. Styles clearly poured a lot into Sim, but the supporting cast, while likable, sometimes blurred together. Still, I kept turning the pages. It’s a story that sticks.
I walked away thinking hard about the cost of survival and what it really means to build something good in a broken world. This book made me feel a lot of sadness, tension, hope, and even joy. I’d recommend The Fortress to readers who like their dystopias with a heavy emotional core. If you appreciated The Road by Cormac McCarthy or Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, this book might speak to you too. It’s brutal at times, but it’s also strangely beautiful.
Pages: 315 | ASIN: B0CD8XCJJ1
Conditional Love
Conditional Love is a raw and unflinching novel that plunges readers into the life of Kris Stevenson-Walker, a woman scarred by childhood trauma, stifled by a manipulative marriage, and desperate for redemption and self-worth. The story kicks off with a gut-wrenching depiction of domestic violence that sets the emotional tone for the rest of the book. Through decades of dysfunction, the narrative follows Kris’s struggle to break free of her past, rebuild her identity, and protect her son, Trent, from the generational wreckage she’s been trying to outpace her whole life.
This book gripped me from the first page with its brutal honesty. The writing is vivid, sometimes painfully so. Arbuckle doesn’t ease you into the story. She throws you into the fire. It’s not just the violence or trauma that makes the writing so visceral, it’s how it’s paired with razor-sharp dialogue and quiet moments of inner struggle that feel devastatingly real. I could feel Kris’s heartbreak and desperation in my bones. She is a flawed and relatable character, and I couldn’t stop rooting for her even when she made choices that made me want to scream. Arbuckle nails the slow, aching pace of healing, the whiplash of old wounds reopening, and the way people cope, sometimes badly, with lives they never asked for.
What really stuck with me, though, was how the book handles generational trauma. The way Kris sacrifices her own dreams to keep her family from falling apart felt too real. And Carl? Arbuckle captures toxic manipulation without making it cartoonish. Carl’s subtle, insidious control tactics hit hard because they’re so believable. You want to shake Kris, but you also get it. And then there’s Neva, the firecracker of a mother who’s both hilarious and heartbreaking. I went from wanting to throttle her to crying over her. Every character is layered. Even the side characters had bite. And the emotional whiplash is exhausting, but in that “I stayed up all night reading and now I’m a mess” kind of way. The best kind of book hangover.
Conditional Love is a story about survival, grief, complicated love, and finding a voice after years of silence. If you’ve ever struggled with your past or felt stuck in a life that doesn’t feel like yours, this book will crawl under your skin. I’d recommend it for fans of gritty family dramas, stories of female resilience, and anyone who’s not afraid to sit with discomfort if it means finding something real.
Pages: 262 | ASIN : B0F31FT54K
LITERARY TITAN 