Reviewed by K.C. Finn for Readers' Favorite

The Fossilarchy is a work of fiction in the thriller, action, and environmental subgenres. It is intended for the general adult reading audience and was penned by author Tom Clark. This action-packed and politically-charged thriller novel sees two rebellious forces come together to tackle the planet’s climate emergency by any means necessary, no matter how drastic. As fossil fuels become the central target for destruction, an old legend is revived, and the scene is laid for battle in Australia as a key target for taking down the titular Fossilarchy, a lynchpin that will begin the collapse of everything that threatens our future world.

As a huge fan of the upswell in modern climate fiction, it was exciting to see the action-thriller genre taking up the mantle in this excellent work by author Tom Clark. One of the features that I especially enjoyed was the sense of urgency in the plot and surrounding context, and the build-up of frustration as characters are both wronged by the sinister fossil fuel industry and ignored despite their very legitimate concerns. Daring to walk an extreme line that could become a frightening reality if we don’t change our ways soon, the action scenes were cinematically penned against the stark backdrop of the coal industry. The political elements were intelligently considered, and then a selection of well-developed, tough, and determined characters carry us confidently through the narrative. Overall, I would highly recommend The Fossilarchy for thriller fans seeking something original and bang up to date to get their teeth into.

Reviewed by Marta Tandori for Readers' Favorite

The Dark Trail is the smoldering sixth book in J.C. Fields’ Sean Kruger FBI thriller series and this latest offering certainly doesn’t disappoint. When Deputy Director of the FBI, Alan Seltzer, is brutally executed during an early morning bike ride, FBI profiler and his good friend, Sean Kruger, is tasked with hunting down his killer. The Director of the FBI suspects that Sean’s former friend had been looking into similarities between a number of FBI investigations around the country and that it may have gotten him killed. Assisted by his friend, JR, a member of the FBI Cyber Crimes Division, and associates Sandy Knoll, a retired Special Forces Major, and Jimmie Gibbs, a former Navy Seal, it isn’t long before Sean and his team set their sights on Alan’s killer – only to have him disappear right under their noses. When they finally track down their suspect some months later, Sean and his team quickly discover that Alan’s murder was just another in a series of recent killings targeting powerful individuals from various ethnic groups. With Sean’s fifty-seventh birthday and his mandatory retirement from the FBI looming in front of them, the team is in a race against time to find Alan’s killer and get to the bottom of what could potentially be a much bigger threat to national security.

The Dark Trail has all the requisites for a solid FBI thriller. There’s plenty of action, sinister characters, and the threat of Russian hackers and the dark web to keep things interesting. The theme of honoring the fellow fallen is prevalent throughout the story. Fields uses parallel narrative shifts to effectively build momentum and suspense but what makes the story so engaging is Fields’ protagonist. Kruger’s longstanding and illustrious career with the FBI has made him a legend within the Bureau, but in addition to being well-respected, he’s somewhat of an anomaly in that he’s also a nice guy who doesn’t like taking credit for his many accomplishments. Complementing Kruger is a cast of colorful characters who add their own special skill sets to the plot, ratcheting up the interest quotient. As expected, there’s not a whole lot of sentiment in this type of thriller, but there’s just enough to show that none of the characters is above a certain degree of vulnerability and humility which makes them all the more relatable. The Dark Trail checks all the right boxes. It's sure to leave lovers of the genre satisfied and is highly recommended.

Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite

The Accidental Oligarch: A Ukrainian Saga by David Hoffman is a suspense novel revolving around a twenty-eight-year-old male protagonist named Yuri Yavlinsky, a Kyiv Zoo employee who, within moments of being first on the chopping block of the now underfunded zoo, is summoned to the Ukrainian tax court. He's broke, his great-grandmother is infirm, his sister has resorted to taboo money-making, and his stepfather is a violent brute. Meanwhile, an opioid kingpin is living off the fat trimmed from a government his money influences, which has the unfortunate side effect of starving out the other 99%. People like Yuri. But Yuri is about to have his day in court and our new proverbial David kicks off a high-stakes undercover war against an entire political system built by the richest and most powerful Goliaths.

There's so much to love about The Accidental Oligarch that it's hard to know where to start. It's undeniable kismet that David Hoffman's fast-paced underdog thriller landed in my lap the day after video footage was released incriminating a real person named in this fictional book. Somewhere out there Oscar Wilde is clapping enthusiastically. Yuri is a likable character in a hierarchy of unlikeable people. We get to know both good and bad intimately with Hoffman swapping points of view between characters and allowing us into rooms we have no business being in. The writing is tidy and the tension is thick, but the best part is how Hoffman structures the uprising of everyday people against a backdrop of escalating conflict with a hostile Russia, on a worldwide stage, culminating with the invasion of Crimea. Spectacular. Truly.

Reviewed by Grace Masso for Readers' Favorite

Girls, Crimes & the Ruling Body: A Novel by Barry R. Ziman is an engaging story with interesting and well-developed characters. Ryan McNeil works in Albany for Assemblyman Somatos, a powerful politician. He has plans of getting married to the love of his life, but Ryan unwittingly witnesses the abduction of a legislative intern while flirting. Everything about his life unravels in a way he never could have imagined, with Caroline Tierney leaving him so suddenly that he does not even have the time to process what is happening, and his dreams of a political career are dashed against the rocks. After seven years, Ryan, now married to Annie, finds himself in an act of infidelity and witnesses another kidnapping of a woman in Virginia, and this time, he is a prime suspect. Follow him as he deals with a pathologically lying wife with whom he does not feel any emotional connection, and fights to prove his innocence while figuring out where Caroline, the love of his life, fits into the picture.

Girls, Crimes & the Ruling Body is an engaging story that follows characters readers will stick with from beginning to end, especially the protagonist, Ryan McNeil as his life is overturned again and again due to his sexual infidelities. He just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, or does he? This novel is an emotional ride with a strong appeal to fans of thrillers, and it explores themes of power and the connection it has to sexual desires, infidelity, and marriage. It is revelatory of the base natures of humans, especially those of the ruling class, and it shows readers how power can be used to manipulate others. Barry R. Ziman has an extraordinarily brilliant talent when it comes to weaving complex plot points and characters that readers can easily identify with.

Reviewed by Heather Osborne for Readers' Favorite

Ladies of the Canyon by Douglas Wood is a tense psychological thriller set in modern-day Hollywood. Actress Devon O’Keefe is a recovering addict, struggling to keep herself in work on the popular TV show, Beverly Hills Banshee, while grappling with her own personal demons involving her starstruck mother/manager. Through chance or coincidence (I’ll let you be the judge), she encounters Nikki Barnes, a former child star and addict, at one of her NA meetings. Devon, on the brink of losing her home due to debts she’s incurred after being in rehab, agrees to move in with the aging starlet, and thus embarks on a series of strange events. Devon is convinced someone is trying to sabotage her rehab efforts, but is it Nikki or is it all in her imagination?

Rarely have I been captivated by a thriller as I was with Ladies of the Canyon by Douglas Wood. Akin to Hollywood favorites like Misery and recent TV movies, such as The Act, this novel captures a desperate woman’s attempt to find her way to stardom after having fallen from the echelons of fame. I could feel Devon’s struggle and desire to be believed, and the tension was palpable as it grew with each page. I read this book in one sitting, and can certainly see it as a Netflix series or movie in the future (which one can only hope will happen with Mr. Wood's resume). I would definitely recommend this to thriller fans who enjoy a little sojourn into the darker side of Hollywood stardom.

Reviewed by Lex Allen for Readers' Favorite

Jake Palmer - investigative consultant and former US Navy SEAL - has signed on as a contractor with a top-secret US Joint Special Operations Command team in Islamabad, Pakistan. Palmer is teamed up with Fiona Collin, an operative he's worked with in the past and a woman he may still love. The pair is set to investigate a Pakistani nuclear launch in a major dispute over the Kashmir region. The situation grows ever tenser with the discovery of a shadowy figure, the Chameleon, who may intend to divert a nuclear warhead to the West when the war begins. The nuclear clock has moved from one minute to midnight, and Palmer and Fiona must risk everything to stop what would be the world's first act of nuclear terrorism.

Though fourth in the Jake Palmer series, The Chameleon is my first read from author Ron McManus, and I guarantee it won't be my last. Verisimilitude, a sense of reality, is a vital key for my determination in rating any book I read for review, and Ron McManus clearly understands the art of making a fictional story real. The Chameleon story rocks with reality from the action scenes to the in-depth knowledge of covert military action, counterintelligence operations, government foreign policies, institutional insider information, and finally, but most assuredly not the least, characters that are as real as any living person you'll ever meet. Setting the story in the middle of the years-long, real-life saber-rattling between India and Pakistan over Kashmir is another example of McManus' understanding and skills incorporating that all-important authenticity. Ron McManus has either worked in intelligence or covert military organization, or he's done some phenomenal research. Regardless of which it is, I am confident he has produced a fast-paced, action/adventure thriller that will ultimately give every international top ten bestselling thrillers a run for its money!

Reviewed by Keith Mbuya for Readers' Favorite

One can only take so many blows from life and Professor Vincent Abajian, the Director of the Center of Inventive Studies, knew this better than anyone. It was in the late fall of 1991 when it happened. A young Vincent listened to his headmaster, Mr. Kruger, as he explained that Akane Egami, Vincent’s best friend and the only family he knew, had been consumed by time turbulence. It was on this same day that Vincent knew he had supernatural abilities. Close to three decades later, still crippled with the pain from the uncertainty of ever seeing his best friend, Vincent loses his wife Elise to an alleged plane crash. Perhaps fate had sworn to forever take away the people Vincent loved, and that would explain a lot since he had been an orphan from a very young age. However, Vincent finds love in his research center’s newest employee Emika Amari, and cannot help but notice how alike Emika is to Akane. Could Emika be Akane? Vincent meets Mr. Philip Nardin, a tech enthusiast who is experienced in time turbulence. How will Nardin’s knowledge of time travel affect Vincent and Emika? Or perhaps, how do Vincent’s special abilities affect his and Emika’s lives? Find out more about Vincent and Emika in Avi Datta’s The Winding.

Do you love engaging your mind in an intellectually stimulating read? A story that pleasantly teases your ability to grasp and perceive information with every flip of the page? A story that is packed with adventure and amazing action? Are you a science fiction enthusiast? You definitely don’t want to miss out on Avi Datta’s The Winding if your answer is yes. I cannot applaud Avi Datta’s work enough in this book. The Winding is a masterpiece, so far the best science fiction book I’ve ever read. With a gripping and engrossing plot, Avi Datta adopts a complex style of writing, presenting his thoughts and ideas through random flashbacks and digging back and forth into the story. I loved how this worked in progressing the storyline and exposing Avi Datta’s ingenious plot. His long and twisted sentences are appropriately loaded with a great choice of vocabulary. This served to expand my knowledge in the main themes of the book which are technology, science, and legal affairs. I met wonderfully developed characters in The Winding. Vincent, the protagonist, was my best character. His genius mind was among the things I loved most about him. Avi Datta gives very clear and vivid depictions of his scenes and characters. Reading The Winding felt like watching a great movie. He accompanied this with a great sense of humor and I just loved it. It only gets better because The Winding is the first installment in Avi Datta’s The Corrector series. I can’t wait to experience more of Avi Datta’s work. He is undoubtedly a very gifted author. The Winding is a magnificent piece of work.

Reviewed by Vincent Dublado for Readers' Favorite

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 a loser yet. He tries his best to be a good provider. You might even think that he is the sanest member of his family when you get to know the members of his coop. His wife, Mary, is struggling to overcome her own neurosis. Together, they are raising a large family of four girls and two musically-inclined boys in the low-income housing unit of Chicago in the 1960s. The neighborhood is not exactly a conducive place to raise a family, as it is infested by drug-dealing, gun-toting gangs. But John is determined to make a better life for his family. As he battles with his alcoholism and copes with domestic challenges, a tragedy strikes that will test his mettle to the limits.

The ‘Great’ Kickin’ Dog is a tribute of intense passion to those lives fractured by marginalization and injustice. Its protagonist puts into action his heroism through his resolve to keep his family away from a corrosive society. Richly evocative, Kenneth Allen Crutchfield, Sr.’s characters blend well with the time period that they represent. It is a work of intense moral seriousness with a literary quality that might remind you of the works of James Baldwin. As the story is based on the author’s family, you get a stab of realism in the narrative artistry. It is supercharged with a good balance of humor and drama working together like a Yin and Yang to bring forth a storyline that transcends the consciousness of today’s racist world. This is the type of novel that I will not hesitate to recommend.

Reviewed by Susan Sewell for Readers' Favorite

When a young man takes his injured friend's place in his band, he gets caught in a mad world of murder, magic, mythology, and time travel in the urban fantasy novel, The Devil Pulls the Strings by J. W. Zarek. Boone Daniels inadvertently injures his friend Flynn when someone blows an air horn during a jousting contest at the Renaissance Faire. Due to Flynn's injuries, Boone agrees to stand in for him in his band, The Village Idiots. The gig takes place in NYC, and Flynn insists that Boone go ahead of the band and meet their contact, Professor Stone. When Boone arrives as instructed, a piano and a dead body falling from the balcony above him nearly crushes him. Things get worse when two thugs start shooting. While fleeing the bullets, Boone's life takes a drastic turn when floating taxis, disappearing doors, and altering realities save his life. Why are they chasing Boone? What do they want?

The Devil Pulls the Strings by J. W. Zarek is a brilliant urban fantasy enhanced with magical beings and time travel. It has a dramatic storyline with an action-filled plot, and I enjoyed every element of the story. The storyworld's imagery is incredible, transporting the reader between modern-day New York City to nineteenth-century Italy. A combination of the television series Warehouse 13, The Librarians, and The Magicians, the storyline flows swiftly and is spellbinding from the first page until the last. The story ends on the ideal place to segue into a sequel and is the perfect beginning for a sensational series. It is an engaging and exciting urban fantasy that promises to thrill everyone from twelve to a hundred.

Reviewed by Tammy Ruggles for Readers' Favorite

The Buzz Boys, by Edward Izzi, is a touching and powerful coming-of-age novel about secrets, trauma, and friendship. The Buzz Boys centers around a group of friends who grew up in the 1960s and 1970s. They could have called themselves the Z Boys because each of them had a Z in their last name. But they were dubbed The Buzz Boys because their voices made a buzzing sound when they were talking in shop class. The unique thing is that each of them suffered physical and emotional abuse, and grew up with the aftereffects. They had to live in the shadow of their fathers' abuse. Each boy is different, and so is affected in different ways. The main character Robert Mazzara is an attorney in Chicago, and when he hears about the suicide of one of his best friends, he realizes the Buzz Boys were a long time ago, and it's been fifty years. They've been through a lot together, and this is their story.

Izzi has created a novel that is compelling, dark at times, and has its finger on the pulse of trauma and how it follows victims through life, coloring their choices, emotions, relationships, careers, self-worth, just to name a few. Opening with Mazzara's friend Marco and his father, this impactful, heart-twisting novel gets to the point of how damaging abusive fathers can be. This author writes characters that could walk off the pages and into your living room. They're real, personal, fully formed, and different from one another, yet share similar pain and outcomes. The writing is captivating, the plot strong and poignant, but there are some unexpected events to keep you wondering what will happen next. I love how Izzi takes you back through the decades and makes their childhoods real for you, and then leads you through their process of going from boys to men. Mazzara is a great character to know.

Though this is a hard book to read at times, as a former child/adult protection social worker, I can say that you will be emotionally rewarded if you stick with it, and there are some uplifting parts to balance the dark. The end gave me a chill, and that rarely happens when I read a book. As you read and get to know these characters, you want to right the wrongs, you want to do something to change their lives for the better, you want to help them. If you like friendship stories and character studies as depicted in works like Stand by Me, It, or Mystic River, you will connect with The Buzz Boys by Edward Izzi.