Tag Archives: 2010s

March 19, 2026 · 1:00 am

A Review of The Visitor

Book cover for The Visitor by Neil Shooter. Image on cover is a photo taken of a one-story ranch-style house after dusk. You can see the road bend in front of the house, some trees on the left, and the house itself sitting quietly, but all of this is shrouded in the darkness of night that obscures most details about any of them.

Title: The Visitor

Author: Neil Shooter

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: January 6, 2016

Genres: Science Fiction, LGBTQ+, Historical, Contemporary

Length: 11 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

On an ordinary blustery British night an extraordinary visitor comes, a time traveller, with a paradox. But time is relative.

Content Warning: References to alcoholism and mild homophobia.

Review:

How far would you go to correct the past?

The conversational structure of this short story kept my interest levels high. It takes effort to include necessary details about character and plot development while still making sure both characters are speaking to each other in ways that feel natural. Mr. Shooter did a good job balancing these needs while pushing the storyline forward with every reply. It felt like I truly was listening in on someone else’s conversation.

I had some trouble understanding the significance of the final scene due to how vague it was. While I have a theory about what it probably meant, I wasn’t sure if that was what the author was trying to convey or if I’d misunderstood something along the way. It would have been helpful to have a few more hints about what was happening and if my interpretation of it was the correct one (or one of the correct ones). This is something I’m saying as a reader who normally enjoys

It was also entertaining to see how Dean, the protagonist, explained how time travel works and why he decided to go back so many years. While I can’t share a lot of details about these aspects of the tale for spoiler reasons, they were reasonable and helped to answer several questions I had about how certain details were meant to fit together. It was also fun to get to know Dean a little better as his personality was a little bit of a mystery to me at first. Honestly, I would have made the same choice he did if such things were possible.

This was my first experience with this author’s work, and I will be coming back for more.

The Visitor was thought provoking.

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Tagged as 2010s, Book Reviews, Contemporary, Historical, LGBT, Neil Shooter, Science Fiction, Short Story, Time Travel

March 12, 2026 · 1:00 am

A Review of Amina

Title: Amina

Author: P.B. Cannon

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: April 2, 2019

Genres: Fantasy

Length: About 26 pages.

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 4 Stars

Blurb:

He awakens with a task to perform. A lilac-hued woman dances in his forest clearing. She is human. He is not. It is… a beginning.

Content Warning: Climate change, slavery, a broken leg, brief references to previous rapes, and brief references to a whipping.

Review:

Hope can thrive in even the ugliest circumstances.

This short story included references to some difficult subject matters like slavery and sexual abuse. I appreciated the way it gave the audience the details about these terrible moments without dwelling on them any longer than necessary. These references were disturbing, of course, but not at all graphic. That’s exactly how I prefer to such things to be addressed, so I must tip my cap to the author for striking a balance between remaining true to the story she wanted to share without going into unnecessary detail.

I would have loved to see more world building in this novel. For example, knowing more about what sort of magical creature Ruzi was would have made it easier for me to imagine him and try to predict what he might do next. The snippets of information about his kind that were provided were fascinating and did provide a basic framework for what he was and wasn’t capable of doing as well as a description of his kind and gentle nature. Had this been included, I would have happily gone with a full five-star rating.

The ending was thoughtful, hopeful, and open to interpretation. It’s interesting for me as a reader to be given so much freedom to decide how I wish to interpret certain aspects of the plot, and I enjoy it when authors trust their audiences to come to our own conclusions about what probably happened next without feeling the need to fill in every crevice for us. That’s the sort of writing style that gently urges me to come back for more in the future.

Amina made me wish for a sequel.

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Tagged as 2010s, Book Reviews, P.B. Cannon, Self-Published

February 26, 2026 · 1:00 am

A Review of Five Miles Out Of Black Creek

Title: Five Miles Out Of Black Creek

Author: Neil Shooter

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: December 30, 2016

Genres: Horror, LGBTQ+, Contemporary

Length:13 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

Dean Rand is in a bit of a slump, and needs to sell a story fast. Can this one save his bacon? Dr. Chang’s dirty white farmhouse in the middle of nowhere? Well, in the middle of Hamilton County, five miles out of Black Creek. Sure, the view is great, but it’s so isolated. Why would a scientist want to live here? Or work here?

Content Warning: Blood.

Review:

Not every farm is a tranquil getaway from city life.

Let’s see how much I can say about the antagonists of this piece without giving away too many clues about who or what they are. This means that my review may feel a little mysterious, but I’d rather allow other readers to discover for themselves what’s going on than to know ahead of time what to expect. What I can say about the antagonists is that they had good reasons for behaving the way that they did and that they provided plenty of conflict for Dean to work through during his visit. There’s definitely something to be said for that! I also appreciated how unusual some of them were. That is to say, they didn’t exactly conform to mainstream ideas of what should be attempting to harm the protagonist in this genre, and that’s a good thing.

It would have been more helpful to have additional plot development. I knew what the twist in the end probably would be by the time I read the first scene, and unfortunately this was the sort of tale that, in my opinion, works better if one doesn’t know what to expect in advance. The character development was sufficient for something of this length, so it was really just the depth of the plot that held me back from choosing a higher rating.

With that being said, I do enjoy rural horror. Sometimes other genres glamorize this setting in ways that make me uncomfortable as someone who grew up in various rural places and intimately knows both the negative and positive aspects of that environment, so it was refreshing to see a character drive out to the middle of nowhere and be genuinely taken aback by what he found there. I also appreciated the way the story played around with the trope of a highly educated city slicker arriving at a farm and realizing there are still things about life he doesn’t know. This is something that happens to all sorts of people when they find themselves in cultures or places they’re unfamiliar with, after all, and it was well used here.

Five Miles Out Of Black Creek made me shudder.

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Tagged as 2010s, Book Reviews, Contemporary, Horror, LGBT, Neil Shooter, Self-Published, Short Story

January 15, 2026 · 1:00 am

A Review of Homeless

Title: Homeless

Author: Neil Shooter

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: November 9, 2013

Genres: Science Fiction

Length: 15 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

Winter didn’t end, but his world has. Is he completely alone? In a world gone cold, what can keep the spark of life shining?

Content Warning: Animal attack. Murder. A character who eats a dead, raw rat. Possible mental health problems depending on how one interprets certain scenes.

Review:

Sometimes the world ends with a whisper, not a bang.

The first half of this tale was an excellent example of what the post-apocalyptic genre can be like. The unnamed protagonist has somehow survived a catastrophe that killed the vast majority of humans and should have killed him, too. His limited information about what happened only made his struggle to survive even more poignant as I had no idea what else might await him after the months of hardship he had already endured. I loved the fact that the reader was limited to what this character knew about the world and could only make rough guesses about the things he had yet to discover.

Unfortunately, I struggled with the second half of this tale due to how unbelievable I found certain scenes. Their themes were so exaggerated when compared to what happened earlier that I kept wondering if there was a piece of the puzzle I was missing. Was the narrator holding something back from the audience? Was he unaware of an important detail that would make later scenes feel more logical? There were answers to these questions that I thought made sense, but I kept wishing that Mr. Shooter would give us a few more hints about which direction he intended his audience to go.

With that being said, my ultimate conclusion about what happened was an interesting one and did help me to find some closure for this character. Whether or not it was what the author intended, it made sense given what I knew about the protagonist early on as well as some of the clues about his personality that were revealed later on. If my interpretation was correct, this was a more realistic assessment of what this catastrophe would actually be like for the surivors than many books in this genre tend to create.

Homeless was a wild ride.

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Tagged as 2010s, Book Reviews, Horror, Neil Shooter, Post-Apocalyptic, Self-Published, Short Story

January 1, 2026 · 1:00 am

A Review of New Year

Book cover for “New Year” by Neal Shooter. Image on cover is a very bright yellow background that reminds me of the glow of a lightbulb. It’s so bright it all but obscures the title and author.

Title: New Year

Author: Neil Shooter

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: November 26, 2019

Genres: Science Fiction

Length: 12 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 5 Stars

Blurb:

Life on Mars is a constant struggle, and not at all what Naamah expected. The Mission backers melted away, and the four new Martians are alone. To survive Mars, she must come to terms with her past, her present, and her future.

Content Warning: Religion, pregnancy, miscarriage, and stillbirth. I will be discussing these topics in my review.

Review:

Nothing is more important than hope.

It’s uncommon for me to find stories with this setting that talk about the challenges of trying to become and stay pregnant in such a hostile environment, so I was excited to see what Mr. Shooter was planning to do with these topics given how important they were for the characters and their fledgling community. While this meant that some scenes were sad ones, I thought the author handled the topic nicely and realistically given the characters’ circumstances and the tragedies they’d already endured. If only i could read a few more instalments to find out what happened next.

I’ve struggled with the ambiguous nature of some of Mr. Shooter’s other stories, but in this case it worked out beautifully. Life on Mars would rarely if ever be straightforward, especially for couples who are attempting to bear children but have little if any medical assistance with pregnancy or birth. When combined with the many dangers that would be present for a new colony on that planet, of course Naamah and her companions would struggle to know what the future brings and what they should do to make it as pleasant as possible.

The religious themes in this short story were strong and critical in order to understand the ending, but I wouldn’t classify this as belonging to the inspirational genre due to the protagonist’s misgivings about that topic at times. This is something I’d recommend to people who are interested in religion from an academic or philosophical point of view as it did sometimes take a critical approach to certain negative consequences of believing that one is the messenger of God and that feelings always should be taken more seriously than concrete evidence. Readers who are able to step into Naamah’s shoes may find rewarding themes and messages, though! Just don’t go into this expecting a Sunday School lesson.

New Year made me yearn for more.

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Tagged as 2010s, Book Reviews, Neil Shooter, New Year’s Day, New Year’s Eve, Self-Published, Short Story

December 11, 2025 · 1:00 am

A Review of A Visit from Naughty Claus

Title: A Visit from Naughty Claus (‘twere the Night After Christmas)

Author: RyFT Brand (Robert F Thompson)

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: December 1, 2011

Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary, Holiday

Length: 3 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

Bad kids get coal; really bad kids get a visit from Naughty Claus. Free until December the thirty-first—Happy Holidays!

Can’t seem to stay off the naughty list? Does your behavior make the bad kids cry? Do you cheer when you find a lump of coal in your Christmas stocking? If so you’d better forget watching out and just start running, because Naughty Clause is coming to town. A Visit from Naughty Claus, a dark and dreary tale of Christmas woe in verse that follows the fateful Christmas night when a boy who just couldn’t behave gets his just deserts, and it ain’t Christmas pudding with a sprig of holly in it either. Ready to start behaving?

Content Warning: a terrible tantrum and an even worse consequence for that tantrum.

Review:

Christmas comes in many forms.

This poem is so short that my review of it may very well end up having more words in it than the poem itself! It’s a riff of The Night Before Christmas, but the point of it can still be made if there are any readers who aren’t already familiar with the original. I enjoy seeing how modern authors reinterpret old classics and thought this was a realistic take on what Christmas can be like for some families who aren’t exactly picture perfect.

The beginning explained how the narrator’s family was attempting to deal with a child who seemed to be keen to destroy Christmas for everyone in that household. I say attempting because the parents were trying but didn’t seem to have the gumption to really put their feet down and get their child to stop destroying presents and ruining the house. As I was reading, I wondered if the youngster had been spoiled during his short lifetime or if he had something going on with his mental or physical health that was contributing to these tantrums. Yes, I know I’m probably wildly overthinking this, but it was interesting to come up with various theories about what was going on with him.

As for the ending? Well, you’ll have to discover that for yourselves. It made me wish Mr. Thompson would reappear on the literary scene and write a sequel to this short, funny piece. There was more he could do with it, and I would have found it amusing to find out what happened next. In the meantime, I’ll just have to use my imagination and encourage all of my readers to check out this playful piece of poetry as Christmas looms nearer.

A Visit from Naughty Claus made me chuckle.

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Tagged as 2010s, Book Reviews, Christmas, Contemporary, Fantasy, Holiday, Poetry, Robert F Thompson, RyFT Brand, Santa, Self-Published

September 4, 2025 · 1:00 am

A Review of Song for September

Title: Song for September

Author: Holly Schindler

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: December 7, 2022. Originally published in 2016.

Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal

Length: 40 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

Forever Finley Episode / Short Story #10: Dreams often linger like a haunting melody.

Michael is a failed musician at heart and a coffee shop barista by day. Will the century-old legend of his hometown provide the magic he needs to finally succeed—and in so doing, will Michael have the power to assist in the long-awaited reunion of Finley’s first sweethearts?

Song for September is part of Forever Finley, a series of stand-alone episodes or short stories that released once a month throughout 2016. Previous releases include: Come December, January Thaw, Forget February, Dearest March…, April’s Promise, Mayday Mayday Mayday, Chasing June, A Hundred Julys, and Under the August Moon. Stories following Song for September include October Omen and the Forever Finley Finale (Pale November / December Bells). Stories can be purchased individually, or readers can purchase all installments in Forever Finley: An Episodic Novel.

Content Warning:

Review:

Music is the heartbeat of life itself.

One of the things this series has done well so far is capturing the sorts of personalities of people who love living in small towns. I enjoyed getting to know Michael better and learning about why his attempt to move to Nashville and become a professional musician ended so quickly. While I can’t give away spoilers about that portion of the plot, it made a great deal of sense to me and helped to explain parts of his personality that weren’t so prevalent in Under the August Moon, the first book I read about these characters. Some people are best suited to small town life for all sorts of reasons, and I thought this provided a well-rounded look at several of them.

It would have been helpful to have a more thorough explanation of why Michael’s musical abilities had developed the way they had. Let’s just say that he isn’t exactly an ordinary musician in certain ways, although I can’t go into detail about that without giving away spoilers. It was confusing for me as a reader to never quite be sure what he was and wasn’t capable of. This is something I’m saying as someone who liked this tale and really wanted to give it a higher rating. The concept of it was intriguing, but I simply needed more information about how everything worked.

Relationships in rural places can be complex, so it has taken me a while to begin to understand how all of the characters are connected and what they genuinely think of one another. Some personality types get along better than others do which is a perfectly normal part of being human, but what made this tale so interesting was seeing how everyone made accommodations for each other – or sometimes maybe struggled to do that under certain circumstances – in order to keep their community as harmonious as possible. This sort of invisible emotional work can so easily be overlooked by a storyteller, but it brings layers of meaning to characters when an author is willing to dive deeply into the multitude of tiny ways a community is stitched together over time.

Song for September reminded me of the years I’ve spent living in small towns and what it’s like to live in that environment.

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Tagged as 2010s, Book Reviews, Fantasy, Holly Schindler, Paranormal, Self-Published, Short Story

August 28, 2025 · 1:00 am

A Review of Under the August Moon

Title: Under the August Moon

Author: Holly Schindler

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: December 7, 2022. Originally published in 2016.

Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance

Length: 34 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

Forever Finley Episode / Short Story #9: It has been said that seeds of love planted beneath an August moon will bind two meant to be together—forever.

Two different couples—one currently hoping to find common ground in their relationship, the other a legendary pair wandering the town in their relentless attempt to reunite—find their paths have suddenly intertwined like wild Midwestern vines under the red August Heart Moon. Will Mark and Jo decide their late-in-life romance can find new direction? And how will the fabled Finley’s search for her beloved Amos be impacted by the planting of her enchanted moon seeds?

Under the August Moon is part of Forever Finley, a series of stand-alone episodes or short stories that released once a month throughout 2016. Previous releases include Come December, January Thaw, Forget February, Dearest March…, April’s Promise, Mayday Mayday Mayday, Chasing June, and A Hundred Julys. Stories following Under the August Moon include Song for September, October Omen, and the Forever Finley Finale (Pale November / December Bells). Stories can be purchased individually, or readers can purchase all installments in Forever Finley: An Episodic Novel.

Review:

The hot, humid days of summer won’t last forever, but maybe romance will.

This was my first introduction to the Forever Finley series, and I was impressed by how I understood everything I needed to in order to get into this story. It’s not easy to write a series that can be read as standalone works and in any order, so I must tip my cap to Ms. Schindler for pulling this off. While there were definitely some scenes that I think will be more meaningful to fans who have met these characters before, I never felt out of my depth as I was reading. The mystery of the jar filled with invisible magic seeds was more than enough to keep my interest levels high.

I found myself wishing for more conflict as I was reading this. It was such a cozy little community that I certainly wouldn’t expect anything high stakes, but there were times when the plot felt a little slow due to how long it took the characters to figure out problems like finding a missing pair of overalls or encouraging neighbourhood children who snuck onto one character’s property and ate the blueberries that she had been planning to sell in order to afford Christmas presents and some festive food for that occasion to stop stealing fruit. Even a little more effort in this area would have been enough for me to choose a higher rating as I loved this world in general.

The romance was handled nicely, and I’m saying that as someone who only visits this genre occasionally. I understood why one of the characters involved in this relationship was having second thoughts, but I also thought they made a good match and hoped they’d be able to work this problem out. It was also interesting to take note of the paranormal elements of the storyline that were related to romance as that isn’t something I typically read about. They were handled nicely and have encouraged me to visit this world again soon.

Under the August Moon made me smile.

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Tagged as 2010s, Book Reviews, Fantasy, Holly Schindler, Paranormal, Romance, Self-Published, Short Story

August 21, 2025 · 1:00 am

Gardening Woes: A Review of Tomato Dreams

Title: Tomato Dreams

Author: P.B.Cannon

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: March 10, 2019

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Humour

Length: 34 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

Red has planted her very first vegetable garden. She is tending it when she makes a surprising discovery: fish are growing on her tomatoes. With the help of friends that are… let’s just say they are as unusual as Red, she sets out to learn why this has happened – and why flocks of birds are trying to steal the fish.

(Set in the universe of Cady and Sam, a short story series about werewolves and other paranormals.)

Content Warning: Pregnancy

Review:

Even paranormal creatures need downtime.

Imagine finding fish swimming around your tomato plants! I chuckled at that image in the first scene and couldn’t wait to learn more about why this happened and how the characters were going to react to it. Gardening can be unpredictable for sure, but generally one doesn’t find such bizarre changes to their crops from one day to the next. I don’t want to give away spoilers by going into too much detail about what was actually going on here, but I thought it was a great way to draw new readers in and help us care about these characters and the silly things they sometimes experience.

As much as I enjoyed the leisurely pace of Red’s life, I did find myself wishing for more conflict to keep my interest levels high. It could have been something as simple as a thunderstorm or a brief argument with a grumpy neighbour. High stakes are not necessary here, but I would have happily gone with a much higher rating if Red had faced a few more challenges as she tried to figure out where all of those fish came from.

Some of my favourite scenes were the ones that explore what magic is and isn’t capable of doing in this universe. This is something that can shift dramatically from one story to the next one in the fantasy genre, so I always approach these explanations with an open mind and with as few assumptions about what should be happening as possible. It was interesting to see how this author described the benefits and limitations of magic in her world, and I wouldn’t mind learning more about it in the future.

This was a standalone tale in a series.

Tomato Dreams made me smile.

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Tagged as 2010s, Book Reviews, Fantasy, Humour, P.B. Cannon, Romance, Self-Published, Short Story

July 31, 2025 · 1:00 am

A Review of Space Snot

Title: Space Snot

Author: Jonathan Antony Strickland

Publisher: Self-Published

Publication Date: December 1, 2019

Genres: Science Fiction, Horror

Length: 12 pages

Source: I received a free copy from the author.

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb:

A man gets hit in the head by a meteorite. Then things get a little weird! Friday was the day when a meteorite was shot through my head… Yet here I am! Why? Why did I not die? You may say that I shouldn’t question, say I should consider myself lucky! But the fact is, I don’t!

Content Warning:

Review:

Silliness is underrated.

This is one of those cases where having two narrators in a short story is not only a great idea but makes the execution of a humorous plot line a thousand times better than it would have been if readers had only gotten to know what happened from one point of view instead. Seriously, go read this and see how Mr. Strickland developed both voices and gave them unique speaking patterns and habits that made it so effortless to switch from one of them to the other, sometimes as often as a single sentence at a time. Kudos for pulling this off! It isn’t easy, but it’s so rewarding for a reader when it does happen.

The ending left something to be desired in my opinion. While the most important conflicts were resolved, there weren’t a lot of details about how they were wrapped up or what might happen to the characters next. I’m the sort of reader who likes to imagine what happens next, so even in cases where a sequel isn’t warranted I still like to have a few clues to work with there. It wasn’t quite a cliffhanger ending, but it was vague enough that I felt a bit dissatisfied.

Don’t let the horror genre tag scare you off if you’re not generally a fan of such things. The occasionally gross moments didn’t involve any blood, and they were greatly overshadowed by how playful and wacky this tale was. Sometimes it felt like something written for a middle grade audience instead of an adult one as far as the themes and execution of plot twists played out, although I do believe this was actually intended for adults.

Space Snot made me shudder, laugh, cringe, and shake my head almost simultaneously. This is a fun read for people who want something zany.

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Tagged as 2010s, Aliens, Horror, Jonathan Antony Strickland, Science Fiction, Self-Published, Short Story

Tag Archives: 2010s

A Review of The Visitor

A Review of Amina

A Review of Five Miles Out Of Black Creek

A Review of Homeless

A Review of New Year

A Review of A Visit from Naughty Claus

A Review of Song for September

A Review of Under the August Moon

Gardening Woes: A Review of Tomato Dreams

A Review of Space Snot

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