Operation Medusa – a high stakes geopolitical suspense novel by Jake Greco. Photo: Amazon
Book Spotlight: Operation Medusa (Book 1)
By Jake Greco
Synopsis
History’s wounds never fully heal — and in the wrong hands, they can start a war.
From the creator of the Specters of Athena universe comes a gripping new military thriller saga that blends real-world history, relentless action, and the razor’s edge of modern geopolitics. (Amazon, 2026)
When Greece and Turkey collide in a dangerous dance of brinkmanship, the conflict is fought not only in contested waters and borderlands, but also in intelligence rooms, diplomatic corridors, and the shadows where truth is the first casualty.
At the heart of the series is Nikolas “Strix” Andros — a battle-tested Greek operative whose past in black operations and NATO counterterrorism leaves him uniquely suited for the high-stakes games being played in the Aegean. Alongside Command Sergeant Major Yakovos Rousso, Strix faces provocations by air, land, and sea, each one threatening to ignite a wider war neither side can fully control.
Told through multiple perspectives — Greek, Turkish, and NATO — Operation Medusa combines the adrenaline of modern special operations with the deep resonance of generational history. Inspired in part by the author’s own Greek heritage and the stories of family members who lived through siege, hunger, and occupation, the series honors the resilience of a people while delivering page-turning suspense.
If you crave military thrillers with authentic action, layered political stakes, and characters forged in the crucible of history, Operation Medusa will keep you reading deep into the night.
Jake Greco grew up in Arizona and is a desert rat at heart. His father, a WWII veteran, taught him to shoot at a young age and fueled his lifelong passion for firearms and adventure. These early life experiences have molded him into a versatile storyteller whose works span the full spectrum of thriller and suspense genres.
A lifelong admirer of the Southwest’s rugged beauty, Jake weaves the stark landscapes and complex characters of the region into his novels. His stories often feature heroes and antiheroes grappling with morality, loyalty, and the unpredictable twists of fate. From shadowy desert hideouts to the tense corridors of power, his tales explore the human condition under extraordinary pressure, reflecting both the fragility and resilience of the human spirit.
Antonio Damasio explores consciousness and interoception in his new book ‘Natural Intelligence & the Logic of Consciousness.’ Photo: Penguin Random House
Book Review: ‘Natural Intelligence & the Logic of Consciousness’
By Antonio Damasio
Synopsis
Throughout his illustrious, decades-long career, Antonio Damasio has been at the leading edge of science’s enduring quest to unravel the mysteries of the human mind. Now, drawing on a lifetime of groundbreaking research as well as the newest findings of neurobiology, Damasio seeks to move the debate about the origins of consciousness from the world of high-level cognition and abstract reasoning into the wondrous realm of interoception—the human body’s own internal monitoring system.
A probing synthesis of neurobiology, evolutionary science, and philosophy from one of the most notable leaders in his field, Natural Intelligence & the Logic of Consciousnessoffers readers a scientifically rigorous and profound re-examination of what it means to be alive and aware. (Penguin Random House, 2026)
It will be released on September 15 and is available for pre-order.
Book Contents
Beginnings
Part I: The Problem of Generating Consciousness and a Sketch of Possible Solutions
Part II: Deeper Into the Solution
Part III: Now That We Know
Part IV: Afterthought
Review
Antonio Damasio’s Natural Intelligence & the Logic of Consciousness is a fascinating exploration of one of humanity’s oldest questions: What gives rise to consciousness? Building on decades of pioneering research in neuroscience, Damasio challenges conventional theories by arguing that consciousness begins not with complex thought or language, but with the body’s internal regulation system, known as interoception.
The book’s central insight is that homeostatic feelings—such as hunger, thirst, pain, comfort, and well-being—form the biological foundation of subjective experience. Rather than treating consciousness as an abstract cognitive achievement, Damasio presents it as an evolutionary solution that helps living organisms survive and thrive. This perspective offers a compelling bridge between neurobiology, philosophy, and evolutionary science.
Beyond explaining the origins of consciousness, Damasio broadens the discussion to examine whether simpler life forms, such as plants and bacteria, exhibit primitive forms of sentience. He also explores how homeostasis influences human culture, politics, religion, and commerce, while thoughtfully considering the promises and limitations of artificial intelligence.
“…there is no guarantee that AI tools will remain as docile servants in the hands of their human owners. The possibility of their gaining independence, even if only momentarily, is certainly a reason for worry.”
His analysis raises important questions about whether machines can truly replicate conscious experience or merely imitate its outward appearance.
Key Chapter Highlights
Chapter 9: Examines how feelings developed before words and numbers, and how consciousness developed early to help guide evolution. Even though most homeostatic regulation occurs nonconsciously, some of it remains under our conscious control.
Chapter 11: Breaks down the core science behind consciousness—specifically interoception, or the ability to sense, interpret, and integrate signals from inside your body.
Chapter 18: Explores the science behind pain and nausea. Damasio explains how nausea serves as another vital bodily alert system designed to prevent damage from ingesting toxic molecules.
Chapter 22: Outlines his theories regarding artificial intelligence. Damasio posits that AI is fundamentally neutral to good because it stems from human innovation, but cautions that if the humans behind its creation have malicious intent, the technology will reflect those motives.
Final Verdict
Although the scientific concepts occasionally demand careful reading, Damasio’s arguments remain engaging, logical, and thought-provoking. Readers interested in neuroscience, cognitive science, philosophy of mind, or the future of AI will find this book both intellectually stimulating and deeply rewarding.
Natural Intelligence & the Logic of Consciousness is a profound, accessible examination of the relationship between body, brain, and awareness that challenges readers to rethink the very nature of intelligence. Damasio delivers a compelling argument that feeling is the logic of consciousness. For anyone seeking to understand the deep biological origins of human experience, this is a definite must-read.
“Poets understood, long before neurobiologists ever could, that the glories of passionate love and the sufferings of love gone astray could be legitimately described in physiological terms, even though the physiological details are not exactly the same.”
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
About The Author
Antonio Damasio is University Professor, David Dornsife Professor of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Philosophy, and director of the Brain and Creativity Institute at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. Damasio is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences as well as the author of Descartes’ Error, The Feeling of What Happens, Looking for Spinoza, Self Comes to Mind, The Strange Order of Things, and Feeling & Knowing, all of which have been published in translation and are taught in universities throughout the world.
** Thanks to Michael Goldsmith and Penguin Random House for the gifted ARC for review consideration. I haven’t been compensated for this review and all views and opinions expressed are my own.
‘Resilient in Business’ by Jad Atwe. Photo: Barnes & Noble
📚Book Spotlight: Resilient in Business: The Founder’s Roadmap to Lead Through Uncertainty and Win the Long-Term Game
By Jad Atwe
In today’s economy, founders are under relentless pressure. The stakes are high, the path forward isn’t always obvious, uncertainty is debilitating, and outcomes are unpredictable. All of this takes a huge toll on the single quality that will actually see a founder through to success: resilience. (Amazon, 2026)
In this timely and practical book, entrepreneur and business coach Jad Atwe delivers a decisive framework for building the capacity to navigate competing demands and boost your entrepreneurial resilience.
Based on his proprietary Resilient in Business Operating System™, the book guides you through a transformative process to position your business for the success you know is possible—all by developing the capacity to:
Rise above the chaos
Move beyond survival mode
Step into sustainable business leadership
If you’re a founder carrying too much, feeling the cracks forming beneath your feet, and refusing to let pressure dictate your future, this book is for you. It’s time to discover the edge that will help you win the long game.
Ready to Read?
Resilient in Business is available now. If you’re looking to transform how you lead under pressure, grab your copy today and start building your roadmap to long-term success.
About the Author
Jad Atwe was once on the verge of losing everything. After leaping into a general contracting business that leveraged his engineering background, sudden policy and economic shifts forced him into uncertainty, nearly turning his aspirations to dust.
Determined to deconstruct what it truly takes to navigate volatility and “make it” in entrepreneurship, Jad spent years studying founder psychology, operational excellence, and the patterns that differentiate those who merely endure from those who thrive.
Having walked through storms that break most founders, he emerged with a clear understanding of entrepreneurial resilience—the inner operating system that allows leaders to build, lead, and scale under uncertainty.
Today, Jad speaks on entrepreneurial resilience and guides founders to lead through uncertainty, build reliable operations, and scale their companies without losing themselves in the process. He is the originator of the Resilient in Business Operating System™, designed to help founders move past what’s holding them back and break free from survival mode.
‘Uncommon Sense’ by Mel Blackwell features battle-tested culture secrets from a former EOS Integrator. Photo: Barnes & Noble
Book Spotlight: Uncommon Sense: The Fight to Fix Your Workplace Culture in the Wild West of Business
By Mel Blackwell
Does your business look successful on the outside but feel chaotic on the inside?
Are you stuck in constant firefighting, watching the same problems repeat while people dodge responsibility and culture slowly erodes? Is your culture just dysfunctional enough that everyone’s comfortably miserable, too afraid of the change that actually removes the root obstacles? (Barnes & Noble, 2026)
You don’t need another trendy leadership theory. You need something that actually works. Fix your culture, and all metrics improve immeasurably.
The Synopsis
After more than 35 years leading startups, turnarounds, and large organizations, former EOS Integrator Mel Blackwell has seen what really breaks businesses, and what actually fixes them. He’s led from the shop floor to the C-suite, rebuilt broken teams, and helped leaders move from chaos to clarity when pressure was real and payroll was due.
This book doesn’t sell theory. It gives you a roadmap.
What You’ll Learn inside:
Problem-Solving over Complaining: How to build a solution-oriented culture.
Leverage & Traction: How to build winning momentum directly into your company culture.
Structure First: Why structure must come before people, and how to get it right.
True Accountability: How to lead with ownership, not excuses.
The Toxicity Antidote: A system for eliminating toxic behavior that attracts, empowers, and develops good people.
The Best Pledge™: How to get the absolute best from your team (because people at their worst self will never deliver best practices).
Alignment & Execution: How to align your team around a unified vision and stellar execution.
The Two Visions: Why every organization needs two visions—and exactly how to use them.
Courageous Leadership: How to lead with courage and win when pressure hits.
Plus, you’ll discover why most leaders are “worshipping problems” instead of solving them, why not everyone belongs in every role, and how real leadership shows up when things get tough.
Why This Book is Different
This book doesn’t read like a consultant talking at you. It’s written by a mentor walking beside you, telling the truth, sharing the scars, and showing you what works in the trenches.
When you apply what’s inside, leadership gets clearer. Problems get smaller. Teams get stronger. You gain leverage, and your business becomes something that can survive storms instead of being wrecked by them.
If you’re tired of drifting, guessing, and putting out fires, it is time to lead with clarity, courage, and confidence.
👉 Buy Uncommon Sense Today and Start Building a Culture That Actually Works!
About the Author
Mel Blackwell
Senior Executive Mel Blackwell is a visionary renowned for driving extraordinary results and fostering high-performing cultures using the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS). With over three decades of unparalleled expertise in operations, sales, and marketing, Mel’s diverse experience spans industries from forestry and wood products to global trade shows, 3D agency marketing, telecom, and software, leading organizations from startups to billion-dollar enterprises.
Holding a BS in Marketing from Auburn University’s Harbert College of Business and an MA in Management from The University of Alabama’s Manderson Graduate School of Business, he masterfully combines academic rigor with real-world mastery.
As a dynamic public speaker, storyteller, and thought leader, Mel captivates audiences with his sharp insights, infectious energy, vivid metaphors, and plain-spoken humor. Attendees leave his talks not only entertained, but equipped with actionable tools to drive success in their organizations.
‘CRAFT Thinking’ is the new book by Philip Topham. Photo: Barnes & Noble
Book Spotlight: CRAFT Thinking: A Playbook for Clear Thinking and Better Decisions with AI
By Philip Topham
Get clearer thinking and better decisions with AI without becoming a prompt engineer.
CRAFT Thinking gives you a simple, five-step method that sharpens how you think, improves the questions you ask, and helps you get consistently better results from any artificial intelligence tool. It’s practical, repeatable, and built for everyday work, not technical experts. (Barnes & Noble, 2026)
The CRAFT Chain Reaction:
When your thinking improves, your prompts improve.
When your prompts improve, your decisions improve.
Whether you lead a company, manage a team, or simply want to do better work with AI, this playbook gives you the structure to turn uncertainty into clarity and AI conversations into meaningful insight.
The Bottom Line: > AI won’t make your work smarter. Clear thinking will, and CRAFT shows you how.
Strategic AI Advisor, Speaker, & Creator of the CRAFT Thinking™ Method
Philip Topham is a strategic AI advisor, speaker, and creator of the CRAFT Thinking™ method, a framework designed to bring clarity, intentionality, and better decision-making into the AI era.
With a career spanning corporate leadership, startup ventures, and board advisory, Philip combines the rigor of an engineer with the insight of a relationship-focused strategist. He’s earned two U.S. patents, contributed to peer-reviewed research, and worked across industries from health tech to clean tech to biotech. What sets him apart is not just his technical depth, it’s his shift toward human-centered leadership.
After stepping away to be a stay-at-home dad, Philip returned with a deeper understanding of what it means to lead with care and purpose. He brings that mindset into his work today, helping leaders think with AI, not just use it, so their organizations can grow wisely, inclusively, and sustainably.
Philip serves as co-chair of the National AI Special Interest Group for the Private Directors Association, and publishes regularly at SavionAI: The Shift.
“AI should serve all of humanity—not just the elite. And it’s our shared responsibility to build companies and institutions worthy of that promise.”
‘Passport to Freedom’ is a memoir of faith, exile, and survival. Photo: Meryl Moss Media, used with permission.
Book Review: Passport to Freedom: From Tehran to Triumph
By Nizam Missaghi, MD
Born an American citizen but raised under Iran’s theocracy, a teenage boy risks everything to escape religious persecution and reclaim the freedom—and responsibility—of choosing America. (Simon & Schuster, 2026)
Release Date: September 22, 2026, available for pre-order.
The Story
Nizam Missaghi was seven years old when he was expelled from school for the first time in Tehran. It wasn’t for misbehavior or poor grades, but for belonging to a faith the Islamic Republic refused to recognize. In post-revolutionary Iran, being Baha’i meant fractured futures: no university, no profession, and no way to support a family.
By 1986, he was a ten-year-old boy living in Tehran as a new middle class began to emerge. A revolution was underway—the “Constitutional Revolution”—but it would remain unfinished.
During this time, Nizam became captivated by the upcoming Halley’s Comet viewing, seeing in its glow an illuminated path to progress. He made a silent pact with the comet: by the time it returned in 75 years, his country would be a completely different Iran.
Meanwhile, hidden deep in a dresser drawer was a golden ticket: a United States passport, quietly renewed in secret every five years.
Born in New York (while his mother completed her pediatric residency) │ ▼ Taken to Iran as an infant │ ▼ Grew up free on paper, but trapped in practice
As adolescence gave way to urgency, Nizam had to decide whether hope was worth the risk of escape. With surveillance closing in and doors slamming shut, he faced an unthinkable choice: remain invisible, or gamble everything on a document that could either save or destroy him.
Structure of the Book
The memoir is elegantly split into two distinct acts:
Part I: Looking Back – Documents his childhood in Iran, capturing the harsh realities and daily hurdles of living under state-sanctioned religious discrimination.
Part II: Looking Ahead – Details his journey to and within the United States, tracking his evolution from a newly arrived college student to a proud medical graduate following in the footsteps of his mother and ancestors.
Review: A Powerful Testament to Resilience
Passport to Freedom is a gripping, deeply personal memoir that sheds light on a little-known aspect of life in post-revolutionary Iran. Missaghi blends intimate storytelling with historical reality as he struggles to preserve his faith, identity, dignity, and most importantly, his future.
Told through the eyes of a boy gradually awakening to the systemic limitations imposed upon him, the reader acutely feels the emotional toll of discrimination, uncertainty, and exclusion. The secret U.S. passport becomes a brilliant symbol of hope, possibility, and the heavy choices that accompany true freedom.
Missaghi writes with honesty, clarity, and immense gratitude. The narrative driving tension beautifully balances two opposing forces: the cosmic hope pinned on Halley’s Comet and the grounded, dangerous reality of his American passport.
“Like the comet streaking bright and brief across the darkness, that visibility illuminated a path toward progress, showing Iranians what could be.”
When Nizam finally decides to risk it all, the memoir shifts gears into a high-stakes thriller. The prose becomes urgent and evocative, reminding us that freedom is a fragile construct often sustained by the quiet bravery of allies.
Top Takeaway:“…the importance of standing up for what is right, even when fear grips you.”
Inspiring and deeply thought-provoking, Passport to Freedom exposes the devastating human cost of systemic religious persecution. In an era where authoritarian regimes continue to outlaw conscience, this timely memoir stands as a poignant reminder of why America’s promise of refuge remains so vital.
“Medicine became, for me, another passport—not out of a country, but into people’s lives. A way to honor the value of every human being, especially those whose dignity has been denied. And in that sense, the journey that began with a hidden passport had always been leading here.”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
About the Author
Nizam Missaghi, M.D., is an Iranian-American physician. After being barred from higher education in the Islamic Republic due to his faith, he left Iran upon completing high school to pursue his dreams abroad.
Education: Completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Virginia and earned his medical degree from the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine.
Current Practice: Following his anesthesiology residency, he relocated to the Phoenix metro area. He is a founding member of Grand Canyon Anesthesia and serves as a clinical assistant professor of anesthesiology at both the University of Arizona School of Medicine and Midwestern University.
Advocacy & Philanthropy: Dr. Missaghi is the current chairman of the board for the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, where human rights abuses in the Islamic Republic are verified and documented. He is also the founder of The Simpatico Foundation, an Arizona-based nonprofit that promotes diversity and the arts.
**Thank you to Tracy Goldblatt/Meryl Moss Media for the gifted ARC for review consideration. I haven’t been compensated for this review and all views and opinions expressed are my own.
‘Scaling Yourself’ is the new book by Praval Panwar. Photo: Amazon
Book Spotlight: Scaling Yourself
Designing a Personal Operating System for Career and Life
By Praval Panwar
High performers are taught to push harder as responsibilities grow.
But effort does not scale. Architecture does.
As careers advance, the same habits that once drove success begin to create overload, burnout, and diminishing impact. Decisions slow. Energy drops. Influence dilutes.
The problem isn’t capability, it’s operating at a new level with an outdated personal operating system.
Redesigning the Flow of Success
Scaling Yourself applies principles from engineering, systems design, and leadership to the human side of performance. Instead of productivity hacks or motivation, it shows how to redesign how your work, decisions, energy, and influence flow so growth becomes sustainable. (Bookshop, 2026)
Who Is This Book For?
This book is built specifically for:
Ambitious professionals navigating rapid career growth.
Engineers and technical minds who want to apply systems thinking to life.
Leaders whose success has increased complexity, not freedom.
This is not a book about doing more. It is a book about designing better.
Praval Panwar is a senior technology leader and systems thinker focused on the intersection of engineering, leadership, and long-term performance. Scaling Yourself distills his experience into a practical framework for redesigning how work, decisions, and energy flow so ambition can scale without burnout.
‘The Accidental Future of Dean Harris’ is the inspiring new book by Derek McFadden. Photo: Paste Creative Book Tours, used with permission.
Book Review: The Accidental Future of Dean Harris by Derek McFadden
Part of Paste Creative Book Tours
Release Date: June 15, 2026. Available for pre-order.
The Story
Dean Harris is a struggling writer with cerebral palsy. His life’s dream has been to write a bestselling novel, a dream he shares with his father, Damon Harris. When his father calls him with the good news that he has finally landed a literary agent, Dean is happy for him. He really is, but his father doesn’t believe him.
When Damon’s agent, Dianne, finds out that Dean is also a writer, she offers him an unpaid internship as a second reader, a manuscript gatekeeper. He accepts the internship and spends his days reading manuscripts, some good, some not so good. Then, one day, he meets bestselling author Charles Corning.
Over the years, they develop a close working relationship and Charles becomes a mentor of sorts to Dean. He agrees to read Dean’s unpublished novel, What Lucas Learned From Life, which is about a young man dealing with life with cerebral palsy. He likes it and encourages Dean to never give up on his dreams of seeing it published.
Dean self-publishes the book, but then his biggest dream comes true: his next novel becomes a bestseller and a critical success.
Then he wakes up. His reality once again centers around unread pages and a dream that is constantly just beyond reach. When parts of his dreams start creeping into his waking world, Dean realizes that maybe the vision wasn’t simply an “accidental future”—maybe it was more like a map.
Now Dean must decide whether he should stop chasing the ghost of the man he wants to be and face the life he’s actually living: the family he’s overlooked and a relationship with his girlfriend, Claire, that’s unraveling under the weight of his ambition.
Photo: Paste Creative Book Tours
Review
Derek McFadden’s The Accidental Future of Dean Harris is a gripping, mind-bending exploration of ambition and reality. Dean Harris is stuck between being a “visionary” and a “fraud,” and it’s affecting his relationships with the people he loves.
Taking place between 2015 and 2021, the story blends reality and subconscious insight, creating a narrative that feels introspective and highly relatable. The nonlinear format adds incredible depth to the story, revealing how past choices, hidden desires, and personal blind spots shape our futures. It also contains a story within a story, with portions of What Lucas Learned From Life included to support Dean’s narrative, which is in the first person point of view.
McFadden gives readers a story that is less about literary fame and more about the ghosts we chase at the expense of our present. The prose is sharp, witty, and deeply empathetic, capturing the existential dread of the creative mind.
“Yet, on this early evening, with the sun sinking low and inviting darkness to settle over the city like a colorless comforter outside my window, life had changed.”
The characters are well-developed, especially Dean, and his struggles as a writer will resonate with would-be authors everywhere.
The Verdict
The Accidental Future of Dean Harrisis a thought-provoking and poignant read for anyone who has ever looked at their life and wondered if they are waking up to the wrong reality. Beyond its exploration of artistic ambition, the novel offers a powerful look at relationships, whether they be familial or friendships. These emotional threads ground the story and give it genuine heart.
Insightful and ultimately hopeful, it’s a gentle reminder of the importance of finding meaning not in the future we imagine, but in the life unfolding right before us.
“Rejection will, for all time, stand as the most personal, most painful verdict that can be delivered in all of human experience.”
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
About the Author
Derek McFadden is an author, a poet, a podcast presenter, a radio enthusiast, an unapologetic fan of the Seattle Mariners, and a former March of Dimes ambassador. He lives with a mild version of cerebral palsy, and his eyes are not great at being eyes.
Other Books by Derek McFadden:
What Death Taught Terrence – His debut novel was a Next Generation Indie Book Award Finalist (2021) and the Best Adult Fiction Winner at The Wishing Shelf Awards (2021). The audiobook version, read by the acclaimed BJ Harrison, was a Best Adult Audio Book Finalist at The Wishing Shelf Awards (2021).
The Santa Claus Agreement – His second novel, and a Wishing Shelf Awards “red ribbon” winner.
All Systems Snow – A collection of short stories published in 2023.
Photo: Paste Creative Book Tours
**Thank you to Stephanie Caruso, Paste Creative Book Tours, and Derek McFadden for the gifted ARC for review consideration. I haven’t been compensated for this review and all views and opinions expressed are my own.
‘The Girl on the Beach’ is the new suspenseful thriller by Carol Snow. Photo: Penguin Random House
Book Review: The Girl on the Beach by Carol Snow
Release Date: June 23, 2026, available for pre-order.
Genre: Psychological Thriller / Suspense
Synopsis
On the surface, Sonia and Graham Starr are a glamorous couple: Sonia is the sleek entrepreneur behind a successful lifestyle brand and Graham is a handsome painter with an irrepressible zest for life. They had everything money could buy and the one thing it couldn’t, a precious, precocious four-year-old named Roxie. But when Roxie disappears into the Pacific Ocean on a perfect August afternoon, their world crumbles around them.
Months after the tragedy, the Starrs are divorcing, and Sonia has hired real estate agent Jan Murray to sell their expensive beach house. One Sunday afternoon, Jan waits for Colleen, Roxie’s twenty-one-year-old former nanny, to arrive at the home.
Still haunted by unanswered questions and overwhelming guilt, Colleen returns to the Starrs’ house on the “American Riviera”—the rarefied stretch of land around Santa Barbara where the mountains meet the sea—hoping the environment will trigger buried memories.
Her first night back, she gazes out at the sand and sees a child who bears a striking resemblance to Roxie. When she calls out, the child runs away. Colleen never believed that Roxie, who was deeply afraid of the surf, would run into the ocean on her own. A desperate hunt for the truth begins, forcing Colleen to face her greatest fears.
Review
The Girl on the Beach immerses readers into the devastating aftermath of a family’s worst nightmare. Set against the sun-drenched, wealthy backdrop of Santa Barbara, the story masterfully follows the unraveling of a family unit broken by grief.
A Gripping, Non-Linear Narrative
The heart of the book is Colleen’s journey. Told through her first-person perspective, the story unfolds using alternating BEFORE and AFTER chapters. These flashbacks carefully piece together the timeline surrounding Roxie’s disappearance.
Colleen is a particularly engaging protagonist whose determination and vulnerability make her incredibly easy to root for. Driven by intense guilt, she constantly blames herself for not watching Roxie, even though it was her day off. Snow handles Colleen’s struggles with anxiety, grief, and an unhelpful therapist with remarkable empathy and realism.
Atmospheric and Tense
Snow excels at creating an atmosphere of unease and paranoia, skillfully revealing secrets while forcing the reader to question who is actually telling the truth. The beautiful scenery comes alive through poetic, highly descriptive prose:
“Our feet crunch on gravel. Insects buzz. The scent of wild roses and sage hangs heavy in the air.”
This gorgeous, idyllic setting creates a tense, gripping juxtaposition against the dark, suffocating grief of the Starr family.
The Verdict
The Girl on the Beach is a riveting thriller that beautifully combines family tragedy, suspense, and emotional depth. It uses themes of grief, identity, and the fragility of memory to explore the human condition under extreme stress.
Fans of psychological suspense will appreciate the intricate plotting and emotional complexity. Best of all? The genuinely jaw-dropping finale completely resets everything you thought you knew. It is easily this year’s top summer beach read.
“The sky is white and soggy. The air has a bite. It is winter, after all; some days it even feels like it. And yet, the sea calls to me.”
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
About the Author
Carol Snow holds a BA in psychology from Brown University and an MA in teaching English from Boston College. She is the author of ten novels.
Called “an author to watch” by Booklist, recognition for Snow’s previous titles includes a Target Bookmarked Breakout Selection, Amazon Editors’ Pick: Best Books of the Month, and a Readers’ Crown Award Finalist.
**Thank you to Fauzia Burke of FSB Associates for the gifted ARC for review consideration. I haven’t been compensated for this review and all views and opinions expressed are my own.
Steep traces an odyssey from a gritty Boston neighborhood to a neurosurgical practice in Middle America. It’s more about the price of success than the weight of bigotry – a story of resilience and self-discovery that will resonate with anyone who has wrestled with their past as they chased the American Dream. (PR by the Book, 2026)
The word “steep” has two meanings: the adjective that conjures a precipitous climb—or descent—but also the verb that connotes a ripening or maturing over time. Both definitions are evident in Yorke’s story, one that will resonate with anyone who’s run from their past, and anyone whose world feels too small.
“Written with the deftness of a brain surgeon and the ear of a concert violinist, Steep is the unforgettably moving story of one man’s life and times. But it is also a wise and courageous commentary on our time.”
— Cyrus Console-Soican, Ph.D., Professor of Liberal Arts, Kansas City Art Institute
About the Author
Dr. Craig Yorke was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts. He received a BA from Harvard College in 1970 and an MD from Harvard Medical School in 1974. His parental directive insisted he avenge centuries of bigotry with a life of infinite success.
After a neurosurgical residency at the University of California at San Francisco, he and his wife Mary found their way to an unlikely destination. He practiced in Topeka, Kansas, for 25 years, wrestling with his history and the armored identity it had imposed.
He’s a credible violinist, having played the Bruch G Minor concerto with the Boston Pops at age 17, and hits tennis balls with passion. Steep is his first book.
SA Examiner 