Dead Man's Rain, (reviewed HERE), was previously free, but is now $2.80. This one earned the number one spot on my TBR stack on the strength of the "warning" alone. It's a short novel (and I suspect that Mister Trophy is, as well) and perhaps not quite up the level of a Jim Butcher novel, but was still a quite interesting read. Now there are three novels in the series available, as well as an unrelated short story compilation.
, (reviewed Can a haunted man help the dead find peace?
Markhat is a Finder, charged with the post-war task of tracking down sons and fathers gone suddenly missing when an outbreak of peace left the army abandoned where they stood. But now it's ten years on after the war, and about all he's finding is trouble.
This time, trouble comes in the form of a rich widow with a problem. Her dearly departed husband, Ebed Merlat, keeps ambling back from the grave for nocturnal visits. Markhat saw a lot of during the war, but he's never seen anyone, rich or poor, rise from the grave and go tromping around the landscape. But for the right price, he's willing to look into it.
As a storm gathers and night falls, Markhat finds darker things than even murder lurk amid the shadows of House Merlat.
Warning, this title is rife with the walking dead, sarcastic butlers, barking dogs and ghostly dances.
The Mister Trophy ($2.00)A troll's missing head could cause Markhat to lose his own.
All the finder Markhat wanted was a beer at Eddie's. Instead he gets a case that will bring him face to fang with crazed, blood-craving halfdead, a trio of vengeful Troll warriors, and Mama Hog's backstreet magic. Plus, the possible resurgence of the Troll War.
All right in his own none-too-quiet neighborhood.
Through the town of Rannit's narrow alleys and mean streets, Markhat tries to stay one step ahead of disaster. And ignore Mama Hog's dire warnings that this time, the head that rolls could be his own.
Warning: This book contains well-dressed vampires, extremely polite Trolls, and occasional bursts of humor. Avoid reading it when landing aircraft, welding in the nude, or taunting grumpy jackals while wearing pork chop earmuffs.
Hold The Dark ($3.60) is the third in the Markhat series and is a longer novel, it appears, at 257K in size, versus the 128K and 175K of the first two.
(Demons in a feeding frenzy drive the world-weary Markhat to the brink.
Quiet, hard-working seamstresses aren't the kind that normally go missing, even in a tough town like Rannit. Martha Hoobin's disappearance, though, quickly draws Markhat into a deadly struggle between a halfdead blood cult and the infamous sorcerer known only as the Corpsemaster.
A powerful magical artifact may be both his only hope of survival-and the source of his own inescapable damnation.
Markat's search leads him to the one thing that's been missing in his life. But even love's awesome power may not save him from the darkness that's been unleashed inside his own soul.
Warning: This gritty, hard-boiled fantasy detective novel contains mild romance and interludes of suggestive hand-holding.
Wistril Compleat ($0.99)
(All three of Wistril's magical misadventures are included in this complete compilation of cantrips and catastrophes!
Wistril Besieged
Wizard Wistril's wants are simple -- four meals a day, a steady supply of honey-gold Upland beer, and above all else, peace and quiet.
All but the latter are in plentiful supply at Castle Kauph. Despite secreting himself in the Wild, Wistril finds himself battling an army of relentless mercenaries while the entire population of the nearest village takes refuge in his home. Even Kern, Wistril's long-suffering, sharp-tongued apprentice, isn't sure whether the army or the houseguests will prove to be Wistril's undoing!
Wistril Afloat
Wistril doesn't believe in lake monsters -- until they invade the lake that just happens to provide Wistril's favorite fish dinners. Faced with the choice of adjusting his menus or daring the wilderness around Lake Ovinshoon, Wistril and Kern soon have bigger problems than mere lake monsters on their hands.
Because while Wistril wishes only to study the beasts, others wish to hunt them and skin them. Will Wistril's peaceful White Chair magics prevail against a ruthless band of wyvern-hunters who have only profit on their minds?
Wistril Betrothed
If ever there was a determined bachelor, thought Kern, his name was surely Wistril.
So when Wistril's wife-to-be shows up with a pursuing army on her heels, life at Castle Kauph is turned upside down. And when another suitor for Lady Emmerbee's hand arrives, with a dark and menacing wizard of his own in tow, it's up to Kern and the rest of Castle Kauph to get Wistril wed without losing his head!
