Crush ($6.39), by Alan Jacobson, is this week's free Friday book at Barnes and Noble. It isn't free at Amazon, but that might change if every reader uses the "tell us about a lower price?" button on the Amazon page. This is the second book in his Karen Vail series/trilogy and I now have the complete series, all as free downloads (although not all from the same bookstore).Book Description
Fresh off the most challenging case of her career, The 7th Victim heroine and renowned FBI profiler Karen Vail returns in an explosive thriller set against the backdrop of California’s wine country. Hoping to find solace from the demons that haunt her, Vail makes her first trip to the Napa Valley. But shortly after arriving, a victim is found in the deepest reaches of an exclusive wine cave, the work of an extraordinarily unpredictable serial killer. From the outset, Vail is frustrated by her inability to profile the offender—until she realizes why: the Behavioral Analysis Unit has not previously encountered a killer like him. As Vail and the task force work around the clock to identify and locate him, they’re caught in a web knotted with secretive organizations, a decades-long feud between prominent wine families, and widespread corruption that leads Vail to wonder whom, if anyone, she can trust. Meanwhile, as the victim count rises, Vail can't shake the gnawing sense that something isn't right. With the killer’s actions threatening the Napa Valley’s multi-billion dollar industry, the stakes have never been greater, and the race to find the killer never more urgent. And through it all, a surprise lurks…one that Karen Vail never sees coming. Meticulously researched during years of work with the FBI profiling unit and extensive interviews with wine industry professionals, bestselling author Alan Jacobson delivers a high-velocity thriller featuring the kind of edge-of-your-seat ending that inspired Nelson DeMille to call him "a hell of a writer."
Click HERE for the free download. If you haven't used the B&N store since their (generally unliked, from comments on their forums) update, you now use the "Download Now" button to add a free book to your library, rather than a "Buy" button. In addition, they are notorious for glitches in ordering, so always check both the confirmation page and the email you receive, to make sure you are not charged for one of their free books. The worst they've gotten me for was a penny (but over 60 times in a row, when they first opened (which freaked out my credit card company), but last week they were charging numerous people full price on the freebie books.
