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Showing posts with label Military. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Military. Show all posts

Monday, June 10, 2013

Bargain Book Roundup

Sweet Everlasting ($1.99 Kindle), by Patricia Gaffney [Open Road], is just one of her novels that are currently on sale under $5.
Book Description
A young city doctor moves to the country, where a mute and beautiful local woman will change his life forever

Newly installed at his modest post in Wayne’s Crossing, Pennsylvania, Tyler Wilkes is a doctor, a hero of the Spanish-American War, and the heir to a great fortune. His wealthy family in Philadelphia doesn’t approve of his new station, but Tyler is sure of his calling. And the young ladies of Wayne’s Crossing can’t seem to get enough of their handsome young physician, exploiting every excuse to visit his offices with imagined maladies.

Tyler is most intrigued by Carrie Wiggins. Mute, sensitive, lovely, and troubled, Carrie lives with her abusive alcoholic stepfather, Artemis, in the mountains just outside of town. Her gentle nature and the loving care she bestows on injured animals in the woods quickly endear her to Tyler, though they belie the darkness in her life. Can she overcome her tortured past to give voice to her heart?

Deep Autumn Heat ($0.99 Kindle), a Contemporary Romance by Elisabeth Barrett [Loveswept/Random House], is one of four of her novels on sale under $3.
Book Description
In this sexy new Star Harbor romance series, featuring the too-tempting Grayson brothers, a celebrity chef turns up the heat for a local café owner—and things start to sizzle.

Lexie Meyers decides there’s nothing sweeter than watching Sebastian Grayson’s perfect, wicked mouth devour her coconut cake. He’s hot, he’s hungry, and he’s sizing her up like she’s the best thing on the menu. But she’s been burned in the past and flings just aren’t her thing. Too bad Sebastian can’t resist a challenge.

Worldly, famous, and notorious with the ladies, Seb had planned a weekend of fishing and relaxation with his brothers. Until Lexie, with her kissable lips and frosty “get lost” attitude, makes him want to forget his culinary empire and create some magic with her. After he fires up his charm—including challenging her to a televised cook-off to break through her resistance—it’s now hotter in the bedroom than it is in the kitchen and Lexie isn’t sure whether she’s lost her mind . . . or just her heart.

Includes a special message from the editor, as well as excerpts from these Loveswept titles: Here Comes the Bride, The Wedding Chase, and About Last Night.

The Cowboy and the Princess ($1.99 Kindle), by Lori Wilde [Avon/HarperCollins]
Book Description
Welcome back to Jubilee, Texas, where New York Times bestselling author Lori Wilde romantically pairs a beautifully princess with Texas royalty: a rugged, totally hot, real-live cowboy! Wilde’s Jubilee novels celebrate homespun, small-town love—a treat for readers of the contemporary romance fiction of Sherryl Woods, Susan Wiggs and Susan Mallery—and her sexy cowboy heroes are sure to make Linda Lael Miller fans swoon. Nobody can resist these handsome, muscular, outdoorsy American icons, especially not the royal runaway bride in The Cowboy and the Princess, who unexpectedly finds her heart’s true desire in blue jeans smack-dab in the middle of America’s Southwest. You won’t want to miss the fireworks when these two worlds romantically collide!

Because of You and Until There Was You ($2.99 Kindle), two Contemporary Military Romances by Jessica Scott [Loveswept/Random House]

Because of You
From the war-torn streets of Baghdad to the bittersweet comforts of the home front, two wounded hearts navigate the battlefield of coming home from war in this explosive eBook original from newcomer Jessica Scott.

Keeping his men alive is all that matters to Sergeant First Class Shane Garrison. But meeting Jen St. James the night before his latest deployment makes Shane wonder if there's more to life than war. He leaves for Iraq remembering a single kiss with a woman he'll never see again- until a near fatal attack lands him back at home and in her care. Jen has survived her own brush with death and endured its scars. And yet there's a fire in Shane that makes Jen forget all about her past. He may be her patient, but when this warrior looks her in the eyes, she feels - for the first time in a long time - like a woman. Shane is too proud to ask for help, but for Jen, caring for him is more than a duty -it's a need. And as Jen guides Shane through the fires of healing, she finds something she never expected - her deepest desire.
Until There Was You
From the author of Because of You comes an all-new contemporary eBook romance. He plays by the rules, she's not afraid to break them. Now these two strong-willed Army captains will prove that opposites attract . . .

A by-the-book captain with a West Point background, Captain Evan Loehr refuses to mix business with pleasure--except for an unguarded instance years ago when he succumbed to the deep sensuality of redheaded beauty Claire Montoya. From that moment on, though, Evan has been at odds with her, through two deployments to Iraq and back again. But when he is asked to train a team prepping for combat alongside Claire, battle-worn Evan is in for the fight of his life.

Strong, gutsy, and loyal, Captain Claire Montoya has worked hard to earn the rank on her chest. In Evan, Claire sees a rigid officer who puts the rules before everything else--including his people. When the mission forces them together, Claire soon discovers that there is more to Evan than meets the eye. He's more than the rank on his chest; he's a man with dark secrets and deep longings. For all their differences, Evan and Claire share two crucial passions: their country and each other.

Includes a special message from the editor, as well as excerpts from these Loveswept titles: Blaze of Winter, The Devil's Thief, and Santerra's Sin.

Ride with Me ($2.99 Kindle), by Ruthie Knox [Loveswept/Random House], is one of six of her novels on sale under $4.
Book Description
In this fun, scorching-hot eBook original romance by RITA finalist Ruthie Knox, a cross-country bike adventure takes a detour into unexplored passion. As readers will discover, Ride with Me is not about the bike!

When Lexie Marshall places an ad for a cycling companion, she hopes to find someone friendly and fun to cross the TransAmerica Trail with. Instead, she gets Tom Geiger—a lean, sexy loner whose bad attitude threatens to spoil the adventure she’s spent years planning.

Roped into the cycling equivalent of a blind date by his sister, Tom doesn’t want to ride with a chatty, go-by-the-map kind of woman, and he certainly doesn’t want to want her. Too bad the sight of Lexie with a bike between her thighs really turns his crank.

Even Tom’s stubborn determination to keep Lexie at a distance can’t stop a kiss from leading to endless nights of hotter-than-hot sex. But when the wild ride ends, where will they go next?

Includes a special message from the editor, as well as excerpts from these Loveswept titles: In the Arms of the Law, Ivy Secrets, and Because of You.

If I Were You ($3.79 Kindle), the first novel in the Inside Out series by Lisa Renee Jones [Gallery Books/Simon and Schuster], has been optioned by Starz!
Book Description
The steamy first installment in the Inside Out erotic romance trilogy by Lisa Renee Jones, in the bestselling tradition of Fifty Shades of Grey.

When Sara McMillan finds a stack of journals in a storage unit, she’s shocked and enthralled by the erotic life the writer led. Unable to stop reading, she vicariously lives out dark fantasies through Rebecca, the writer—until the terrifying final entry.

Certain something sinister has happened, Sara sets out to discover the facts, immersing herself in Rebecca’s life. Soon she’s working at the art gallery Rebecca worked at and meeting Rebecca’s friends. Finding herself drawn to two dangerously sexy men, the manager of the gallery and a famed artist, Sara realizes she’s going down the same path Rebecca took. But with the promise of her dark needs being met by a man with confident good looks and a desire for control, she’s not sure anything else matters. Just the burn for more.

Heroes Proved ($2.99 Kindle), is the fifth (and latest) novel in the Peter Newman series by Oliver North [Threshold Editions/Simon and Schuster]; two of his non-fiction American Heroes volumes are also on sale under $4.
Book Description
A gripping, tightly crafted, action-packed thriller from the man President Ronald Reagan called “an American hero.”

#1 bestselling author Oliver North applies his extensive experience as a combat-decorated U.S. Marine and counterterrorism expert in this explosive novel of global intrigue, military action, and cutting-edge suspense.

It’s the year 2032, and the president claims America is now safe from terror. We’re told Iranian nuclear weapons no longer menace our citizens. Leaders in Washington insist that United Nations treaties and innovative technologies can protect us and assure peace in our time. To save money, “Progressives,” holding power in our capital, have cut the U.S. Armed Forces to the bone.

But when the city of Houston is targeted by suicide bombers—and Dr. Martin Cohen, America’s foremost physicist, is kidnapped—the brilliantly executed attack sends shock waves around the globe. The price of fuel skyrockets. With the U.S. economy on the brink of catastrophe, leaders in Washington look for a scapegoat—instead of our missing scientist. Enter Peter Newman, a highly decorated U.S. Marine war hero, veteran of multiple high-risk covert operations—and Naval Academy roommate of Dr. Marty Cohen. The precarious quest to find and rescue his friend puts the entire Newman family in lethal peril—and exposes the most ominous threat to the United States in our nation’s history.

Only someone who has actually “been there, done that” could write this book. Filled with heart-stopping action, authentic detail, and blistering tension, Heroes Proved is the most riveting work yet from national security expert, master novelist, and real-life war hero Oliver North.

Cop to Corpse ($2.09 Kindle), the twelfth novel in the Peter Diamond mystery series by Peter Lovesey [Soho Crime], with the companion audiobook for $2.99.
Book Description
PC Harry Trasker is the third policeman in the Bath area to be shot dead in less than twelve weeks. The assassinations are the work of a sniper no one has been able to pin down. The younger detectives are no match for this murderer and his merciless agenda. This is a job for Inspector Peter Diamond, and it might be the most dangerous investigation of his life.

The Chameleon Conspiracy ($1.99 Kindle), the third Dan Gordon Intelligence Thriller by former US covert intelligence agent Haggai Carmon [Thomas & Mercer].
Book Description
The master criminal and con man known as the Chameleon has eluded international law enforcement for twenty years. Dan Gordon was sure he finally had him, but he was left empty-handed. Now he won’t rest until the Chameleon is stopped. The Chameleon is actually more than a mere criminal—he’s an undercover sleeper agent. But Gordon is more than he seems, too. He’s an experienced hunter, trained by the Mossad, working now for the CIA.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Daily Deal - Under Fire (E)

Under Fire ($6.99 $5.38 Kindle), a military romantic suspense novel by Catherine Mann [Sourcebooks Casablanca], is today's Deal of the Day at at Diesel E-Books, where it's discounted to $1.40 (10 copies left).
Book Description
No Holds Barred, In Love or War...

A decorated hero, pararescueman Liam McCabe lives to serve. Six months ago, her and Rachel Flores met in the horrific aftermath of an earthquake in the Bahamas. They were tempted by an explosive attraction, but then they parted ways. Still, Liam has thought about Rachel every day—and night—since.

Now, after ignoring all his phone calls for six month, Rachel has turned up on base with a wild story about a high–ranking military traitor. She claims no one but Liam can help her—and she won't trust anyone else.

With nothing but her word and the testimony of a discharged military cop to go on, Liam would be insane to risk his career—even his life— to help a woman who left him in the dust.
Get the book from Diesel; be sure to check the sales price, as the Deal of the Day often sells out.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

UK Kindle Daily Deal 5/15

Britain Against America in the Naval War of 1812 (£1.09 UK), by Andrew Lambert [Faber and Faber], is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $10.05).
Book Description
In the summer of 1812 Britain stood alone, fighting for her very survival against a vast European Empire. Only the Royal Navy stood between Napoleon's legions and ultimate victory. In that dark hour America saw its chance to challenge British dominance: her troops invaded Canada and American frigates attacked British merchant shipping, the lifeblood of British defence.

War polarised America. The south and west wanted land, the north wanted peace and trade. But America had to choose between the oceans and the continent. Within weeks the land invasion had stalled, but American warships and privateers did rather better, and astonished the world by besting the Royal Navy in a series of battles.

Then in three titanic single ship actions the challenge was decisively met. British frigates closed with the Chesapeake, the Essex and the President, flagship of American naval ambition. Both sides found new heroes but none could equal Captain Philip Broke, champion of history's greatest frigate battle, when HMS Shannon captured the USS Chesapeake in thirteen blood-soaked minutes. Broke's victory secured British control of the Atlantic, and within a year Washington, D.C. had been taken and burnt by British troops.

Andrew Lambert, Laughton Professor of Naval History in the Department of War Studies at King's College London, brings all his mastery of the subject and narrative brilliance to throw new light on a war which until now has been much mythologised, little understood.

Saturday, May 11, 2013

UK Kindle Daily Deal 5/11

The Korean War (£0.99 UK), by Sir Max Hastings, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (no US edition).
Book Description
On 25 June 1950 the invasion of South Korea by the Communist North launched one of the bloodiest conflicts of the last century. The seemingly limitless power of the Chinese-backed North was thrown against the ferocious firepower of the UN-backed South in a war that can be seen today as the stark prelude to Vietnam. Max Hastings drew on first-hand accounts of those who fought on both sides to produce this vivid and incisive reassessment of the Korean War, bringing the military and human dimensions into sharp focus. Critically acclaimed on publication, The Korean War remains the best narrative history of this conflict.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Today's Deals

Happy Veteran's Day, everyone.

Today is the last day to take advantage of this KSO deal:

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Nine Books to Commemorate Veterans Day for $1.99 apiece (up to 89% off)..

Lost in Shangri-La: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II, by Mitchell Zuckoff (note: this one seems to be mispriced, as it is listed at $2.99), one of Amazon's Best Books of the Month, May 2011.
On May 13, 1945, twenty-four American servicemen and WACs boarded a transport plane for a sightseeing trip over “Shangri-La,” a beautiful and mysterious valley deep within the jungle-covered mountains of Dutch New Guinea.Unlike the peaceful Tibetan monks of James Hilton’s bestselling novel Lost Horizon, this Shangri-La was home to spear-carrying tribesmen, warriors rumored to be cannibals.

But the pleasure tour became an unforgettable battle for survival when the plane crashed. Miraculously, three passengers pulled through. Margaret Hastings, barefoot and burned, had no choice but to wear her dead best friend’s shoes. John McCollom, grieving the death of his twin brother also aboard the plane, masked his grief with stoicism. Kenneth Decker, too, was severely burned and suffered a gaping head wound.

Emotionally devastated, badly injured, and vulnerable to the hidden dangers of the jungle, the trio faced certain death unless they left the crash site. Caught between man-eating headhunters and enemy Japanese, the wounded passengers endured a harrowing hike down the mountainside—a journey into the unknown that would lead them straight into a primitive tribe of superstitious natives who had never before seen a white man—or woman.

Drawn from interviews, declassified U.S. Army documents, personal photos and mementos, a survivor’s diary, a rescuer’s journal, and original film footage, Lost in Shangri-La recounts this incredible true-life adventure for the first time. Mitchell Zuckoff reveals how the determined trio—dehydrated, sick, and in pain—traversed the dense jungle to find help; how a brave band of paratroopers risked their own lives to save the survivors; and how a cowboy colonel attempted a previously untested rescue mission to get them out.

By trekking into the New Guinea jungle, visiting remote villages, and rediscovering the crash site, Zuckoff also captures the contemporary natives’ remembrances of the long-ago day when strange creatures fell from the sky. A riveting work of narrative nonfiction that vividly brings to life an odyssey at times terrifying, enlightening, and comic, Lost in Shangri-La is a thrill ride from beginning to end.
The Only Thing Worth Dying For, by Eric Blehm
On a moonless night just weeks after September 11, 2001, U.S. Special Forces team ODA 574 infiltrates the mountains of southern Afghanistan with a seemingly impossible mission: to foment a tribal revolt and force the Taliban to surrender. Armed solely with the equipment they can carry on their backs, shockingly scant intelligence, and their mastery of guerrilla warfare, Captain Jason Amerine and his men have no choice but to trust their only ally, a little-known Pashtun statesman named Hamid Karzai who has returned from exile and is being hunted by the Taliban as he travels the countryside raising a militia.

The Only Thing Worth Dying For chronicles the most important mission in the early days of the Global War on Terror, when the men on the ground knew little about the enemy—and their commanders in Washington knew even less. With unprecedented access to surviving members of ODA 574, key war planners, and Karzai himself, award-winning author Eric Blehm cuts through the noise of politicians and high-level military officials to narrate for the first time a story of uncommon bravery and terrible sacrifice, intimately exposing the realities of unconventional warfare and nation-building in Afghanistan that continue to shape the region today.
The Long Ships, by Frans G. Bengtsson, Michael Chabon (Introduction) and Michael Meyer (Translator)
Frans Gunnar Bengtsson’s The Long Ships resurrects the fantastic world of the tenth century AD when the Vikings roamed and rampaged from the northern fastnesses of Scandinavia down to the Mediterranean. Bengtsson’s hero, Red Orm—canny, courageous, and above all lucky—is only a boy when he is abducted from his Danish home by the Vikings and made to take this place at the oars of their dragon-prowed ships. Orm is then captured by the Moors in Spain, where he is initiated into the pleasures of the senses and fights for the Caliph of Cordova. Escaping from captivity, Orm washes up in Ireland, where he marvels at those epicene creatures, the Christian monks, and from which he then moves on to play an ever more important part in the intrigues of the various Scandinavian kings and clans and dependencies. Eventually, Orm contributes to the Viking defeat of the army of the king of England and returns home an off-the-cuff Christian and a very rich man, though back on his native turf new trials and tribulations will test his cunning and determination. Packed with pitched battles and blood feuds and told throughout with wit and high spirits, Bengtsson’s book is a splendid adventure that features one of the most unexpectedly winning heroes in modern fiction.
We Are Soldiers Still, by Harold G. Moore and Joseph L. Galloway
Lt. Gen. Harold Moore and Joseph Galloway return to Vietnam's Ia Drang Valley more than four decades after the battle they recalled in their #1 New York Times bestseller We Were Soldiers Once . . . and Young. Renewing their relationships with ten American veterans of the fabled conflict—and with former adversaries—the authors explore how the war changed them all, as well as their two countries.

We Are Soldiers Still is an emotional journey back to hallowed ground, putting a human face on warfare as the authors reflect on war's devastating cost.
Tonight We Die As Men: The Untold Story of Third Batallion 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment from Toccoa to D-Day, by Ian Gardner
The exploits of the 3rd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment have long been overshadowed by those of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion. Yet the actions of the 3rd Battalion during the D-Day landings were every bit as incredible. This is the astounding story of how, after suffering many immediate casualties on landing, the surviving paratroopers fought on towards their objective against horrendous odds. Using fascinating first-hand accounts of the soldiers and the French civilians who witnessed the Normandy campaign, and illustrated with black and white photographs and maps throughout, the authors offer a unique and comprehensive account of the experiences of the 3rd Battalion from training through to D-Day and beyond.
Red Eagles: Americas Secret MiGs, by Steve Davies
When two Navy F-14 Tomcats engaged and shot down two Sukhoi Su-22 jet fighters in 1981, they drew on experience and tactics that they had learned from a previous encounter with MiG jet fighters. The difference between the two encounters was that in the first, the enemy fighters were flown by American pilots assigned to a top secret squadron hidden at a remote airfield in the ultra-secret Tonopah Nuclear Test range, Nevada. In the second, the Sukhoi fighters were flown by Libyan pilots attempting to enforce Colonel Qadaffi's 'Line of Death' over the Gulf of Sidra.

From the mid-1960s until the end of the Cold War, the United States Air Force acquired and flew Russian-made MiG jets, eventually creating a secret squadron dedicated to exposing American fighter pilots to enemy MiGs. Following underperformance in the Vietnam War, the USAF began to study MiGs in order to improve fighter pilot training. This then developed into the "black" Constant Peg program. In this program, MiGs were secretly acquired, and made airworthy, a difficult task without manuals or parts. A secret base was found to operate the planes from; and then ace pilots were found and trained to not only fly the assets, but fly them as they were flown by America's enemies. Finally, a program of exposing American fighter pilots to the MiGs was developed. In all, more than 1,600 American fighter pilots would train against America's secret MiGs between 1974 and 1989.

Uncovering the story of the secret MiGs in America during the Cold War, and specifically Constant Peg and the 4477th Test & Evaluation Squadron, is a challenge because much of the information has been destroyed, or remains classified. To piece together the story of this group of men who provided America's fighter pilots with a level of training that was the stuff of dreams, author Steve Davies has interviewed over thirty of the Red Eagle pilots, along with other members of the squadron. This paperback edition includes new material on HAVE IDEA and other HAVE programs; making the MiGs airworthy in 1977 from the maintainers' perspective; and the intelligence activities of MiG expert at the Foreign Technology Division Mike Coyle. The result is a fascinating glimpse into a "black" program that enabled American fighter pilots to go into combat having already met and defeated their first MiG.
SEALs: The US Navy's Elite Fighting Force, by Mir Bahmanyar
Since the US Navy SEALs came into existence in 1983, they have become famous for their daring missions, advanced and unconventional tactics, hard training and hard-fought successes. SEALs have taken part in numerous conflicts ranging from Grenada in 1983, the invasion of Panama and operations in Somalia, Bosnia, Haiti, and Liberia. Most recently, SEAL units have participated in the ongoing missions of Operation Enduring Freedom in the war in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom in the war in Iraq.

Now in paperback, this bestselling book from respected authors Mir Bahmanyar and Chris Osman offers readers a focus on modern combat operations between 1983 and 2006, examining various combat operations, the Navy SEAL training regimes, and the development of tactics and weapons. It includes first-hand accounts from SEALs on the ground, including revealing accounts from those currently involved in operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. This is an eye-opening insight into the shadowy and mysterious world of the US Navy SEALs, guaranteed to appeal to anyone with an interest in modern military operations, current events, and even those interested in becoming a Navy SEAL.
No Greater Ally: The Untold Story of Poland's Forces in World War II, by Kenneth Koskodan
There is a chapter of World War II history that remains largely untold, the story of the fourth largest allied military of the war, the only nation to have fought in the battles of Leningrad, Arnhem, Tobruk and Normandy. The story of millions of young men and women who gave everything for freedom and in the final victory lost all. In a cruel twist of history the monumental struggles of an entire nation have been forgotten, and even intentionally obscured. This book redresses the balance, giving a comprehensive overview of Poland's participation in World War II. Following their valiant but doomed defense of Poland in 1939, members of the Polish armed forces fought with the Allies wherever and however they could. With previously unpublished first-hand accounts, information never before seen in English, and rare photographs, this title provides a detailed analysis of the devastation the war brought to Poland, and the final betrayal when, having fought for freedom for six long years, Poland was handed to the Soviet Union.
Runescape: Betrayal at Falador, by T. S. Church
In the kingdom of Asgarnia, though the Knights of Falador defend the land a protect the people, they face threats that clamor from all sides-and from within. Enemies mass at borders, and a killer stalks the night killing innocents and slipping away unseen.

When a young woman appears in the teeth of the storm, her sudden arrival launches a chain of events that endangers the very fabric of magic. And unless the knights can solve the riddle of Kara-Meir, everything they hold close may be lost.

Their one hope may lie in the hands, not of a knight, but of an untested squire named Theodore...

World War 2: Last War Heroes ($1.59 / £0.99 UK), by Stephen Bull, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $10.39 and has been retitled D-Day to Victory).
Book Description
The companion volume to the groundbreaking TV series, this book tells the story of the physical, emotional and psychological journey of Allied soldiers from the beaches of Normandy to the ruins of Berlin. In their own words these brave men from Britain, the United States, Canada and Russia tell us what it was like to face the bullets, bombs, mortars, mines and artillery shells of Nazi Germany. Interviews with over 80 soldiers who fought in the conflict, totalling 150 hours, provide a new perspective on the experiences of 1944–45. Building on the high-speed, multi-camera filming of World War II weapons and munitions shown in the TV series, this book brings the terrifying reality of the war to life. Technical descriptions and the experiences of the men in the field explain the dramatic power and effect that this weaponry had on the battlefield, from the sinister simplicity of the deadly AP mine through to the immense firepower of the 88mm gun, giving the modern historian a unique insight into the last days of the war for the troops on the frontline. This is not a history of generals, of armies manoeuvring and strategic objectives. It is a book about the ordinary men put into incredible situations, deprived of sleep and food, and in constant fear of death on the long road to victory.

The Warrior's Heart: Becoming a Man of Compassion and Courage ($2.99 Kindle, B&N), a teen/YA title by Eric Greitens, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle.
Book Description
In this adaptation of his best-selling book, The Heart and the Fist, Eric speaks directly to teen readers, interweaving memoir and intimate second-person narratives that ask the reader to put themselves in the shoes of himself and others. Readers will share in Eric’s evolution from average kid to globe-traveling humanitarian to warrior, training and serving with the most elite military outfit in the world: the Navy SEALs. Along the way, they’ll be asked to consider the power of choices, of making the decision each and every day to act with courage and compassion so that they grow to be tomorrow’s heroes. Sure to inspire and motivate.

Grade Level: 7 and up

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Hero Dad ($1.99), by Melinda Hardin and Bryan Langdo (Illustrator).
Book Description
Some superheroes wear rocket-propelled boots, drive super-powered cars, and have X-ray vision. But other superheroes wear army boots, drive tanks, and go away for long trips to make the world a safer place. It's a tough job, but that's what superheroes have to do. With Melinda Hardin's simple text and with Bryan Langdo's endearing watercolor-and-pencil illustrations, Hero Dad makes a difficult and tender subject more accessible to children with parents serving far from home.

Grade Level: Pre K and up
This book features Kindle Text Pop-Up for reading text over vivid, full-color images when using Kindle Fire/HD or select Kindle Reading Apps (Kindle Cloud Reader, Kindle for iPad or Kindle for Android); however, it can be read on all current Kindle devices.

Dawn of D-DAY: These Men Were There, June 6, 1944 ($2.99 Kindle), by David Howarth, may or may not remain at this price more than a day, but fits right in with the theme of today's deals.
Book Description
June 6, 1944, is one of the most famous dates in world history, and, as David Howarth shows, a defining date in countless personal histories. In this intimate chronicle, the 7,000 vessels, 12,000 aircraft, and 750,000 men committed on D-Day are taken for granted. Instead, we see D-Day through the eyes of the men on the ground as Howarth weaves together the larger story of the beginning of the battle of Normandy with the stories of the beachhead itself. The scope of Howarth's vision—focusing on England and France, on sky, beach, and hedgerow, on divisions and squads—makes Dawn of D-Day a franker portrayal than any other of the turning-point of the war on the Western Front and the greatest amphibious operation in history.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Free Book - Bringing the Thunder (K)

Bringing the Thunder: The Missions of a World War II B-29 Pilot in the Pacific, by Gordon Bennett Robertson Jr., is free in the Kindle store, courtesy of Stackpole Books; this title is part of the Stackpole Military History series.
Book Description
The B-29 bomber was made to soar in thin, cold air, dropping its massive bomb load from heights so great that the crews might never see their targets through the clouds below. That was just fine with Ben Robertson, pilot in command of one of the big four engine bombers hammering Japan to its knees in a nonstop bombing campaign in the Pacific. When General LeMay ordered the B-29s to switch tactics from daylight, high-altitude bombing runs to nighttime, low-level runs, Ben's attitude changed. What was once seen as simply dangerous--bombing Japan--now seemed a whole lot more like suicide.
  • Features dozens of never-before-seen photos of the B-29 in action
  • A fast-paced, riveting account that puts the reader in the cockpit of a four-engine bomber over enemy territory
  • Detailed account of combat, mission by mission

Free Book - Michael Wittmann and the Waffen SS Tiger Commander (K)

Michael Wittmann and the Waffen SS Tiger Commanders of the Leibstandarte in WWII, Vol. 1, by Patrick Agte, is free in the Kindle store, courtesy of Stackpole Books; this title is part of the Stackpole Military History series.
Book Description
The story of one of the most successful and decorated tank commanders of all time. Contains maps, official documents, newspaper clippings, and orders of battle.

German Panzer ace Michael Wittmann was by far the most famous tank commander on any side in World War II, destroying 138 enemy tanks and 132 anti-tank guns with his Tiger. This classic of armored warfare is both combat biography and unit history, as Patrick Agte focuses on the life and career of Wittmann but also includes his fellow Tiger commanders in the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler. Volume One covers the Eastern Front, where Wittmann racked up more than 100 kills and participated in the Battle of Kursk in 1943.

Free Book - Southern Seahawk: (K/N)

Southern Seahawk, the first novel in the Seahawk Trilogy by Randall Peffer, is free in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble.
Book Description
Southern Seahawk: A Novel of the Civil War at Sea grows from the true story of Commander Raphael Semmes’ rise to infamy, becoming the Union’s “Public Enemy Number One.”

In June, 1861, Semmes’ Confederate cruiser Sumter makes a daring escape through the Federal Blockade of the Mississippi. So begins the commander’s career as the Southern Seahawk. With a hand-picked crew of Southern officers and mercenary seamen, Semmes seizes eight enemy ships in four days, a record never surpassed by any other captain of a warship. By the time the cruises of the Sumter and her successor Alabama end, Semmes will have taken and burned more than eighty prizes, making him the most successful maritime predator in history.

For two and a half years Semmes eludes a pack of pursuers and almost single-handedly drives marine insurance rates so high in the North, that many Yankee ships refuse to sail until he is caught. Back in Washington, Semmes’ predations fuel feuds within the Lincoln cabinet and incite the spy games of historical figures like courtesans Rose Greenhow, Betty Duval, detective Allan Pinkerton and the commander’s mistress.
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Free Book - Winston's War (K/N)

Winston's War: A Novel of Conspiracy, by Michael Dobbs, is free in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble.
Book Description
An intriguing tale of espionage and treason?this is a work to enthrall." ? Daily Mail

Michael Dobbs' thrilling novel about the dawn of World War II, and Winston Churchill's rise to power.

It is the dawn of World War II, and Neville Chamberlain believes he has bought "peace for our time" from Adolph Hitler, who has just seized Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland. The English are alarmed by the huge German army, while the soldiers that would defend London don't even have steel helmets. For many, compromise and appeasement seem to be England's best defense.

But there are a few leaders who don't agree. Among them is Winston Churchill, who understands that the relentless march of fascism will be democracy's death knell. In October 1938, Churchill pleads his case in the press to the BBC's Guy Burgess. One of these two will become the most revered man of his time, and the other will be known as the greatest of traitors.

This stunning novel brings to life the surprising political intrigues that set the stage for World War II, and brings alive the passionate, grumpy, whiskey-drinking Winston Churchill, as he inspires his fellow countrymen to take on the world's mightiest army.

Includes bonus reading group guide.
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Free Book - Band of Sisters (K)

Band of Sisters: American Women at War in Iraq, by Kirsten Holmstedt, is free in the Kindle store. This title won both the 2007 American Authors Association Golden Quill Award and the 2007 Military Writers Society of America Founders Award.
Book Description
In Iraq, the front lines are everywhere . . . and everywhere in Iraq, no matter what their job descriptions say, women in the U.S. military are fighting--more than 155,000 of them. A critical and commercial success in hardcover, Band of Sisters presents a dozen groundbreaking and often heart-wrenching stories of American women in combat in Iraq, such as the U.S.s first female pilot to be shot down and survive, the militarys first black female pilot in combat, a young turret gunner defending convoys, and a nurse struggling to save lives, including her own.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Free Book - Robert E. Lee (K)

Robert E. Lee: The Last Cavalier, by Willard Sterne Randall, and Nancy Nahra, is free in the Kindle store, courtesy of New Word City. It's likely to only be free today, as seems to be their new marketing scheme this month.
Book Description
Born the son of a wastrel Revolutionary War hero, Robert E. Lee grew up in genteel poverty, only attending West Point because it was tuition-free. He distinguished himself for valor in the Mexican War. Although he was subsequently offered command of all Union forces in the Civil War, he refused to fight against his fellow Virginians and instead took command of Confederate forces. This fascinating book gives new insight into both Lee’s character and the strategies that ultimately determined the outcome of the Civil War.

Free Book - Dwight Eisenhower, A Life (K)

Dwight Eisenhower, A Life is free in the Kindle store, courtesy of New Word City. It's likely to only be free today, as seems to be their new marketing scheme this month.
Book Description
President Dwight D. Eisenhower is largely remembered as the genial, smiling face of placid 1950s America. But his life and accomplishments - he wrestled with the Cold War, McCarthyism, and school desegregation, among other hot-button issues - tell a far more complex story. Here is his surprising and inspiring story.

Free Book - Leadership (K)

Leadership: The West Point Lecture, by William Deresiewicz, is free in the Kindle store, courtesy of New Word City. It's likely to only be free today, as seems to be their new marketing scheme this month.
Book Description
When former Yale University professor William Deresiewicz delivered a lecture at the United States Military Academy at West Point in 2009, he never anticipated the response it would generate. Since then, he has received requests to use his lecture from the Army Command and General Staff College; the Naval War College; the Air Force Weapons School; the Defense Department’s Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation; the Army’s University of Foreign Military and Cultural Studies; the business schools at Stanford, the University of Chicago, the University of California, San Diego, and the University of California, Irvine; the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health; King Saud University; Zayed University in Abu Dhabi; the Indian Institute of Management at Ahmedabad; and Whirlpool, Boeing, Verizon, Alcatel-Lucent, and United Technologies. The speech even elicited a note of appreciation from General David Petraeus. Here are the words that inspired so many.
Note: The synopsis the publisher has used at Amazon seems to have little to do with the actual book, which isn't on friendship, but is a lecture on leadership delivered at West Point.

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Free Book (Kindle) - Career Progression Guide For Soldiers

Career Progression Guide For Soldiers: A Practical, Complete Guide for Getting Ahead in Today's Competitive Army, by Audie G. Lewis, is free in the Kindle store.
Book Description
This fully updated and expanded third edition is an ideal how-to book for soldiers wanting to attain rank in the service. Includes advice and proven techniques for improving duty performance and increasing promotion points, together with samples of forms and formats for applying for promotion and for appearing before promotion boards. Includes requirements for warrant officer and commissioned officer opportunities, and methods for overcoming obstacles to promotion.

About the Author
Audie G. Lewis is a product of this method. He entered the U.S. Army as a private and served as an NCO and as an officer. He currently resides in Florida.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Free Book (Kindle) - Tigers in the Mud

Tigers in the Mud: The Combat Career of German Panzer Commander Otto Carius, by Otto Carius, is free in the Kindle store. This is a part of the a part of the Stackpole Military History series and Stackpole's titles generally are not free outside the Kindle store.
Book Description
Real war stories told by real soldiers for readers who want to know what it was like to be in the thick of battle. These are riveting combat narratives about the weapons and warriors of some of history's bloodiest conflicts. Each book is a gritty, action-oriented account of life and death in the heat of battle. Original titles as well as long out-of-print gems will explore conflicts ranging from the blood-soaked fields of the Civil War to the current war on terror and everything in between. The books are published as high-quality and affordable trade paperbacks, making them terrific editions for all who are interested in military history.

WWII began with a metallic roar as the German Blitzkrieg raced across Europe, spearheaded by the most dreaded weapon of the 20th century: the Panzer. No German tank better represents that thundering power than the infamous Tiger, and Otto Carius was one of the most successful commanders to ever take a Tiger into battle, destroying well over 150 enemy tanks during his incredible career.

Illustrations: 51 b/w photos; 3 maps; 50 illustrations

Friday, December 2, 2011

Free Book (ADE-EPUB) - Instructions for American Servicemen in France during World War II

Instructions for American Servicemen in France during World War II ($7.38 Kindle), by The United States Army and Rick Atkinson, is this month's free book from The University of Chicago Press.
Book Description
“You are about to play a personal part in pushing the Germans out of France. Whatever part you take—rifleman, hospital orderly, mechanic, pilot, clerk, gunner, truck driver—you will be an essential factor in a great effort.”

As American soldiers fanned out from their beachhead in Normandy in June of 1944 and began the liberation of France, every soldier carried that reminder in his kit. A compact trove of knowledge and reassurance, Instructions for American Servicemen in France during World War II was issued to soldiers just before they embarked for France to help them understand both why they were going and what they’d find when they got there. After lying unseen in Army archives for decades, this remarkable guide is now available in a new facsimile edition that reproduces the full text and illustrations of the original along with a new introduction by Rick Atkinson setting the book in context.

Written in a straightforward, personal tone, the pamphlet is equal parts guidebook, cultural snapshot, and propaganda piece. A central aim is to dispel any prejudices American soldiers may have about the French—especially relating to their quick capitulation in 1940. Warning soldiers that the defeat “is a raw spot which the Nazis have been riding” since the occupation began, Instructions is careful to highlight France’s long historical role as a major U.S. ally. Following that is a brief, fascinating sketch of the French character (“The French are mentally quick;” “Rich or poor, they are economical”) and stark reminders of the deprivation the French have endured under occupation. Yet an air of reassuring confidence pervades the final section of the pamphlet, which reads like a straightforward tourists’ guide to Paris and the provinces—like a promise of better days to come once the soldiers complete their mission.

Written by anonymous War Department staffers to meet the urgent needs of the moment, with no thought of its historical value, Instructions for American Servicemen in France during World War II nevertheless brings to vivid life the closing years of World War II—when optimism was growing, but a long, demanding road still lay ahead.
Sign up for the free book from the University of Chicago. You'll need to enter your email address, then check your email for the link to download the book. Mine arrived within seconds -- you get a .ACSM file, which, when opened, will load the PDF book inside of Adobe ADE. This is a DRM'd PDF and is not compatible with the Kindle.

While you are there, check out their The Great Chicago Book Sale! 600 books with prices starting at $5! Use promo code AD9626

Friday, July 1, 2011

Free Book (EPUB) - Diamondhead

Diamondhead ($6.39 Kindle), by Patrick Robinson, is free from Kobo, courtesy of a promotion from Cruz Micro, the maker of an Android based tablet.

Book Description
When Navy SEAL Mack Bedford’s fellow officers are brutally killed by Iraqi insurgents using a cruel, new, anti-tank Diamondhead missile, Mack avenges their murders by gunning down the then-unarmed attackers, ultimately getting himself court-martialed and kicked out of the Navy in the process. To make matters worse, Mack then learns that the Diamondhead missiles were sold illegally by French industrialist and infamous politician Henri Foche. Mack suspects that Foche will succeed in his campaign to become the next French president and fears that his election will promote the spread of international terrorism.

In addition, Mack has a gravely ill son whose life can only be saved with an experimental and unaffordable foreign medical procedure. So when Mack is asked to help assassinate Henri Foche, he finds himself agreeing. His reward: a chance at survival for both his son and the country.

But before Mack can reach Foche, a jilted mercenary group warns the Frenchman of the threat, greatly increasing the difficulty of Mack’s solo assassination attempt. Can Mack track down and murder the French tyrant as he has been commissioned to do? Does he have the power to restore his reputation as a Navy SEAL? And will he be able to save his son before it’s too late?


Click HERE to get the free book from Kobo. Use promo code DIAMOND on the checkout page (make sure you apply the code and double check the total is $0.00 before clicking to buy).

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Free and Bargain Historic Fiction and Military History

The Angel of 1776 ($0.99 Kindle) is a novella Jeffry S. Hepple, who has given us free copies of several of his books in the past. Jeff is also runs ebookgab, a forum for readers and writers, and the online forum for Operation eBook Drop. Until New Year's, you can get a free copy HERE in any one of several DRM-free formats.

Book Description
In 1776, between Christmas and New Year’s Day, the continually retreating, seemingly defeated Continental Army of the fledgling United States of America went on the attack and changed the course of history.

Was the army’s sudden reversal of fortune purely a product of General George Washington’s brilliance, or did Washington get some divine assistance?


Spirit of Union Trilogy - Three in One ($0.99 Kindle), by Gordon Ryan, was originally published in hardcover in the late 90's. The author just dropped the price and I suspect it'll go back up after Christmas.

Book Description
Vol. I - Destiny: Fleeing an abusive father and a hopeless life in Ireland in 1895, nineteen-year-old Tom Callahan takes passage on a ship bound for America. On board, he meets Katrina Hansen, a young Norwegian woman traveling to Utah. It's not a likely match. The brash Irishman is a Catholic, a brawler and a young man without prospects. Destiny is a sprawling historical novel set at the turn of the 19th century, played out in such far-flung places as New York City, the gold fields of Alaska and Old Mexico.

Vol. II - Conflict: It's 1917 and American has entered World War I. The Callahan's son has joined with what President Woodrow Wilson is calling "the fight to make the world safe for democracy." Set against turbulent events in world history and filled with vivid scenes as well as tender emotions, Conflict takes the reader around the world.

Vol. III - Heritage: Tom and Katrina Callahan's three children have grown up and are making their way in a world that is propelling itself toward World War II. Tess has her heart set on a Hollywood movie career; PJ is a successful sheep rancher in New Zealand and Tommy is pursuing his career in the Marine Corps and learning not only about war, but about the perils of romance. In this, the final volume of Spirit of Union, Gordon Ryan follows Tom and Katrina into their middle and late years. Living in a time when aviation is becoming a viable industry, the stock market is booming and Hitler's evil machinations are on the horizon, the world, and the Callahans, are embroiled on every front. Set in Hawaii, the Dominican Republic, South America, Great Britain and the United States, Heritage is filled with scenes and characters that will linger in your mind long after you close the book.


Army History is published by the U.S. Army Center of Military History. All current and past issues are available for download as PDF files. Lots of interesting stuff and great research material.

The current issue is 60 pages and includes articles on black soldiers in Confederate prisons, friendly fire during the invasion of North Africa and questions whether the military as a profession is on the decline.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Bargain Book Roundup

The Griffin Mage: Books 1 & 2 ($7.99), by Rachel Neumeier, is Orbit's discounted book of the month. This contains the full contents of Lord of the Changing Winds ($7.99) and Land of the Burning Sands ($7.99) in a single volume. If you recognize the author's name, it might be because the third book in the series, Law of the Broken Earth ($7.99), was on of this week's pricing error bargains, free for a few hours in the morning. If you managed to snag it, that means you can get the entire trilogy for under $8. I'm reading the sample now and will probably end up getting it.

Book Description
Book 1: LORD OF THE CHANGING WINDS
Little ever happens in the quiet villages of peaceful Feierabiand. For Kes, the course of her life seems set: she'll grow up to be an herb-woman and healer, never quite fitting in but always more or less accepted. And she's content with that path - or she thinks she is. Until the day the griffins come down from the mountains, bringing with them the fiery wind of their desert and a desperate need for a healer. But what the griffins need is a healer who is not quite human...or a healer who can be made into something not quite human.

Book 2: LAND OF THE BURNING SANDS
Gereint Enseichen of Casmantium knows little and cares less about the recent war in which his king tried to use griffins and fire to wrest territory from the neighboring country of Feierabiand. Now, his kingdom's unexpected defeat offers him a chance to escape from his own servitude.

But now that the griffins find themselves in a position of strength, they are not inclined to forgive and the entire kingdom finds itself in a deadly peril. Willing or not, Gereint is caught up in a desperate struggle between the griffins and the last remaining mage...


The Good, the Bad, and the Undead with Bonus Material ($1.99), by Kim Harrison, is the second book in her Hollows series. This edition is a pre-order, so if you want to sampler first, you can get it from this edition: The Good, the Bad, and the Undead ($7.99. If you've been a reader here for a while, there's a good chance you already have the first in the series, Dead Witch Walking ($7.99), as it was free in February. The bonus material is an excerpt from her upcoming title, Pale Demon ($12.99) and the only reason I don't have it on pre-order myself is that I lucked into a review copy.

Book Description
For a limited time, discover Kim Harrison's The Good, the Bad, and the Undead including an early excerpt from her new novel, Pale Demon, on sale February 22, 2011.

It's a tough life for witch Rachel Morgan, sexy, independent bounty hunter, prowling the darkest shadows of downtown Cincinnati for criminal creatures of the night.

She can handle the leather-clad vamps and even tangle with a cunning demon or two. But a serial killer who feeds on the experts in the most dangerous kind of black magic is definitely pressing the limits.

Confronting an ancient, implacable evil is more than just child's play -- and this time, Rachel will be lucky to escape with her very soul.


The Breach with Bonus Material ($1.99), by Patrick Lee, is another pre-order, re-release. Get a sample of this one from The Breach ($7.99. If you do pick up this one, you'll have a week to read it before Ghost Country ($9.99) is released.

Book Description
For a limited time, discover New York Times bestselling author Patrick Lee's The Breach, including a special note from the author and an exclusive excerpt from the hotly anticipated sequel, Ghost Country, available December 28th.

Thirty years ago, in a facility buried beneath a vast Wyoming emptiness, an experiment gone awry accidentally opened a door.

It is the world's best-kept secret—and its most terrifying.

Trying to regain his life in the Alaskan wilds, ex-con/ex-cop Travis Chase stumbles upon an impossible scene: a crashed 747 passenger jet filled with the murdered dead, including the wife of the President of the United States. Though a nightmare of monumental proportions, it pales before the terror to come, as Chase is dragged into a battle for the future that revolves around an amazing artifact.

Allied with a beautiful covert operative whose life he saved, Chase must now play the role he's been destined for—a pawn of incomprehensible forces or humankind's final hope—as the race toward Apocalypse begins in earnest.Because something is loose in the world.

And doomsday is not only possible . . . it is inevitable.


My Goat Ate Its Own Legs ($1.99), by Alex Burrett, is a short story collection. This appears to be the full collection; there are eight volumes with the same title, all of which appear to be a single story from the collection. The paperback is 256 pages and contains 31 short stories.

Book Description
In a voice so unfailingly chipper it's suspicious, Alex Burrett poses in fiction some disturbing yet certainly possible futures for the human race (and other ambitious, earthbound mammals). Always ready with an impeccable phrase or a sly wink, he shares stories of the most darkly ironic sort, including a field report from a human abattoir, a chronicle of dating Death, and, of course, the tale of the goat that ate its own legs. These thirty brilliant, bizarre, and morbidly hilarious "tales for adults" will delight anyone who doesn't take life (or death) too seriously.

Flyboys: A True Story of Courage ($1.99), by James Bradley, author of Flags of Our Fathers ($6.29), is the story of eight individuals in WWII whose story, including their deaths, classified until recently.

Book Description
FLYBOYS is the true story of young American airmen who were shot down over Chichi Jima. Eight of these young men were captured by Japanese troops and taken prisoner. Another was rescued by an American submarine and went on to become president. The reality of what happened to the eight prisoners has remained a secret for almost 60 years. After the war, the American and Japanese governments conspired to cover up the shocking truth. Not even the families of the airmen were informed what had happened to their sons. It has remained a mystery--until now. Critics called James Bradley's last book "the best book on battle ever written." FLYBOYS is even better: more ambitious, more powerful, and more moving. On the island of Chichi Jima those young men would face the ultimate test. Their story--a tale of courage and daring, of war and of death, of men and of hope--will make you proud, and it will break your heart.

Queen of Babble Bundle with Bonus Material ($9.99), by Meg Cabot, contains the entire Queen of Babble, three volumes that are currently selling for $9.99 each in the Kindle store. It's a pre-order, but you can sample the first in the series, Queen of Babble Bundle ($9.99), to get an idea of the writing.

Book Description
Available for a limited only, this special Meg Cabot Bundle with Bonus Material features all three of the novels in her funny and heartwarming Queen of Babble series (Queen of Babble, Queen of Babble in the Big City, and Queen of Babble Gets Hitched) as well as an extended excerpt from the New York Times bestselling Insatiable, the first book in Meg's newest series.

Queen of Babble
Lizzie Nichols has a problem, and it isn't that she doesn't have the slightest idea what she's going to do with her life or that she's blowing what should be her down payment on a cute little Manhattan apartment on a trip to London to visit her long-distance boyfriend, Andrew. But what's the point of planning for the future when she's done it again? See, Lizzie can't keep her mouth shut. And it's not just that she can't keep her own secrets, she can't keep anything to herself.

This time when she opens her big mouth, her good intentions get Andrew in major hot water. So now Lizzie's stuck in London with no boyfriend and no place to stay until the departure date on her nonrefundable airline ticket.

Fortunately, there's Shari, Lizzie's best friend and college roommate, who's spending her summer in southern France, catering weddings with her boyfriend, Chaz, in a sixteenth-century château. One call and Lizzie's on a train to Souillae. Who cares if she's never traveled alone in her life and only speaks rudimentary French? One glimpse of gorgeous Château Mirac -- not to mention the gorgeous Luke, the son of Château Mirac's owner -- and she's smitten.

But while most caterers can be trusted to keep a secret, Lizzie's the exception. And no sooner has the first cork been popped than Luke hates her, the bride is in tears, and it looks like Château Mirac is in danger of becoming a lipo-recovery spa. As if things aren't bad enough, her ex-boyfriend Andrew shows up looking for "closure" (or at least a loan), threatening to ruin everything, including Lizzie's chance at finding real love. . . .

Unless she can figure out a way to use that big mouth of hers to save the day.


Burned Alive: A Victim of the Law of Men ($1.99), by Souad

Book Description
The first true account ever published by a victim of an "honor crime," this shocking, moving, and harrowing tale has already become an international sensation.

Souad was a 17-year-old girl living in a small village in Jordan when she had the misfortune of falling in love--an emotion that would lead to an unspeakable act of violence and a lifetime of exile from her homeland. With a childhood marked by hard labor and physical abuse at the hands of her father, who is humiliated by the birth of many daughters and only one son, Souad is desperate to leave home. Enticed into a relationship with a handsome neighbor, her short-lived romance leaves her pregnant. Forbidden to marry until her older sisters find husbands and having brought shame to her family, Souad faces the only acceptable punishment: death. How her family plots to kill her, her harrowing struggle to survive burns over 90% of her body after her brother-in-law douses her with gasoline and sets her on fire, her dramatic escape from Jordan, and her resolve to build a new life for herself is a tale of heartbreaking drama and remarkable courage.


The Ritual Bath ($0.99), by Faye Kellerman

Book Description
Detective Peter Decker of the LAPD is stunned when he gets the report. Someone has shattered the sanctuary of a remote yeshiva community in the California hills with an unimaginable crime. One of the women was brutally raped as she returned from the mikvah, the bathhouse where the cleansing ritual is performed.

The crime was called in by Rina Lazarus, and Decker is relieved to discover that she is a calm and intelligent witness. She is also the only one in the sheltered community willing to speak of this unspeakable violation. As Rina tries to steer Decker through the maze of religious laws the two grow closer. But before they get to the bottom of this horrendous crime, revelations come to light that are so shocking that they threaten to come between the hard-nosed cop and the deeply religious woman with whom he has become irrevocably linked.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Bargain Book Roundup - Military and Action/Thrillers

Some of these are Agency priced books and will be the same in all the stores, while others are discounts offered at Amazon alone. Links are to the Amazon versions, just for simplicity. To start off with, I've chosen some titles that are about the Veteran's to which today is dedicated. After that, it's all military, action and thrillers. Don't stop before the end, as I saved one of the really good ones for the last.

Tiger Force: A True Story of Men and War ($1.99), by Michael Sallah & Mitch Weiss, is an adaptation of a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative series originally published in the TOLEDO BLADE.

Book Description
At the outset of the Vietnam War, the Army created an experimental fighting unit that became known as "Tiger Force." The Tigers were to be made up of the cream of the crop-the very best and bravest soldiers the American military could offer. They would be given a long leash, allowed to operate in the field with less supervision. Their mission was to seek out enemy compounds and hiding places so that bombing runs could be accurately targeted. They were to go where no troops had gone, to become one with the jungle, to leave themselves behind and get deep inside the enemy's mind.

The experiment went terribly wrong.

What happened during the seven months Tiger Force descended into the abyss is the stuff of nightmares. Their crimes were uncountable, their madness beyond imagination-so much so that for almost four decades, the story of Tiger Force was covered up under orders that stretched all the way to the White House. Records were scrubbed, documents were destroyed, men were told to say nothing.

But one person didn't follow orders. The product of years of investigative reporting, interviews around the world, and the discovery of an astonishing array of classified information, Tiger Force is a masterpiece of journalism. Winners of the Pulitzer Prize for their Tiger Force reporting, Michael Sallah and Mitch Weiss have uncovered the last great secret of the Vietnam War.


A More Unbending Battle ($1.35), by Peter Nelson, looks at WWI, The War to End All Wars, and one where nearly all the Veteran's have now passed away. It's a terrific price and looks at the history of the all-black National Guard unit that served in France (and was on the front lines longer than any other US unit).

Book Description
The night broke open in a storm of explosions and fire. The sound of shells whizzing overhead, screeching through the night like wounded pheasants, was terrifying. When the shells exploded prematurely overhead, a rain of shrapnel fell on the men below-better than when the shells exploded in the trenches... In A More Unbending Battle, journalist and author Pete Nelson chronicles the little-known story of the 369th Infantry Regiment-the first African-American regiment mustered to fight in WWI. Recruited from all walks of Harlem life, the regiment had to fight alongside the French because America’s segregation policy prohibited them from fighting with white U.S. soldiers. Despite extraordinary odds and racism, the 369th became one of the most successful-and infamous-regiments of the war. The Harlem Hellfighters, as their enemies named them, spent longer than any other American unit in combat, were the first Allied unit to reach the Rhine, and showed extraordinary valor on the battlefield, with many soldiers winning the Croix de Guerre and the Legion of Honor. Replete with vivid accounts of battlefield heroics, A More Unbending Battle is the thrilling story of the dauntless Harlem Hellfighters.

Turning Idolater ($0.89), by Edward C. Patterson, isn't a military themed title (although he has those), but is by a veteran who is the driving force behind Operation EBook Drop, that matches up soldiers and authors to get them free ebooks while serving overseas. All of his novels do, however, have either LGBT characters or a LGBT theme, so may not be for everyone.

Book Description
Philip Flaxen, who strips past his jockstrap on the Internet for manluv.org, acquires a rare gift - a book that transforms his life. With it, he sparks with a famous author, whittles away at a new craft, swims with an odd circle of new acquaintances and is swept up in mayhem. Philip leaves the world of the Porn Nazi and enters the realm of crisp possibilities - great expectations and dark secrets that unravel over deep waters.

Follow this whodunit as Philip Flaxen "turns idolater" and never looks back - a tale of Internet strippers, back street murders, Provincetown glitz, New York City nightlife and a love story for the ages. If you liked "No Irish Need Apply" and loved "Bobby's Trace", you will absolutely adore "Turning Idolater". Life is filled with serendipity, pleasurable and bracing, but on the fringes and in the heart, life can be a very bloody business.


The Blood Latitudes ($2.99), by William Harrison

Book Description
When retired reporter Will Hobbs learns his son Buck is being sent on assignment to Africa, he is concerned. Will spent his career covering the volatile territory Buck is headed into and the kinds of danger he is likely to encounter. And Buck leaves a family behind, just as Will did years ago; and Will has feelings that go beyond fatherly affection for Buck's attractive young wife. When news comes of Buck's disappearance, Will is compelled to risk his own life to find him or to find out what has happened to him. Once inside the border of civil war--ravaged Rwanda, Will is kidnapped by some very whacked-out "militia" and is forced to witness incredible violence, torture, and gleeful killing in the name of vengeance. As he struggles to survive and to keep his wits about him, Will has an opportunity to take a look at his life and to determine what he wants for his future. Harrison is the author of several novels, short stories, and screenplays.

Hard Passage ($2.11) and The Judas Project ($1.24), by Don Pendleton

Hard Passage
Acting as unofficial backup to a CIA mission threatening to go hard, Mack Bolan is ready for action on the frigid streets of St. Petersburg, Russia. Soon a mix of blood and intelligence creates a picture of a deal brokered between militant Russian youth gangs and Jihadists--aimed at the United States. With too many pieces missing from the puzzle, Bolan plays the game he's played and won countless times before: shake up the enemy's infrastructure, derail its timetable and declare total war. But the fuse is lit--all the way to the streets of Portland, where America's most violent gangs are being armed and primed to unleash the enemy's ultimate, shocking agenda....

The Judas Project
The Cold War just got hot again...

The old Soviet Bloc espionage games have resumed on a covert and catastrophic new playing field: the U.S. financial markets. The enemy isn't the Russian government, but long-dormant sleeper cells in America's cities, planted by the KGB decades ago. Now a former Kremlin official has found the top-secret files and stolen the blueprint, ready to pocket and manipulate America's resources. He has hijacked operation Black Judas, enlisted the KGB's most lethal assassin to terminate operatives, and has begun reshaping a brilliant plot to steal billions of American dollars. But he didn't plan on a beautiful Russian cop on a vengeance hunt, or an American warrior named Mack Bolan in deadly pursuit, gunning for blood and justice.


Target Response ($4.09), by William and J.A. Johnstone. You can also pre-order Home Invasion for $4.47, currently.

Book Description
Who Is Killing The Army's Killer Elite?

The attacks strike like lightning, a murder blitz targeting America's most ultra-secret organization, the Army's clandestine assassination arm known as the Dog Team. Without warning, Dog Team operatives are being systematically slaughtered, decimating the republic's last, best hope against those who would destroy our freedom.

Surviving the initial onslaught are two of the Team's master assassins, Major Joe Kilroy and Captain Steve Ireland. Now, this supreme warrior duo gathers the remnants of the unit to form the Dog Team's Death Squad to unleash their counterstrike: complete annihilation of a shadowy global cartel owing allegiance to no flag, with a private army of international mercenaries. . .

The darkest and deadliest secret war that ever rocked a nation is about to begin.


Blood Safari ($4.80), by Deon Meyer & K.L. Seegers

Book Description
When the rich and famous visit South Africa, their first port of call is often Body Armor, the personal security company offering two types of protection: the big and intimidating muscle men called Gorillas or the lean and hungry former government body guards, referred to as Invisibles.

Lemmer is a freelance Invisible. The tiny and beautiful Emma le Roux, a brand consultant from Cape Town, wants to hire him. He needs the money, so he listens to her story. Lemmer’s First General Law is: Don’t get involved. But he has never failed as a body guard and he’s also grown a little too fond of Emma. He uncovers simmering racial and political tensions, greed, corruption, and a network of eco-terrorists. He follows the leads until he finds what he’s after: The people who attacked Emma. Getting to them will be extremely dangerous, and exposing them could have international political implications. If he fails, both he and Emma will end up dead. But Lemmer is sick and tired of being invisible. He goes after them, against all odds.


The Advocate ($3.96), by Larry Axelrood

Book Description
The new charge has been brought by the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Owen Dempsey, who is running for governor and knows that prosecuting Tobias will provide him with free, election-year publicity and provide him with the right kind of headlines.

Cole, however, is exhausted, worn out, alone. He has made his career the central focus of his life, and while he appears to be a successful man, he feels old and lost and weary. During his sleepless nights, he sits alone in his penthouse apartment overlooking the lake reflecting on the mistakes he’s made in life and wondering if he has anything to show for it.

By day, however, Cole is energetic and intimidating. He outmaneuvers his opponents and plots brilliant strategies to defend his client. An experienced litigator, he anticipates the dirty tactics of Dempsey’s office and devises a few of his own.

Completing matters is Anthony Benvenuti Jr., the youngest son of Tony “the Babe” Benvenuti, a prominent figure in the Chicago underworld. Tony Jr. is bitter about his conviction for drug-related offenses and blames Cole.

Filled with brilliant legal maneuvering and surprise after surprise, The Advocate spins a complicated, frightening, often humorous path through a spectacular federal trial, ruthless organized crime activity, an unexpected verdict, and a conclusion that will leave even the most avid mystery readers wondering why they didn’t see it coming.


The Cove ($3.99), by Catherine Coulter

Book Description
Into the Cove comes Sally Brainerd, daughter of murdered Amory St. John of Washington, D.C., seeking sanctuary, and FBI Special Agent James Quinlan who's undercover and after her. He's got a murder to solve, and he believes she's the key. But is she really?

Knife Music ($3.99), by David Carnoy

Book Description
Kristen Kroiter was sixteen, a high-school sophomore, when she was injured in a car accident. Dr. Ted Cogan had saved her life when he treated her in the ER six months ago -- but now police detectives were questioning Cogan about her, in intimate detail. What was going on? What had she told them?

That's just it, the cops said. She hadn't told them anything. She had died. Looked like a suicide. And Cogan was in a heap of trouble.

Tense and twisting, Knife Music is the story of a doctor struggling to clear his name after being accused of raping and causing the suicide of a young girl. The novel pits Cogan, a forty-three-year-old surgeon and self-described womanizer, against Hank Madden, a handicapped veteran detective. From the outset it's not clear who is victim and who is victimizer, as the usually dispassionate.

Madden grapples with his long-suppressed prejudices and his obsession with bringing Ted Cogan to justice at any cost. It all leads up to the most stunning surprise ending since Scott Turow's Presumed Innocent.


MetaGame ($2.99), by Sam Landstrom, has just been re-published by AmazonEncore. Unlike many of their new releases, this one is currently at a bargain price (often they come back in the $7.99 range).

Book Description
Speculative science fiction at its finest, MetaGame by Sam Landstrom is a ‘future gamers’ field guide and a philosophical cyberpunk adventure. In this original and disturbingly irreverent prospective world, gaming is more than a diversion—and gamers are, literally, in it for life. The OverSoul, an enigmatic, unifying force, offers winners points that add up to currency. Reigning champs are given the gift of immortality—while losers are condemned to aging and death. D_Light is one of the best players in his Family and will do anything to win, even if it means committing murder. When he’s invited to a MetaGame—an exclusive, high-stakes competition—he jumps at the chance. But after the first quest, D_Light’s overly ambitious ways brand him a renegade. With a warped sense of freewill that is needed to prevail, D_Light must either kill someone he’s grown to love—or lose everything.

Pretty Little Dead Things ($3.99), by Gary Mcmahon

Book Description
THOMAS USHER HAS A MOST TERRIBLE TALENT.

Following a car crash in which his wife and daughter are killed, he can see the recently departed, and it's not usually a pretty sight. When he is called to investigate the violent death of the daughter of a prominent local gangster, Usher's world is torn apart once more. For the barriers between this world and the next are not as immutable as once he believed.

Mashing together the grittiest British police procedural with dark supernatural terror, author Gary McMahon creates a refreshingly new take on horror fiction.


Amortals ($3.99), by Matt Forbeck

Book Description
THE VERY BEST PERSON TO CATCH YOUR KILLER…IS YOU.

Matt Forbeck arrives as the new king of high-concept - with a blockbuster action movie in a book. In the near future, scientists solve the problem of mortality by learning how to backup and restore a persons memories into a vat-bred clone. When Secret Service agent Ronan "Methusaleh" Dooley is brutally murdered, he's brought back from the dead one more time to hunt his killer, but this time those who wanted him dead are much closer to home.


A Bomb Built in Hell ($4.99), by Andrew Vachss, author of The Flood, which was briefly free at the end of 2008.

Book Description
Andrew Vachss' pre-Flood novel A Bomb Built in Hell was written in 1973. It was rejected by every publisher, one of whom described it as a "political horror story," others of whom berated it for its "lack of realism," including such things as Chinese youth gangs and the fall of Haiti. And the very idea of someone entering a high school with the intent of destroying every living person inside was just too ... ludicrous.

Readers of Vachss' Burke series will immediately recognize Wesley, the main character of A Bomb Built in Hell. This is his story.


Cypress Point ($4.68), by Diane Chamberlain, is being re-issued under the name The Shadow Wife at the end of the month (and as a trade paperback), but at least for now, you can get it under the previous title at a bargain price. The description reads romance, but the publisher has categorized it as suspense/thriller.

Book Description
It is not a love Joelle D'Angelo would ever have chosen. But it is one she can't deny.

Joelle D'Angelo's best friend, Mara, is left with brain damage after she suffers an aneurysm during the delivery of her son. Alone and grieving, Joelle turns to the only other person who understands her pain: Mara's husband, Liam. And what starts out as comfort between friends gradually becomes something more. Something undeniable. Now all Joelle needs is a miracle.

Torn by guilt and the impossibility of her feelings for Liam, Joelle seeks help from someone she's not even sure she believes in--a healer named Carlynn Kling Shire. Joelle sets out to find Carlynn, knowing that Mara needs something conventional medicine can't supply. And hoping that if Mara is well, Joelle's feelings for Liam will end.

Her search leads her to a mansion in Monterey, California, and into the life of a woman shrouded in mystery. And as Joelle is guided down an unfamiliar path by a woman who is clearly keeping her own secrets, she discovers that some love is doomed, while some love can survive anything.


Hopefully you kept reading until the end, as When Will There Be Good News? ($1.99), by Kate Atkinson, is the "stellar third novel to feature ex-cop turned PI Jackson Brodie" according Publisher's Weekly. All three have been discounted to $1.99 over the last couple of months and with this one, I now have all three (the other two have since returned to their pre-sale $9.99 prices).

Book Description
On a hot summer day, Joanna Mason's family slowly wanders home along a country lane. A moment later, Joanna's life is changed forever...

On a dark night thirty years later, ex-detective Jackson Brodie finds himself on a train that is both crowded and late. Lost in his thoughts, he suddenly hears a shocking sound...

At the end of a long day, 16-year-old Reggie is looking forward to watching a little TV. Then a terrifying noise shatters her peaceful evening. Luckily, Reggie makes it a point to be prepared for an emergency...

These three lives come together in unexpected and deeply thrilling ways in the latest novel from Kate Atkinson, the critically acclaimed author who Harlan Coben calls "an absolute must-read."