Kindle Daily Deal 7/10

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is The Third Bullet: A Bob Lee Swagger Novel ($1.99), by Stephen Hunter, with the companion audiobook for $4.49..

Book Description
Bob Lee Swagger is back in a thriller fifty years in the making . . .

It’s not even a clue. It’s a whisper, a trace, a ghost echo, drifting down through the decades via chance connections so fragile that they would disintegrate in the puff of a breath. But it’s enough to get legendary former Marine sniper Bob Lee Swagger interested in the events of November 22, 1963, and the third bullet that so decisively ended the life of John F. Kennedy and set the stage for one of the most enduring controversies of our time.

Swagger begins his slow night stalk through a much-traveled landscape. But he’s asking questions that few have asked before: Why did the third bullet explode? Why did Lee Harvey Oswald, about to become the most hunted man on earth, risk it all by returning to his rooming house to secure a pistol he easily could have brought with him? How could a conspiracy that went unpenetrated for fifty years have been thrown together in the two and a half days between the announcement of the president’s route and the assassination itself?

As Bob investigates, another voice enters the narrative: knowing, ironic, almost familiar, that of a gifted, Yale-educated veteran of the CIA Plans Division. Hugh Meachum has secrets and the means and the will to keep them buried. When weighed against his own legacy, Swagger’s life is an insignificant expense—but to blunt the threat, he’ll first have to ambush the sniper.

As each man hunts the other across today’s globe and through the thickets of history, The Third Bullet builds to an explosive climax that will finally prove what Bob Lee Swagger has always known: it’s never too late for justice.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Masquerade ($0.99), by Nicole Flockton [Crimson Romance].

Book Description
After being humiliated by her fiancee, Sophie Franklyn has decided that getting involved with work colleagues and men in general isn’t for her. Now her focus is going to be on her career and her recent promotion. That is until at a New Year’s Eve masquerade ball, she meets a man that tempts her to question her choices.

Alex Scavoni is extremely dedicated to his job, so dedicated that his first marriage crumbled under the pressure of his dedication. Now he’s happily single, with a new job he’s excited to start. When he meets a masked Sophie at the ball, she fires desires in him he thought long dead. He spends a wonderful night with her, but wakes up alone.

The next time the two meet, it’s in the high pressure world of Emergency Room medicine where they must work side by side. While they deal with the stresses of the Emergency ward, they endeavor to keep their feelings for each other on a professional nature. When the desire that pushed them together that one night flares to life again, can they ignore them or will their one night together have consequences neither of them planned on?

Sensuality Level: Sensual

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is The Iron Wyrm Affair ($1.99), the first novel in the Bannon & Clare series by Lilith Saintcrow [Orbit/Hachette], with the companion audiobook for $3.99.

Book Description
Emma Bannon, forensic sorceress in the service of the Empire, has a mission: to protect Archibald Clare, a failed, unregistered mentath. His skills of deduction are legendary, and her own sorcery is not inconsiderable. It doesn't help much that they barely tolerate each other, or that Bannon's Shield, Mikal, might just be a traitor himself. Or that the conspiracy killing registered mentaths and sorcerers alike will just as likely kill them as seduce them into treachery toward their Queen.

In an alternate London where illogical magic has turned the Industrial Revolution on its head, Bannon and Clare now face hostility, treason, cannon fire, black sorcery, and the problem of reliably finding hansom cabs.

The game is afoot..

Today's Kindle Teen Daily Deal is The Night She Disappeared ($2.99), by April Henry [Henry Holt and Co./Macmillan].

Book Description
Gabie drives a Mini Cooper. She also works part time as a delivery girl at Pete’s Pizza. One night, Kayla—another delivery girl—goes missing. To her horror, Gabie learns that the supposed kidnapper had asked if the girl in the Mini Cooper was working that night. Gabie can’t move beyond the fact that Kayla’s fate was really meant for her, and she becomes obsessed with finding Kayla. She teams up with Drew, who also works at Pete’s. Together, they set out to prove that Kayla isn’t dead—and to find her before she is.

Kindle Daily Deals 7/9

Amazon has price matched today's Nook Daily Find: The Rules of Love: A Personal Code for Happier, More Fulfilling Relationships, Expanded Edition ($1.99), by Richard Templar)

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Flower Girl ($1.99), by Barbara Bottner [Two Lions].

Book Description
Today my aunt Penny is getting married. And guess who her flower girl is . . .?

A wedding day is a time to celebrate love, friendship, and family. It's also very exciting, especially if you're lucky enough to be chosen as the flower girl! New York Times best-selling author Barbara Bottner and professional wedding photographer Laura Grier created this sweet, funny, and true-to-life story about a flower girl and her important job on her aunt's wedding day. Flower Girl is brought to life by beautiful photographs. A perfect gift for a flower girl!

Age Level: 6 and up | Grade Level: 1 and up

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is The Cowboy and the Cossack ($1.99), by Clair Huffaker [AmazonEncore], which is featured as a selection on Amazon's Nancy Pearl's Book Lust Rediscoveries series.

Book Description
Fifteen Montana cowboys sail into Vladivostok with a herd of five hundred longhorns, ready to cross a thousand miles of Siberian wilderness. When a band of Cossacks, Russia’s elite horsemen and warriors, shows up to escort these rough and ready Americans to their destination, the clash of cultures begins. The feud between American six shooter and Russian saber is embodied in two men: Shad, the leader of the Montana cowboys, and Rostov, the Cossack commander. Nature and man are enemies that will force them to work together—and a ruthless Tartar army that stands between them and their destination. The code of the cowboy West and the credo of the Cossack East seem to be two different measures of a man—but honor and courage are the same in any language when a common enemy must be faced. Lonesome Dove meets Dr. Zhivago in this rousing tale of West meets East in the days of the Russian Tsars and the Wild West.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Loving Lady Marcia ($2.99), the first novel in the House of Brady series by Kieran Kramer [St. Martin's/Macmillan], with the companion audiobook for $3.49.

Book Description
In the House of Brady, three very lovely girls have hair of gold—and hearts to match—but finding a match among the gentlemen of London is one comedy of errors that could bring down the house…

MARCIA GETS SCHOOLED…
Of the three Brady sisters, Lady Marcia has always seemed the girl most likely to lead a perfectly charmed life. But after a handsome cad breaks her heart, she swears off love and devotes her life to teaching girls at a private school. In spite of her family’s wish for a London debut, Marcia is happy where she is—until terrible news sends her back to the Brady clan…and into the arms of an unexpected suitor.

ON THE SUBJECT OF LOVE
A dark and dashing earl who knows Marcia’s past, Duncan Lattimore is surprised by what a fascinating and independent woman she’s become. Marcia, too, is surprised—by the fiery attraction she feels for Duncan. But why—why—must he be the brother of the scoundrel who broke her heart? Why must Marcia’s rival at school forbid her from seeing him? How can this lady possibly resist this fellow—when they know that it’s much more than a hunch…?

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is The God Patent ($1.99), by Ransom Stephens [47North], with the companion audiobook only $0.99.

Book Description
When electrical engineers Ryan McNear and Foster Reed co-authored two patents for company cash incentives, they thought it was all just a joke. One described the soul as a software algorithm and the other described the Big Bang as a power generator.

But when the company crashes, McNear finds himself divorced, desperately hard-up, and estranged from his son. As he rebuilds his life, McNear discovers Reed has used their nonsensical patents to draw in top-tier energy investors. A patent war erupts, and McNear is suddenly immersed in something much bigger than a personal argument with his old friend: a battle between hard science and evangelical religion. To fix the mistakes of his past, he will have to risk everything—his reputation, his livelihood, and even his sanity—to be with the son he loves.

Set in the age-old culture war between science and religion, The God Patent is a modern story that deftly blends scientific theory with one man’s struggle to discover his soul.

Bargain Book Trio

Life As We Knew It ($1.99 Kindle), the first Teen/YA novel in the Last Survivors series by Susan Beth Pfeffer[HMH Books for Young Readers]

Book Description
I guess I always felt even if the world came to an end, McDonald’s still would be open.

High school sophomore Miranda’s disbelief turns to fear in a split second when an asteroid knocks the moon closer to Earth, like "one marble hits another." The result is catastrophic. How can her family prepare for the future when worldwide tsunamis are wiping out the coasts, earthquakes are rocking the continents, and volcanic ash is blocking out the sun? As August turns dark and wintery in northeastern Pennsylvania,　Miranda, her two brothers, and their　mother　retreat to the unexpected safe haven of their sunroom, where they subsist on stockpiled food and limited water in the warmth of a wood-burning stove.

Told in a year’s worth of journal entries, this heart-pounding story chronicles Miranda’s struggle to hold on to the most important resource of all—hope—in an increasingly desperate and unfamiliar world. An extraordinary series debut!

Age Level: 13 and up

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making ($2.49 Kindle), by Catherynne M. Valente and Ana Juan (Illustrator) [Macmillan], with the companion audiobook for $2.99; this is a Publishers Weekly Best Children's Fiction title for 2011.

Book Description
Twelve-year-old September lives in Omaha, and used to have an ordinary life, until her father went to war and her mother went to work. One day, September is met at her kitchen window by a Green Wind (taking the form of a gentleman in a green jacket), who invites her on an adventure, implying that her help is needed in Fairyland. The new Marquess is unpredictable and fickle, and also not much older than September. Only September can retrieve a talisman the Marquess wants from the enchanted woods, and if she doesn't . . . then the Marquess will make life impossible for the inhabitants of Fairyland. September is already making new friends, including a book-loving Wyvern and a mysterious boy named Saturday.

With exquisite illustrations by acclaimed artist Ana Juan, Fairyland lives up to the sensation it created when author Catherynne M. Valente first posted it online. For readers of all ages who love the charm of Alice in Wonderland and the soul of The Golden Compass, here is a reading experience unto itself: unforgettable, and so very beautiful.

Age Level: 10 and up

The Moon Dwellers ($2.51 Kindle), the first novel in YA The Dwellers Saga by David Estes [indie]. The next titles in the series are also under $4: The Star Dwellers and The Sun Dwellers

Book Description
In a desperate attempt to escape destruction decades earlier, humankind was forced underground, into the depths of the earth, creating a new society called the Tri-Realms.

17-year-old Adele, a member of the middle-class moon dwellers, is unjustly sentenced to life in prison deep underground.

When a war breaks out within the Tri-Realms, Adele must escape from prison and seek to uncover her parents' true past, armed with only a wicked roundhouse kick and two fists that have been well-trained for combat by her father.

In her world someone must die.

Kindle Daily Deals 7/8

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Bad Dog, Marley! ($1.99), by John Grogan and Richard Cowdrey (Author, Illustrator) [HarperCollins]. Note: This book requires Kindle Fire/HD or select Kindle Reading Apps (Kindle Cloud Reader, Kindle for iPad or Kindle for Android).

Book Description
Mommy, Daddy, Cassie, and Baby Louie welcome Marley, their new Labrador pup, into their family. But Marley doesn't stay a tiny puppy for long. He grows and grows, and the bigger Marley gets, the bigger trouble he gets into. Big, bad-boy trouble. Whether it's chewing Mommy's reading glasses or swallowing Daddy's paycheck, Marley is a dog like no other. He tries to be a good dog, honest he does, but everything he tries ends up bad. Then one day Marley goes too far. Will this family have to find a new home for their big, crazy, pure-hearted dog? Inspired by John Grogan's bestselling memoir, Marley & Me, this heartwarming story shows that loving someone, flaws and all, can reap huge rewards.

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is The Thin Red Line ($2.99), the second novel in the From Here to Eternity series by James Jones [Open Road].

Book Description
Jones’s classic novel of the battle of Guadalcanal: a portrait of American soldiers facing the horror of war in intense jungle combat

In August of 1942 the first American marines charged Guadalcanal, igniting a six-month battle for two thousand square miles of jungle and sand. In that gruesome stretch sixty thousand Americans made the jump from boat to beach, and one in nine did not return. James Jones fought in that battle, and The Thin Red Line is his haunting portrait of men and war.

The soldiers of C-for-Charlie Company are not cast from the heroic mold. The unit’s captain is too intelligent and sensitive for the job, his first sergeant is half mad, and the enlisted men begin the campaign gripped by cowardice. Jones’s moving portrayal of the Pacific combat experience stands among the great literature of World War II.

This ebook features an illustrated biography of James Jones including rare photos from the author’s estate.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Before the Larkspur Blooms ($1.99), the first novel in Caroline Fyffe's new Prairie Hearts series [Montlake Romance], with the companion audiobook only $0.99.

Book Description
Caroline Fyffe returns to the windswept prairies of Wyoming with a beautiful story of rekindled love…

Thomas Donovan spent eight long years in prison, convicted of a crime he didn’t commit. Finally released, he returns home to Logan Meadows, Wyoming, to discover his parents long buried and his neighbors wanting nothing to do with him. Suddenly the fresh start Thom longed for seems downright impossible—until a spirited beauty from his past becomes his unlikely champion, and the walls around his injured heart begin to crumble…
Hannah Hoskins was brokenhearted when Thom Donovan was sent away. While the rest of the town was quick to brand him a no-count thief, Hannah always knew better. Now the boy she once loved has returned home a man—a man whom Hannah’s suitor, the town’s deputy sheriff, is determined to destroy. When a crime spree starts anew, suspicion immediately falls on Thom, and it’s up to Hannah to prove his innocence, earn him a second chance at life—and win them both a second chance at love.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is The Last Wish ($1.99), by Andrzej Sapkowski [Orbit/Hachette]. This is a short story collection that predates The Witcher series (rather than the more common later released prequel we usually see these days), which properly starts with Blood of Elves, which was featured here a little over a year ago.

Book Description
Geralt of Rivia is a witcher. A cunning sorcerer. A merciless assassin.

And a cold-blooded killer.

His sole purpose: to destroy the monsters that plague the world.

But not everything monstrous-looking is evil and not everything fair is good. . . and in every fairy tale there is a grain of truth.

The international hit that inspired the video game: The Witcher.

Kindle Daily Deals 7/7

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is 15 Mysteries by Sue Grafton for $1.99 Each [Holt/Macmillan]. You've probably already guessed from the cover image, they are all from her Kinsey Millhone series, which is often referred to as the Alphabet Mysteries. Every letter from A thru O is on sale! This won't be enough to get you entirely caught up, if you are just starting the series, but it will get you more than halfway there. The latest in the series is W is for Wasted, available for pre-order and delivery in September; like all the titles in the series starting with "P", this newest novel is published by Putnam Adult/Penguin, rather than Holt/Macmillan.

1. "A" is for Alibi
2. "B" is for Burglar
3. "C" is for Corpse
4. "D" is for Deadbeat
5. "E" is for Evidence
6. "F" is for Fugitive
7. "G" is for Gumshoe
8. "H" is for Homicide
9. "I" is for Innocent
10. "J" is for Judgment
11. "K" is for Killer
12. "L" is for Lawless
13. "M" is for Malice
14. "N" is for Noose
15. "O" is for Outlaw

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Fool for Love ($2.99), the first novel in the Cupcake Lovers series by Beth Ciotta [St. Martin's/Macmillan]. The series continues with The Trouble with Love and Anything But Love, which is now available for pre-order.

Book Description
SHE’S CRAVING A SWEET NEW LIFE…
Call her a fool, but chef-in-training Chloe Madison wants to have her cake and eat it too. So when her boyfriend dumps her for some French tart, she decides to start over from scratch—with a new life and job in Sugar Creek, Vermont. What could be sweeter than cooking for an eccentric lady who’s crazy for desserts? What could be more tempting than joining a club called the Cupcake Lovers? Just one thing: local business-hunk Devlin Monroe…

AND HE’S THE ICING ON THE CUPCAKE
Although he’s the grandson of Chloe’s fun-loving boss, Devlin Monroe is all work and no play. Micro-managing the family business, he doesn’t have time to indulge in life’s sweetest pleasures—until he meets Chloe. How can he resist such a vibrant, beautiful woman who brings so much passion to the table? But when old grudges and secrets threaten to destroy the Cupcake Lovers, Devlin must decide if his feelings for Chloe are a recipe for disaster—or a sinfully delicious ever-after…

Today's Kindle Teens Daily Deal is Lunatic Detective ($1.99), the second title in the Lunatic Ghost series by Sharon Sala [Bell Bridge Books]. The first in the series, My Lunatic Life, was a Daily Deal in January (and was free back in 'll), so you may want to check to see if you have it in your libraries.

Book Description
As Tara and Flynn are closing in on Dee Dee Broyles' killer, a deadly new ghost begins to threaten them. It's just another day in Tara's lunatic life...

All during the day at school, Tara kept picturing the moment when she and Nate would find DeeDee's grave. Even the classes she had with Flynn, who made everything fun, never seemed to end. By the time the last bell rang, she was fired up like a roman candle on the Fourth of July. She bolted from her seat, made a quick stop at her locker, and slipped out a side door instead of taking the front, knowing full well she was going to miss seeing Flynn. She didn't have time to delay or explain, and she had a feeling he wouldn't be all that thrilled in what she was doing. He was pretty cool about her psychic stuff, but digging for bodies fell way out of the realm of normal-even for her.

Sharon Sala is the bestselling author of romance, suspense and historical novels for adults, and now, of the popular Lunatic Life mysteries for young adults. She's hard at work on her next Lunatic Life novel.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Who Goes There? ($1.99), by John Wood Campbell [RosettaBooks]. This novel was the basis for the movie The Thing.

Book Description
A remote scientific research expedition at the North Pole is invaded by a monstrous alien, reawakened after lying frozen for centuries after a crash-landing. The alien is intelligent, cunning and a shape-changer who can assume the form and personality of anything it destroys and soon it is among the men of the expedition, killing and replacing them, using its shape-changing ability to lull the scientists one by one into inattention and destruction. The transformed alien can seemingly pass every effort at detection and the expedition seems doomed...

WHO GOES THERE?, according to the science fiction historian Sam Moskowitz (1920-1997), had an autobiographical impetus: Campbell's mother and aunt were identical twins and enjoyed the "game" of substituting for one another in his care as an infant and young child, confusing him again and again with false identity. It was this uncertainty, this susceptibility to masquerade and his terror at the game which, Moskowitz said, Campbell funneled into this last and greatest of his magazine pieces. (A short novel, THE MOON IS HELL, was published only in book form in the early 1950's.) Carefully and rigorously extrapolated in its portrait of the menaced expedition, the novelette is regarded as perhaps the greatest horror story to emerge form the field of science fiction. It was the basis for one of the great early science fiction films and its excellent remake decades later.

Campbell had become the editor of ASTOUNDING five months before the early 1938 publication of the story. As editor of that magazine, he insisted upon rigorous scientific background, humanized characters and values and a standard of writing comparable to that in the leading consumer magazines of the time. In pursuit, Campbell found a generation of new writers - Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Sprague de Camp, A.E. Van Vogt, Henry Kuttner, Lester del Rey among them - who collectively (and individually!) produced an extraordinary body of work.

WHO GOES THERE? provided the basis of the 1951 cult horror film THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD and was remade into John Carpenter's The Thing (1982), also regarded as a classic science fiction film, who's prequel THE THING launched in 2011. The copyright of the novelette was, typically of the time, owned by Street & Smith Publications to whose magazine Campbell had sold all of the rights. Hawks paid Street & Smith $900 for all film rights, $500 of that was paid over "voluntarily" by Street & Smith to Campbell. "Don't you feel cheated?" Isaac Asimov said he asked Campbell at the time of the film's successful release. "No," Campbell said. "If it's a good film and it will get more people to read science fiction and take it seriously, then it's all a very good thing."

Bargain Book Roundup

Solo Faces: A Novel ($1.99 Kindle), by James Salter [Open Road]

Book Description
“Solo Faces contrasts a devotion to mountain climbing with the earthbound tugs of love and ordinary life . . . A beautifully composed book that will remind readers of Camus and Saint-Exupéry. It exemplifies the purity it describes.” —The Washington Post

Vernon Rand is a charismatic figure whose great love—whose life, in fact—is climbing. He lives alone in California, where he combats the drudgery of a roofing job with the thrill of climbing in the nearby mountain ranges. Sure of only his talent and nerve, Rand decides to test himself in the French Alps, with their true mountaineering and famed, fearsome peaks. He soon learns that the most perilous moments are, for him, the moments when he feels truly alive.

One of the great novels of the outdoors, Solo Faces is as thrilling, beautiful, and immediate as the Alpine peaks that have enthralled climbers for centuries.

This ebook features an illustrated biography of James Salter including rare photos from the author’s personal collection.

Kingdom of Fear ($2.99 Kindle; $4.99 companion audiobook), by Hunter S. Thompson [Simon & Schuster]

Book Description
Brilliant, provocative, outrageous, and brazen, Hunter S. Thompson's infamous rule breaking -- in his journalism, in his life, and under the law -- changed the shape of American letters, and the face of American icons. Kingdom of Fear traces the course of Thompson's life as a rebel -- from a smart-mouthed Kentucky kid flaunting all authority to a convention-defying journalist who came to personify a wild fusion of fact, fiction, and mind-altering substances.

Call it the evolution of an outlaw. Here are the formative experiences that comprise Thompson's legendary trajectory alongside the weird and the ugly. Whether detailing his exploits as a foreign correspondent in Rio, his job as night manager of the notorious O'Farrell Theatre in San Francisco, his epic run for sheriff of Aspen on the Freak Power ticket, or the sensational legal maneuvering that led to his full acquittal in the famous 99 Days trial, Thompson is at the peak of his narrative powers in Kingdom of Fear. And this boisterous, blistering ride illuminates as never before the professional and ideological risk taking of a literary genius and transgressive icon.

By Night in Chile ($2.99 Kindle), by Roberto Bolaño and Chris Andrews (Translator) [New Directions]

Book Description
A deathbed confession revolving around Opus Dei and Pinochet, ByNight in Chile pours out the self-justifying dark memories of theJesuit priest Father Urrutia.

As through a crack in the wall, By Night in Chile's single night-long rant provides a terrifying, clandestine view of the strange bedfellows of Church and State in Chile. This wild, eerily compact novel—Roberto Bolano's first work available in English—recounts the tale of a poor boy who wanted to be a poet, but ends up a half-hearted Jesuit priest and a conservative literary critic, a sort of lap dog to the rich and powerful cultural elite, in whose villas he encounters Pablo Neruda and Ernst Junger. Father Urrutia is offered a tour of Europe by agents of Opus Dei (to study "the disintegration of the churches," a journey into realms of the surreal); and ensnared by this plum, he is next assigned—after the destruction of Allende—the secret, never-to-be-disclosed job of teaching Pinochet, at night, all about Marxism, so the junta generals can know their enemy. Soon, searingly, his memories go from bad to worse. Heart-stopping and hypnotic, By Night in Chile marks the American debut of an astonishing writer.

Pigs in Heaven ($1.99 Kindle), by Barbara Kingsolver [HarperCollins]

Book Description
Picking up where her modern classic The Bean Trees left off, Barbara Kingsolver’s bestselling Pigs in Heaven continues the tale of Turtle and Taylor Greer, a Native American girl and her adoptive mother who have settled in Tucson, Arizona, as they both try to overcome their difficult pasts.

Taking place three years after The Bean Trees, Taylor is now dating a musician named Jax and has officially adopted Turtle. But when a lawyer for the Cherokee Nation begins to investigate the adoption—their new life together begins to crumble.

Depicting the clash between fierce family love and tribal law, poverty and means, abandonment and belonging, Pigs in Heaven is a morally wrenching, gently humorous work of fiction that speaks equally to the head and the heart.

This edition includes a P.S. section with additional insights from Barbara Kingsolver, background material, suggestions for further reading, and more.

The 13th Valley ($1.99 Kindle), by John M. Del Vecchio [Warriors Publishing Group]

Book Description
A work that has served as a literary cornerstone for the Vietnam generation, The 13th Valley follows the strange and terrifying Vietnam combat experiences of James Chelini, a telephone-systems installer who finds himself an infantryman in territory controlled by the North Vietnamese Army. Spiraling deeper and deeper into a world of conflict and darkness, this harrowing account of Chelini’s plunge and immersion into jungle warfare traces his evolution from a semi-pacifist to an all-out warmonger. The seminal novel on the Vietnam experience, The 13th Valley is a classic that illuminates the war in Southeast Asia like no other book.

Lonely Vigil: Coastwatchers of the Solomons ($2.99 Kindle), by Walter Lord [Open Road]

Book Description
In the bloodiest island combat of World War II, one group of men risked it all to fight from behind Japanese lines

The Solomon Islands was where the Allied war machine finally broke the Japanese empire. As pilots, marines, and sailors fought for supremacy in Guadalcanal, Bougainville, and the Slot, a lonely group of radio operators occupied the Solomon Islands’ highest points. Sometimes encamped in comfort, sometimes exposed to the elements, these coastwatchers kept lookout for squadrons of Japanese bombers headed for Allied positions, holding their own positions even when enemy troops swarmed all around.

They were Australian-born but Solomon-raised, and adept at survival in the unforgiving jungle environment. Through daring and insight, they stayed one step ahead of the Japanese, often sacrificing themselves to give advance warning of an attack. In Lonely Vigil, Lord tells of the survivors of the campaign, and of what they risked to win the war in the Pacific.

Fade to Black ($1.99 Kindle), by Molly Kate Gray [Crimson Romance]

Book Description
Working undercover is nothing new for DEA Agent Rory Johnston. In the years following her sister’s death, she’s been involved in investigations in more high schools and colleges than she cares to count. The case in Bourland is different, though. Not only is she supposed to find the source of the drugs on the college campus, she also has a secret assignment – find the dirty cop within the department who has been responsible for having their informants killed.

Zachary Rowlins is the officer Rory must work with in her new assignment – but for all she knows, he might be the dirty cop. When Zach is unexpectedly pulled from the case, he discovers that the corruption within the department goes much deeper than either of them suspected. Zach finds himself in a race against time to save his partner knowing one thing – if he loses Rory, he’ll lose more than just a partner. He’ll lose his future as well

Senuality Level: Sensual

Summer at Willow Lake ($2.99 Kindle), the first novel in the Lakeshore Chronicles by Susan Wiggs

Book Description
Susan Wiggs's Lakeshore Chronicles series has captivated thousands of readers with its relatable characters, warm humor and engaging stories. Summer at Willow Lake is the story that started it all. Meet Olivia, Connor and the families and friends of Willow Lake that make these emotional romances a must-read.

Real estate expert Olivia Bellamy reluctantly trades a trendy Manhattan summer for her family's old resort camp in the Catskills, where her primary task will be renovating the bungalow colony for her grandparents, who want one last summer together filled with fun, friends and family. A posh resort in its heyday, the camp is now in disarray and Olivia is forced to hire contractor Connor Davis—a still-smoldering flame from her own summers at camp.

But as the days grow warm, not even the inviting blue waters of Willow Lake can cool the passions flaring or keep shocking secrets at bay. The nostalgic joy of summers past breathes new promise into a special place and people…a promise meant to last long after the season ends.

Don't miss the latest story, Return to Willow Lake, Book 9 of the Lakeshore Chronicles.

Touchpoint ($1.99 Kindle), by Shay Lacy [Crimson Romance]

Book Description
She learns secrets with a touch. He has secrets to hide.

Insurance investigator Gabrielle Healey uses her touch clairvoyance to learn the truth about disasters. But when the crippled Densmore building can’t provide the answers she needs to deny the claim, surely the man who designed it can. The evidence points to a flawed design. A touch will confirm his guilt.

Brilliant architect Christian Ziko has secrets he can’t reveal, and not that he caused the building he created to collapse. With the victims’ families howling for justice and a grand jury poised to indict him, he must uncover what happened so he can clear his name and his conscience. Yet his brother and business partner discourage him. When a clue unearths terrible truths about the people he trusts, Christian is forced to ask beautiful Gabrielle for help. But someone wants their investigation terminated...and is willing to kill to keep their secrets hidden.

Sensuality Level: Sensual

All but one of the novels in Lloyd Alexander's The Chronicles of Prydain children's series are on sale for $2.49 [Henry Holt and Co]. Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

The Book of Three

Since The Book of Three was first published in 1964, young readers have been enthralled by the adventures of Taran the Assistant Pig-keeper and his quest to become a hero. Taran is joined by an engaging cast of characters that includes Eilonwy, the strong-willed and sharp-tongued princess; Fflewddur Fflam, the hyperbole-prone bard; the ever-faithful Gurgi; and the curmudgeonly Doli--all of whom become involved in an epic struggle between good and evil that shapes the fate of the legendary land of Prydain.

Henry Holt is proud to present this classic series to a new generation of young readers. Jackets have been handsomely redesigned while retaining the original art of Caldecott Medal-winning artist Evaline Ness. Each retypeset volume now includes a pronunciation guide prepared by Lloyd Alexander. A companion book of short stories, The Foundling and Other Tales of Prydain, is also available in hardcover for the first time in twenty years.

In their more than thirty years in print, the Chronicles of Prydain have become the standard of excellence in fantasy literature for children.

The Black Cauldron (1966 Newbery Honor Book)

In the imaginary Land of Prydain, where "evil is never distant," it has become imperative that the Black Cauldron, chief implement of the diabolical Arawn, be destroyed. In this cauldron Arawn has created his terrible army of deathless warriors from the stolen bodies of the slain. For each of those chosen to journey to Arawn's domain, the quest has a special meaning, and to Taran, Assistant Pig-Keeper, the adventure becomes a glorious opportunity to wear his first sword and prove himself a man among men.

The Castle of Llyr

In the imaginary kingdom of Prydain, Princess Eilonwy must leave her friends to go to the Isle of Mona for training as a proper princess. Because Eilonwy has magical powers, she is sought by Achren, the most evil enchantress in the land. Shortly after her arrival on the Isle of Mona, something sinister and secret befalls her. Eilonwy's loyal friends--Taran, the Assistant Pig-Keeper; Flewddur, the bard; and Prince Rhun, her intended husband--realize her peril and set out on an exciting and terrifying mission to rescue her. They encounter great forces of enil as well as private--sometimes painful--revelations in the course of their journey.

Taran Wanderer ($4.73)

Taran, the assistant pig-keeper who wants to be a hero, goes questing for knowledge of his parentage, hoping that his journey will ennoble him in the eyes of Eilonwy, the princess with the red-gold hair. Accompanied by several loyal friends, Taran begins his search when three wily enchantresses of the Marshes of Morva send him to consult the Mirror of Llunet for the answers he is seeking, cryptically promising that "the finding takes no more than the looking." During his adventures he meets Craddoc, the shepherd, and the common people of Prydain, whom he comes to respect and admire. With their help, he continues his mission to learn the secret of the Mirror and the truth about himself.

The High King

The Sword of Dyrnwyn, the most powerful weapon in the kingdom of Prydain, has fallen into the hands of Arawn-Death-Lord. Now Taran, Assistant Pig-Keeper, and Price Gwydion lead an army against the powerful lord. After a winter expedition filled with danger, Taran's forces arrive at Mount Dragon, evil's stronghold. There Tara is forced to make the most crucial decisions of his life as he confronts the evil enchantress Achren and the diabolical Arawn.

Released over a period of five years, Lloyd Alexander's beautifully written tales not only captured children's imaginations but also garnered the highest critical praise. The Black Cauldron was a Newbery Honor Book, and the final volume in the chronicles, The High King, crowned the series by winning the Newbery Medal for "the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children."

Kindle Daily Deals 7/6

Today on Amazon's Gold Box, save over 50% of Magellan RoadMate 1700LM GPS; if that one isn't your style, the Amazon has a 30% off GPS Sale going on for a number of other models.

Amazon has price matched Beth Wiseman's The House that Love Built ($2.99), which is today's Nook Daily Find.

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

• 10 Kindle Books for $1 Each

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Howl's Moving Castle ($1.99), by Diana Wynne Jones [HarperCollins].

Book Description
Sophie has the great misfortune of being the eldest of three daughters, destined to fail miserably should she ever leave home to seek her fate. But when she unwittingly attracts the ire of the Witch of the Waste, Sophie finds herself under a horrid spell that transforms her into an old lady. Her only chance at breaking it lies in the ever-moving castle in the hills: the Wizard Howl's castle. To untangle the enchantment, Sophie must handle the heartless Howl, strike a bargain with a fire demon, and meet the Witch of the Waste head-on. Along the way, she discovers that there's far more to Howl—and herself—than first meets the eye.

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Once a Spy ($1.99), by Keith Thomson [Random House].

Book Description
Drummond Clark was once a spy of legendary proportions. Now Alzheimer’s disease has taken its toll and he’s just a confused old man who’s wandered away from home, waiting for his son to fetch him.

When Charlie Clark takes a break from his latest losing streak at the track to bring Drummond back to his Brooklyn home, they find it blown sky high—and then bullets start flying in every direction. At first, Charlie thinks his Russian “creditors” are employing aggressive collection tactics. But once Drummond effortlessly hot-wires a car as their escape vehicle, Charlie begins to suspect there’s much more to his father than meets the eye. He soon discovers that Drummond’s unremarkable career as an appliance salesman was actually a clever cover for an elaborate plan to sell would-be terrorists faulty nuclear detonators. Drummond’s intricate knowledge of the “device” is extremely dangerous information to have rattling around in an Alzheimer’s-addled brain. The CIA wants to “contain” him--and so do some other shady characters who send Charlie and Drummond on a wild chase that gives “father and son quality time” a whole new meaning.

With Once a Spy, Keith Thomson makes his debut on the thriller stage with energy, wit, and style to spare.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Beg for Mercy ($0.99), by Jami Alden [Hachette].

Book Description
He lurks in the shadows, waiting and watching . . . And once he has you, all you can do is. . .

BEG FOR MERCY

Megan Flynn thought she was falling in love. Cole Williams wasn't just handsome and passionate, he was one of the good guys. Or so she thought, until he arrested her brother-the only family she has left-for a murder she knows he couldn't have possibly committed. Now, with her heart broken and her brother's life hanging in the balance, Megan will risk everything to prove his innocence. Even if that means throwing herself into the path of a sadistic killer with a hauntingly familiar MO.

Seattle Detective Cole Williams had given up on making Megan see reason where her brother is concerned. But when she insinuates herself into the most shockingly brutal case Cole has ever worked, he can't stand idly by. Plunged into a secret world where the city's elite indulge their darkest desires, Cole will do whatever it takes to bring down a madman who has made Megan his most coveted prey.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Stormdancer ($2.99), the first novel in the YA Lotus War Trilogy by Jay Kristoff [Macmillan], with the companion audiobook for $3.99. The story continues in Kinslayer, which is now available for pre-order.

Book Description
The first in an epic new fantasy series, introducing an unforgettable new heroine and a stunningly original dystopian steampunk world with a flavor of feudal Japan.

A DYING LAND
The Shima Imperium verges on the brink of environmental collapse; an island nation once rich in tradition and myth, now decimated by clockwork industrialization and the machine-worshipers of the Lotus Guild. The skies are red as blood, the land is choked with toxic pollution, and the great spirit animals that once roamed its wilds have departed forever.

AN IMPOSSIBLE QUEST
The hunters of Shima's imperial court are charged by their Shōgun to capture a thunder tiger – a legendary creature, half-eagle, half-tiger. But any fool knows the beasts have been extinct for more than a century, and the price of failing the Shōgun is death.

A HIDDEN GIFT
Yukiko is a child of the Fox clan, possessed of a talent that if discovered, would see her executed by the Lotus Guild. Accompanying her father on the Shōgun’s hunt, she finds herself stranded: a young woman alone in Shima’s last wilderness, with only a furious, crippled thunder tiger for company. Even though she can hear his thoughts, even though she saved his life, all she knows for certain is he’d rather see her dead than help her.

But together, the pair will form an indomitable friendship, and rise to challenge the might of an empire.

Kindle Daily Deals 7/5

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Death at La Fenice ($1.99), the first Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery by Donna Leon [Grove Press].

Book Description
Beautiful and serene Venice is a city almost devoid of crime. But that is little comfort to Maestro Helmut Wellauer, a world-renowned conductor whose intermission refreshment comes one night with a little something extra in it-cyanide. For Guido Brunetti, vice-commissario of police and detective genius, finding a suspect isn't a problem; narrowing the large and unconventional group of enemies down to one is. As the suave and pithy Brunetti pieces together clues, a shocking picture of depravity and revenge emerges, leaving him torn between what is and what should be right -- and questioning what the law can do, and what needs to be done.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Shot Through the Heart ($0.99), by D'Ann Lindun [Crimson Romance].

Book Description
When Laramie Porter’s sister-in-law Julie is beaten so badly by her husband she miscarries her baby, Laramie takes her home from the hospital. But just a few minutes after the women arrive home, Julie’s husband, who also happens to be a drug addict and the local police sheriff, shows up at the house on a murderous rampage.

He kills Julie and attempts to murder Laramie. When he doesn’t succeed, he hauls them into the mountains and throws them off a cliff. Julie’s body lands in a pond, but Laramie hits a ledge, where she perches, terrified.

Derrick Garrison is in the mountains moving his cattle when his dog finds Julie’s body in the pond. Creeped out, Derrick at first doesn’t believe his ears when he hears a girl crying for help. But he finds Laramie and pulls her to safety. Before she can tell him anything, a lightning strike starts a forest fire and they flee to a hidden valley.

Fleeing a drug hazed killer, the fire, and a gun-toting old lady bent on collecting a reward, Laramie and Derrick do their best to evade all three . . . and fall in love along the way.

Sensuality Level: Sensual

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is PODs ($1.99), a YA dystopian novel by Michelle Pickett [Spencer Hill Press].

Book Description
Seventeen-year-old Eva is a chosen one. Chosen to live, while others meet a swift and painful death from an incurable virus so lethal, a person is dead within days of symptoms emerging. In the POD system, a series of underground habitats built by the government, she waits with the other chosen for the deadly virus to claim those above. Separated from family and friends, its in the PODs she meets David. And while true love might not conquer all, its a balm for the broken soul.

After a year, scientists believe the population has died, and without living hosts, so has the virus. Thats the theory, anyway. But when the PODs are opened, survivors find the surface holds a vicious secret. The virus mutated, infecting those left top-side and creating... monsters.

Eva and David hide from the infected in the abandoned PODs. Together they try to build a life--a new beginning. But the infected follow and are relentless in their attacks. Leaving Eva and David to fight for survival, and pray for a cure.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is The Curse: Touch of Eternity ($1.99), by Emily Bold and Jeanette Heron (Translator) [Skyscape].

Book Description
A centuries-old curse, a mysterious amulet, and a young love reignite a vendetta that had died down long ago…

When seventeen-year-old Samantha goes on a school-exchange trip to Scotland, she takes with her an old pendant that she found amongst her grandmother’s belongings. As soon as she arrives at her host family’s home, she is drawn into the country’s tales and myths. Then she meets the dangerously attractive Payton –a mysterious Highlander who soon conquers Sam’s heart. Caught up in her feelings, she doesn’t realize how much danger she’s in. Payton’s past holds a dark secret. A secret that has bound together both their families’ fates for hundreds of years and is now also endangering Sam’s life.

Nook Daily Find 7/5

Prophecy of the Sisters ($7.59 Kindle, $1.99 B&N), the first novel in the Prophecy of the Sisters series by Michelle Zink, is the Nook Daily Find [Hachette].

Book Description
An ancient prophecy divides two sisters-

One good...

One evil...

Who will prevail?

Twin sisters Lia and Alice Milthorpe have just become orphans. They have also become enemies. As they discover their roles in a prophecy that has turned generations of sisters against each other, the girls find themselves entangled in a mystery that involves a tattoo-like mark, their parents' deaths, a boy, a book, and a lifetime of secrets.

Lia and Alice don't know whom they can trust.

They just know they can't trust each other.

Grade 7 Up

Two Free Audiobooks - Carter Finally Gets It & She Stoops to Conquer

It's time for this week's free audiobooks from Sync. I've linked in the info from the ebook or audiobook version of each title (Amazon has the best reviews), followed by the link to get your copies free, with directions to ensure you get the complete download.

Start off with Carter Finally Gets It ($7.39 Kindle; $17.95 Audible or $3.49 as a companion edition), by Brent Crawford, narrated by Nick Podehl.

Book Description
Meet Will Carter, but feel free to call him Carter. (Yes, he knows it's a lazy nickname, but he didn't have much say in the matter.) Here are five things you should know about him:

1. He has a stuttering problem, particularly around boobs and belly buttons.
2. He battles Attention Deficit Disorder every minute of every day...unless he gets distracted.
3. He's a virgin, mostly because he's no good at talking to girls (see number 1).
4. He's about to start high school.
5. He's totally not ready.

Join Carter for his freshman year, where he'll search for sex, love, and acceptance anywhere he can find it. In the process, he'll almost kill a trombone player, face off with his greatest nemesis, suffer a lot of blood loss, narrowly escape death, run from the cops (not once, but twice), get caught up in a messy love triangle, meet his match in the form of a curvy drill teamer, and surprise the hell out of everyone, including himself.

She Stoops to Conquer ($5.95 Audible), by Oliver Goldsmith, narrated by Rosalind Ayres and the L.A. Theatre Works cast, is the second selection for this week. As with most classics, there are many editions to choose from on Kindle; you can spend anything from nothing to a few dollars and probably get an edition that will work for reading along while listening.

Book Description
Starring James Marsters, this classic comedy of manners from 1773 is still widely performed and studied. Love, lies, and dysfunctional families. Sound like your last family gathering? Try this one on for laughs. Two randy young gents, Charles and George, set out to woo the alluring and upper-crust Kate and Constance. But inexperienced Charles is shy and clumsy around upper-class ladies, so it's the barmaid who catches his eye. But is she really who she seems? Bawdy high-jinx, popped pretensions, and good dirty fun are the hallmarks of this romping frolic that's kept audiences laughing for over two centuries.

An L.A. Theatre Works full cast performance featuring (in alphabetical order): Rosalind Ayres as Mrs. Hardcastle; Adam Godley as Tony Lumpkin; Julian Holloway as Elder Marlow/Stingo; James Marsters as Charles Marlow; Christopher Neame as Roger; Paula Jane Newman as Bet Bouncer/Pimple; Ian Ogilvy as Mr. Hardcastle; Moira Quirk as Constance Neville; Darren Richardson as Diggory/Jeremy; Joanne Whalley as Kate Hardcastle; and Matthew Wolf as George Hastings. Directed by Martin Jarvis. Recorded before a live audience at the Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles, in June 2010.

Click HERE to get the free downloads (you'll need to enter your name and an email address. You'll end up clicking about three pages (for each book), before the audiobook actually downloads. Don't stop so long as you still see a button that talks about your Sync download (or until you see the Overdrive software open up; there is a link at Sync, if you don't already have Overdrive installed).

Once in Overdrive, you'll need to tell it where to save the files (just click OK to use the default location, since Overdrive will keep track of them for you), then again to actually start the download (by default, all parts of the book are downloaded; I would suggest not changing this in the last dialog box, just click on OK to get the download started). Make sure your audiobook is fully downloaded before the end of the week, as once the promo period is over, you won't be able to get them free.

You can't get any titles that have been missed, but once they are loaded into Overdrive (which you will need to install, if you are not already using it for library books), they are yours to keep (there is no expiration date).

Kindle Daily Deals 7/4

Gamers may want to check out the 2013 #NoDRM SUMMER SALE FINALE at GOG.COM; they have 500+ games at up to 85% off, from puzzles to full RPGs.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Infinite Jest ($1.99), by David Foster Wallace [Hachette].

Book Description
A gargantuan, mind-altering comedy about the Pursuit of Happiness in America set in an addicts' halfway house and a tennis academy, and featuring the most endearingly screwed-up family to come along in recent fiction, Infinite Jest explores essential questions about what entertainment is and why it has come to so dominate our lives; about how our desire for entertainment affects our need to connect with other people; and about what the pleasures we choose say about who we are. Equal parts philosophical quest and screwball comedy, Infinite Jest bends every rule of fiction without sacrificing for a moment its own entertainment value. It is an exuberant, uniquely American exploration of the passions that make us human - and one of those rare books that renew the idea of what a novel can do.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is two romantic and exciting stories about the settling of the American West by Reid Lance Rosenthal for $1.99 each.

Threads West: An American Saga

The July 2013 reprint of the #1 bestselling Threads West--multiple award winning first book and namesake of the sweeping Threads West, An American Saga multi-era series compared by reviewers and authors to Lonesome Dove, Centennial, Louie L'Amour ("with steam") and called by some "The Gone With The Wind of the West" The tale bursts with the adventure, romance and promise of historical America and the West wrapped in a silver bolo of the American spirit.

You will recognize the characters who live in these pages. They are your friends, neighbors, your co-workers, and your family. They are you. They are us.
This is not only their story. It is our story.
It is Threads West, An American Saga.

The epic saga of Threads West begins in 1854 with the first of five, richly textured, complex generations of unforgettable, multicultural characters. The separate lives of these driven men and independent woman are drawn to a common destiny that beckons seductively from the wild and remote flanks of the American West. Swept into the dangerous currents of the far-distant frontier by the mysterious rivers of fate, the power of the land and the American spirit, their journeys are turbulent quests intertwined with romance and adversity, passions and pathos, despair and triumph.

Fifteen hundred miles to the west of St. Louis lies the lawless untamed spine of the continent, the Rocky Mountains. Their energy draws this vanguard of generations to love and struggle in the beautifully vibrant but unforgiving landscape of the West. The personal conflicts inherent to these brave, passion-filled characters are exacerbated by a nation in transition, the budding enmity between North and South, the broken treaties with Native Americans and the accelerating melting pot of diverse cultures that marks this magical moment in American history.

Maps of Fate

Set in 1855, Book Two, continues the page turning tale of four richly-textured, complex generations of unforgettable personalities. Suspense builds as they hurtle towards unknown destinies, propelled by one adventure, danger, romantic twist and encounter to the next.

Forged in the crucible of history, shaped on the dangerous anvil of the land, the threads of their lives and torrid loves interweave with the evolution of the West. Indian conflicts, the rancor of slavery, and the discovery of gold, all create lethal surprises when the characters are forced to defend their lands, their loved ones, and their honor. The tragic end of the First Nations begins to unfold. New characters with dark hearts, lost souls, and hopeful innocence, color the tapestry of this epic saga. Others, in search of place rightful freedom, and catapult into the story.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is The Songs of Distant Earth ($1.99), by Arthur C. Clarke [RosettaBooks].

Book Description
More than two thousand years in the future, a small human colony thrives on the ocean paradise of Thalassa—sent there centuries ago to continue the human race before the Earth’s destruction.

Thalassa’s resources are vast—and the human colony has lived a bucolic life there. But their existence is threatened when the spaceship Magellan arrives on their world—carrying one million refugees from Earth, fleeing the dying planet.

Reputed to be Arthur C. Clarke’s favorite novel, Songs of Distant Earth addresses several fascinating scientific questions unresolved in their time—including the question of why so few neutrinos from the sun have been measured on Earth. In addition, Clarke presents an inventive depiction of the use of vacuum energy to power spacecraft—and the technical logistics of space travel near the speed of light.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is What the Dog Said ($2.99), by Randi Reisfeldl.

Book Description
Ever since her police officer father was killed a few months ago, Grace Abernathy hasn't wanted to do much of anything. She's pulled away from her friends, her grades are plummeting . . . it's a problem. The last thing Grace wants is to be dragged into her older sister Regan's plan to train a shelter dog as a service dog. But Grace has no idea how involved she'll get-especially when a mangy mutt named Rex starts talking to her. Has Grace gone off the deep end? Or might this dog be something really special-an angel? A spirit? Either way, he is exactly the therapy that Grace needs.

Age Level: 10 and up

Kindle Daily Deals 7/3

Today on Amazon's Gold Box, Get Up to 73% Off "Stargate: Atlantis" and "Stargate SG-1" Collections.

Amazon's Android Free App of the Day is Zen³.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is A Drink Before the War ($1.99), the first Kenzie and Gennaro novel by Dennis Lehane [HarperCollins], with the companion audiobook for $4.99. The third in the series, Sacred, is also on sale at $2.99.

A Drink Before the War

As richly complex and brutal as the terrain it depicts, here is the mesmerizing, darkly original novel that heralded the arrival of Dennis Lehane, the master of the new noir -- and introduced Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro, his smart and tough private investigators weaned on the blue-collar streets of Dorchester.

A cabal of powerful Boston politicians is willing to pay Kenzie and Gennaro big money for a seemingly small job: to find the missing cleaning woman who stole some secret documents. As Kenzie and Gennaro learn, however, this crime is no ordinary theft. It's about justice. About right and wrong. But in Boston, finding the truth isn't just a dirty business ... it's deadly.

Sacred

A beautiful, grief-stricken woman has vanished without a trace. So has the detective hired to find her. And a lot of money…

Enter tough-nosed private investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro. Rooted in the streets of blue-collar Dorchester, they've seen it all – and survived. But this case leads them into unexpected territory: a place of lies and corruption, where trusting anyone could get them killed, and where nothing is sacred.

Another superior thriller from Dennis Lehane, the bestselling and acclaimed author of Mystic River, Shutter Island, and Gone, Baby, Gone.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Omega ($1.99), the third novel in The Penton Vampire Legacy by Susannah Sandlin [Montlake Romance], with the companion audiobook only $0.99. The first two in the series, Redemption and Absolution, are only $3.99 (and can be borrowed from the Prime Lending Library).

Book Description
The bloody war between the Vampire Tribunal and the defiant scathe of Penton, Alabama, rages on, forcing its residents and their bonded humans to retreat into the underground fortress of last resort: Omega. There, Will Ludlam is charged with the care of Penton’s humans, though he longs to fight alongside his vampire brethren. He knows the risks: as the renegade son of the Tribunal’s vicious leader, Will’s capture could doom the resistance. Yet he is determined to prove his worth to his adopted scathe, to his vengeful father—and to former US Army officer Randa Thomas, his beautiful, reluctant partner. Randa has little faith that a former member of the vampire elite has what it takes to fight a war. But as their enemies descend upon Omega, Will’s polished charm—and Randa’s guarded heart—finally give way to the warrior within. Fans of Susannah Sandlin’s Penton Legacy are sure to devour this long-awaited third installment of the steamy paranormal series.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Jack Of Hearts ($1.99), by Ricardo Bare [Bell Bridge Books].

Book Description
Slave. Loner. Assassin.

Some boys throw their hearts away. Jack let a witch take his.

He surrendered it long ago to the Lady of Twilight so that he would never feel heartache—or anything else—again. But there was a price. The Lady transformed him into a callous hunter forced to do her bidding, and now she’s commanded him to chase down and kill a thieving wizard named Moribrand. Love, hope, and human connection are concepts he can no longer comprehend, painful weaknesses he chose to cast aside. But when Jack meets a beautiful girl trapped in a mirror, the impossible happens—he feels an echo of his distant heart, and the sensation staggers him.

Cassandra, a spellbound girl who can only communicate through her mirror image, awakens something in him more dangerous, more impossible, than he ever imagined: a memory of who he once was and how it felt to care about another human being. She challenges his loyalty to the Lady and shows him his heart might be worth saving. What will it take for Jack to take his heart back from a witch, who has no intention of giving it up?

Today's Kindle Teens Daily Deal is The Call of Eirian ($1.99), the second novel in the Faelin Chronicles by C. Aubrey Hall [Skyscape]. The series starts with Crystal Bones and continues with Mage Fire, both currently marked down to $3.99.

Book Description
Faelin twins Diello and Cynthe, children of a Fae mother and human father, found their lives changed forever the day their parents were brutally murdered by a goblin horde. They discovered that their parents' cautious ways hid a lifetime of secrets, including Eirian, a magical sword buried on their farm. Now their little sister has been taken by someone who wants that sword and the ultimate power that comes with it. The twins along with their friends, a goblin boy and a talking wolf pup will have to journey to Embarthi, the realm of the Fae, and seek the family they have never known to find their sister and the truth about their parents mysterious past.

Kindle Daily Deals 7/2

This week on Amazon's Software Deals, you can get 67& off on the software downloads for learning Spanish, French, German and English as a second language, from Individual Software, or up to $170 off on select Rosetta Stone titles.

For those who prefer to learn on their phones and tablets, the Appstore has a 50% off sale on Learn-on-the-Go, Phrasebooks and Talking Dictionaries from Ectaco Inc., which you can use for studying for a class or while on your vacation or work trip. Languages included in the sale are Spanish, German, French, Chinese, Thai, Japanese and English (for French or German Speakers).

Amazon's Android Free App of the Day is Flowpaper, an interactive drawing tool. Looks like a fun app, for artists and kids.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Edward Adrift ($1.99), by Craig Lancaster [Amazon Publishing], with the companion audiobook for $0.99.

Book Description
It’s been a year of upheaval for Edward Stanton, a forty-two-year-old with Asperger’s syndrome. He’s lost his job. His trusted therapist has retired. His best friends have moved away. And even his nightly ritual of watching Dragnet reruns has been disrupted. All of this change has left Edward, who lives his life on a rigid schedule, completely flummoxed.

But when his friend Donna calls with news that her son Kyle is in trouble, Edward leaves his comfort zone in Billings, Montana, and drives to visit them in Boise, where he discovers Kyle has morphed from a sweet kid into a sullen adolescent. Inspired by dreams of the past, Edward goes against his routine and decides to drive to a small town in Colorado where he once spent a summer with his father—bringing Kyle along as his road trip companion. The two argue about football and music along the way, and amid their misadventures, they meet an eccentric motel owner who just might be the love of Edward’s sheltered life—if only he can let her.

Endearing and laugh-out-loud funny, Edward Adrift is author Craig Lancaster’s sequel to 600 Hours of Edward.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is The Biscuit Witch ($1.99), A Crossroads Café Novella and the first book in the MacBrides series by Deborah Smith [Bell Bridge Books].

Book Description
This time, the MacBrides are home to stay.

Dear Dr. Firth:
I know you are in your cups at this time, drinking and sleeping under trees, but I have some experience rehabilitating lost souls in that regard, and so I am enclosing a box of my biscuits and a cold-wrapped container of cream gravy for dessert. Please eat and write back.
We need a veterinarian of your gumption here in the Crossroads Cove of Jefferson County.
—Delta Whittlespoon, proprietress of The Crossroads Café

Biscuit witches, Mama called them. She’d heard the term as a girl. She’d inherited that talent. My mother could cast spells on total strangers simply by setting a plate of her biscuits in front of them. –Tal MacBride

Welcome back to the Crossroads Cove where new loves, old feuds, and poignant mysteries will challenge siblings Tal, Gabby, and Gus MacBride to fight for the home they lost and to discover just how important their family once was, and still is, to the proud people of the Appalachian highlands.

Tallulah MacBride hasn’t been back to North Carolina since their parents’ tragic deaths, twenty years ago. But now, Tal heads to cousin Delta Whittlespoon’s famous Crossroads Café in the mountains above Asheville, hoping to find a safe hiding place for her young daughter, Eve.

What she finds is Cousin Delta gone, the café in a biscuit crisis, and a Scotsman, who refuses to believe she’s passing through instead of “running from.” He believes she needs a knight in shining flannel.

When a pair of sinister private eyes show up, Tal’s troubles are just beginning.

For Tal’s brother and sister—Gabby, the Pickle Queen, and Gus, the Kitchen Charmer—the next part of the journey will lead down forgotten roads and into beautiful but haunted legacies.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Last Stop ($1.99), the first novel in the Watchers series by Peter Lerangis [Open Road Media Young Readers], which was selected by the American Library Association as a 1999 Best Book for Reluctant Young Adult Readers.

Book Description
To find his missing father, a young boy must cross over to another dimension

It’s been six months since David Moore’s father disappeared. After months of strange behavior—baby talk, forgetfulness—he simply vanished forever. The Public Guardians searched Franklin City, but they couldn’t turn up a single clue. David is beginning to give up hope when his subrail train stops between stations at the abandoned Granite Street platform. On the other side of the glass he sees a crowd of people. In the middle is his father, waving.

When a psychic suggests that David may have the power to see into another dimension, he and his friends scour the city in search of a portal to the other side. To learn if his father is alive or dead, David will need to discover the secrets of the abandoned station.

This ebook features an illustrated biography of Peter Lerangis including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is I Love You! ($0.99), by Calee Lee [Xist Publishing].

Book Description
"I love you like a skipping stone...I love you like a doggy's bone..."

Celebrating the love between a parent and a child, this rhyming book features a host of animals and the things they love about each other. Perfect for babies, toddlers, preschoolers and as a reminder to the big kids in your life.

Age Level: 4 and up