Kindle Daily Deals 7/1

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Canada ($2.99), by Richard Ford [HarperCollins], with the companion audiobook for $5.99.

Book Description
The only writer ever to win both the Pulitzer Prize and Pen/Faulkner Award for a single novel (Independence Day), Richard Ford follows the completion of his acclaimed Bascombe trilogy with Canada. After a five-year hiatus, an undisputed American master delivers a haunting and elemental novel about the cataclysm that undoes one teenage boy’s family, and the stark and unforgiving landscape in which he attempts to find grace.

A powerful and unforgettable tale of the violence lurking at the heart of the world, Richard Ford’s Canada will resonate long and loud for readers of stark and sweeping novels of American life, from the novels of Cheever and Carver to the works of Philip Roth, Charles Frazier, Richard Russo, and Jonathan Franzen.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is For the Love of Jazz ($0.99), by Elke Feuer [Crimson Romance].

Book Description
Restoration architect Josie Fagan takes on a project with lawyer and senator’s son, Patrick Pullman. It’s the perfect match. She needs his endorsement to save her business and he wants to restore his ancestral Chicago home. Love wasn’t part of her plan. Neither was being asked to stay at his home, haunted by ghosts, or discovering she has a claim to his home - which she adores. When she finds out his family may be responsible for her aunt’s disappearance fifty years ago, it’s a race to unearth the truth before she loses not only her business and her heart, but also her life.

Patrick can’t deny his attraction to Josie and is willing to take a chance on love since his broken engagement a year earlier. Things become complicated when he learns of their family connection and her claim to the home he loves. He doesn’t believe in ghosts, or that his family is involved in her aunt’s disappearance, so insists they work together. But, when he starts seeing his uncle’s ghost, and threats are made on her life, he’s forced to confront the possibility his family could be responsible.

Sensuality Level: Behind Closed Doors

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is The Year of the Jackpot ($0.99), by Robert Heinlein [RosettaBooks].

Book Description
This novelette appeared in the March 1952 issue of GALAXY and is the only work which Heinlein wrote specifically for Horace Gold, the editor of GALAXY magazine. (Heinlein’s novel THE PUPPET MASTERS had been serialized in the September through November 1951 issues of GALAXY but Gold had merely acquired serial rights to a contract novel which had been written for Scribner’s.) Heinlein never again appeared in Gold’s GALAXY. This novelette, set in a near-future only subtly different from the McCarthyite and politically menacing present deals with social deterioration, cultural breakdown in a careful, documentary style which becomes terrifying. His romantically-linked leads are emotionally affecting but never sentimentalized, the background of chaos in which they enact their tragic, drowning love, is sparingly but furiously painted. Heinlein’s 1952 is clearly the apotheosis of those “Crazy Years” which he had noted in his famous chronological Future History, published a decade earlier in ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION as a precis of his intended career. Perhaps no story of this period limns its political and cultural dysfunction as accurately as this novelette. Overshadowed by Heinlein’s juveniles and his famous later novels, THE YEAR OF THE JACKPOT may be the purest version of his portfolio and his most memorable work of less than novel length. It is one of his most exemplary stories and perhaps his best.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988) was the first great science fiction writer of the so-called “Modern” (post-Campbellian) period and still perhaps the best. His first story, “Life-Line” was published in the August 1939 issue of ASTOUNDING, within three years with novels and novelettes such as SIXTH COLUMN, BLOWUPS HAPPEN, UNIVERSE, THE ROADS MUST ROLL, METHUSALEH’S CHILDREN he had become the most dominant writer in the history of science fiction; this was a position he did not relinquish for the rest of his life nor has it yet been relinquished. A list of his novels is virtually a pocket history of science fiction--THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS, STARSHIP TROOPERS, STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND, DOUBLE STAR, I WILL FEAR NO EVIL--and all of them remain in print and controversial to this moment. He won the Hugo for Best Novel four times, was three time Guest of Honor at the World Science Fiction Convention and was the first Grand Master of the Science Fiction Writers of America. His history and that of modern science fiction cannot in any way be disentangled.

ABOUT THE SERIES
Horace Gold led GALAXY magazine from its first issue dated October 1950 to science fiction’s most admired, widely circulated and influential magazine throughout its initial decade. Its legendary importance came from publication of full length novels, novellas and novelettes. GALAXY published nearly every giant in the science fiction field.

The Galaxy Project is a selection of the best of GALAXY with new forewords by some of today’s best science fiction writers. The initial selections in alphabetical order include work by Ray Bradbury, Frederic Brown, Lester del Rey, Robert A. Heinlein, Damon Knight, C. M. Kornbluth, Walter M. Miller, Jr., Frederik Pohl, Robert Scheckley, Robert Silverberg, William Tenn (Phillip Klass) and Kurt Vonnegut with new Forewords by Paul di Filippo, David Drake, John Lutz, Barry Malzberg and Robert Silverberg. The Galaxy Project is committed to publishing new work in the spirit GALAXY magazine and its founding editor Horace Gold.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is The Timekeeper's Moon ($2.99), by Joni Sensel [Dream Factory Books], the sequel to The Farwalker's Quest in The Farwalker Trilogy and which is followed by The Skeleton's Knife, which is also on sale for $2.99.

The Timekeeper's Moon

When Ariel Farwalker hears the moon talking to her, she thinks she must be going crazy. Then she discovers an ancient map, and learns that the moon is part of a mysterious summons that's calling her on a new journey.

With her surly guardian Scarl by her side, Ariel sets out on an adventure that leads her to new friends-the beautiful Flame-Mage Sienna and the mute boy Nace, who captures Ariel's heart. As the four travel on, strange things start to happen-fragments of Ariel's past appear in the present, so that it seems that time itself is coming undone. At the end of the journey, Ariel will learn where her journey began, and have a chance to save her life as she knows it.

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

The Skeleton's Knife

Unable to choose between an old love and a new one, 14-year-old Ariel Farwalker sets out to escape the conflict and return a dead enemy's knife to its source. There, she meets a new friend with a smuggler's savvy and a talent for charming the wind. Yet Ariel's failure to let go of the past lends strength to an evil that soon threatens the life of someone she loves. To save him, she must travel to a place where few dare to walk. If she fails, neither she nor her most beloved friends will survive. Fantasy/adventure for readers of ages 9-14.

Kindle Daily Deals 6/30

Amazon's Android Free App of the Day is Farm 123 - StoryToys Jr., a counting game for kids.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is The One I Left Behind ($1.99), by Jennifer McMahon [HarperCollins].

Book Description
The summer of 1985 changes Reggie’s life. An awkward thirteen-year-old, she finds herself mixed up with the school outcasts. That same summer, a serial killer called Neptune begins kidnapping women. He leaves their severed hands on the police department steps and, five days later, displays their bodies around town. Just when Reggie needs her mother, Vera, the most, Vera’s hand is found on the steps. But after five days, there’s no body and Neptune disappears.

Now, twenty-five years later, Reggie is a successful architect who has left her hometown and the horrific memories of that summer behind. But when she gets a call revealing that her mother has been found alive, Reggie must confront the ghosts of her past and find Neptune before he kills again.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Faerie ($0.99), by Delle Jacobs [Montlake Romance], with the companion audiobook for $1.99.

Book Description
Like her mother before her, Leonie of Bosewood carries Faerie blood in her veins, a secret she harbors to protect her own life. For although the people of eleventh-century England believe in magic, their ignorance and fear have made being different a very dangerous prospect. Caught between the human and Faerie worlds, yet belonging in neither, Leonie must guard her heart…no matter how strong the temptations.

As the king’s emissary, Philippe le Peregrine has watched Leonie mature from gangly girl to alluring woman. With each encounter, his attraction grows, but he knows a match between them can never be. For Philippe hides his own secret, one that has condemned him to a life of lonely celibacy for fear of harming the woman he loves. But when powerful forces prompt them to unite against a sorcerer intent on conquering the world, Leonie and Philippe realize that only together are they strong enough to combat the evil threatening to engulf them.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is three thrilling alternative history adventure stories in The Foreworld Saga by Greg Bear, Neal Stephenson, Mark Teppo and Erik Bear $0.99 apiece [47North].

The Mongoliad: Book One (companion audiobook $1.99)

With bonus material! This Kindle edition features extra content only found in the Collector’s Edition of The Mongoliad: Book One, including an illustrated character glossary, a Foreworld map, and Sinner, a prequel to the Mongoliad series.

The first novel to be released in The Foreworld Saga, The Mongoliad: Book One, is an epic-within-an-epic, taking place in 13th century. In it, a small band of warriors and mystics raise their swords to save Europe from a bloodthirsty Mongol invasion. Inspired by their leader (an elder of an order of warrior monks), they embark on a perilous journey and uncover the history of hidden knowledge and conflict among powerful secret societies that had been shaping world events for millennia.

But the saga reaches the modern world via a circuitous route. In the late 19th century, Sir Richard F. Burton, an expert on exotic languages and historical swordsmanship, is approached by a mysterious group of English martial arts aficionados about translating a collection of long-lost manuscripts. Burton dies before his work is finished, and his efforts were thought lost until recently rediscovered by a team of amateur archaeologists in the ruins of a mansion in Trieste, Italy. From this collection of arcana, the incredible tale of The Mongoliad was recreated.

Full of high adventure, unforgettable characters, and unflinching battle scenes, The Mongoliad ignites a dangerous quest where willpower and blades are tested and the scope of world-building is redefined.

A note on this edition: The Mongoliad began as a social media experiment, combining serial story-telling with a unique level of interaction between authors and audience during the creative process. Since its original iteration, The Mongoliad has been restructured, edited, and rewritten under the supervision of its authors to create a more cohesive reading experience and will be published as a trilogy of novels. This edition is the definitive edition and is the authors' preferred text.

The Mongoliad: Book Two (companion audiobook $1.99)

With bonus material! This Kindle edition features extra content only found in the Collector’s Edition of The Mongoliad: Book Two, including an illustrated character glossary, a Foreworld map, and Dreamer, a prequel to the Mongoliad series.

This riveting second installment in Stephenson and company’s epic tale focuses on the aftermath of the world-shattering Mongolian invasion of 1241 and the difficult paths undertaken by its most resilient survivors.

The Shield Brethren, an order of warrior monks, search for a way to overthrow the horde, even as the invaders take its members hostage. Forced to fight in the Mongols’ Circus of Swords, Haakon must prove his mettle or lose his life in the ring. His bravery may impress the enemy, but freedom remains a distant dream.

Father Rodrigo receives a prophecy from God and believes it’s his mission to deliver the message to Rome. Though a peaceful man, he resigns himself to take up arms in the name of his Lord. Joining his fight to save Christendom are the hunter Ferenc, orphan Ocyrhoe, healer Raphael, and alchemist Yasper, each searching for his place in history.

Deftly blending fact and fantasy, The Mongoliad: Book Two captures the indomitable will to survive against immense odds.

The Mongoliad: Book Three (companion audiobook $1.99)

With bonus material! This Kindle edition features extra content only found in the Collector’s Edition of The Mongoliad: Book Three, including an illustrated character glossary and a Foreworld map.

The final book of the Mongoliad trilogy from Neal Stephenson and company tells the gripping personal stories of medieval freedom fighters to form an epic, imaginative recounting of a moment in history when a world in peril relied solely on the courage of its people.

The shadow of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II hangs over the shattered Holy Roman Church as the cardinals remain deadlocked, unable to choose a new pope. Only the Binders and a mad priest have a hope of uniting the Church against the invading Mongol host. An untested band of young warriors stands against the dissolute Khan, fighting for glory and freedom in the Khan’s sadistic circus of swords, and the brave band of Shield-Brethren who set out to stop the Mongol threat single-handedly race against their nemesis before he can raise the entire empire against them. Veteran knight Feronantus, haunted by his life in exile, leads the dwindling company of Shield-Brethren to their final battle, molding them into a team that will outlast him. No good hero lives forever. Or fights alone.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is What If Your Best Friend Were Blue? ($1.99), by Vera Kochan [Two Lions].

Book Description
What if your best friend were blue? What if your doctor were yellow? Would it change things? A child imagines what the world would be like if people in his community each had a different skin color. Child-friendly acrylic illustrations and a strong read-aloud text gently teach colors while showing that it’s what’s on the inside that counts.

Age Level: 3 and up | Grade Level: Pre K and up

Kindle Daily Deals 6/29

Today on Amazon's Gold Box is 63% off V-MODA Crossfade LP Over-Ear Noise-Isolating Metal Headphones - we bought these as Christmas gifts last year and love them for listening when at home (they are a bit large for travel).

Amazon's Android Free App of the Day is Sudoku 4ever Plus

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Nadia Knows Best ($1.99), by Jill Mansell, as well as being today's Nook Daily Find.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Native Son ($1.99), Richard Wright's classic 1940 novel on race and poverty [HarperCollins].

Book Description
Right from the start, Bigger Thomas had been headed for jail. It could have been for assault or petty larceny; by chance, it was for murder and rape. Native Son tells the story of this young black man caught in a downward spiral after he kills a young white woman in a brief moment of panic. Set in Chicago in the 1930s, Wright's powerful novel is an unsparing reflection on the poverty and feelings of hopelessness experienced by people in inner cities across the country and of what it means to be black in America.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Theft of Swords ($2.99), the first novel in the Riyria Revelations series by Michael J. Sullivan [Orbit/Hachette].

Book Description
They killed the king. They pinned it on two men. They chose poorly.
There's no ancient evil to defeat or orphan destined for greatness, just unlikely heroes and classic adventure. Royce Melborn, a skilled thief, and his mercenary partner, Hadrian Blackwater, are running for their lives when they're framed for the death of the king. Trapped in a conspiracy that goes beyond the overthrow of a tiny kingdom, their only hope is unraveling an ancient mystery before it's too late.

When author Michael J. Sullivan self-published the first books of his Riyria Revelations, they rapidly became ebook bestsellers. Now, Orbit is pleased to present the complete series for the first time in bookstores everywhere.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is When Thunder Comes ($1.99), by J. Patrick Lewis [Chronicle Books].

Book Description
In moving verse, Children’s Poet Laureate J. Patrick Lewis gives new voice to seventeen heroes of civil rights. Exquisitely illustrated by five extraordinary artists, this commanding collection of poems invites the reader to hear in each verse the thunder that lies in every voice, no matter how small. Featuring civil rights luminaries Coretta Scott King, Harvey Milk, Mohandas Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Sylvia Mendez, Aung San Suu Kyi, Mamie Carthan Till, Helen Zia, Josh Gibson, Dennis James Banks, Mitsuye Endo, Ellison Onizuka, Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Yunus, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner.

Grade Level: P and up

Bargain Book Roundup

For music lovers, be sure to check out the current $2.99 MP3 Album Sale at Amazon, which has everything from Jazz to R&B to Rock on it. Also, be sure to check in over at Noisetrade, where they have the Radiohead Live at Tramps June 1, 1995 album as a free downlaod, currently.

Blood Rights ($3.79 Kindle), the first novel in the House of Comarre series by Kristen Painter [Orbit], with the companion audiobook for $2.99.

Book Description
Gothic fantasy meets vampire fiction in this debut novel from Kristen Painter - full of politics, intrigue, and blood.

Born into a life of secrets and service, Chrysabelle's body bears the telltale marks of a comarré -- a special race of humans bred to feed vampire nobility. When her patron is murdered, she becomes the prime suspect, which sends her running into the mortal world...and into the arms of Malkolm, an outcast vampire cursed to kill every being from whom he drinks.

Now, Chrysabelle and Malkolm must work together to stop a plot to merge the mortal and supernatural worlds. If they fail, a chaos unlike anything anyone has ever seen will threaten to reign

Germline ($3.79 Kindle), the first novel in T.C. McCarthy's The Subterrene War series [Orbit], with the companion audiobook for $2.99.

Book Description
Germline (n.) the genetic material contained in a cellular lineage which can be passed to the next generation. Also: secret military program to develop genetically engineered super-soldiers (slang).

War is Oscar Wendell's ticket to greatness. A reporter for The Stars and Stripes, he has the only one way pass to the front lines of a brutal war over natural resources buried underneath the icy, mineral rich mountains of Kazakhstan.

But war is nothing like he expected. Heavily armored soldiers battle genetically engineered troops hundreds of meters below the surface. The genetics-the germline soldiers-are the key to winning this war, but some inventions can't be un-done. Some technologies can't be put back in the box.

Kaz will change everything, not least Oscar himself. Hooked on a dangerous cocktail of adrenaline and drugs, Oscar doesn't find the war, the war finds him.

Feed ($3.79 Kindle), the first novel in the Newsflesh Trilogy by Mira Grant [Orbit], with the companion audiobook for $5.49. We got hooked on this series when it was first up for a Hugo and have ordered each one as they came out, as a result.

Book Description
The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beat the common cold. But in doing so we created something new, something terrible that no one could stop. The infection spread, virus blocks taking over bodies and minds with one, unstoppable command: FEED.

Now, twenty years after the Rising, Georgia and Shaun Mason are on the trail of the biggest story of their lives-the dark conspiracy behind the infected. The truth will out, even if it kills them.


FEED is the electrifying and critically acclaimed novel of a world a half-step from our own---a novel of geeks, zombies, politics and social media.

Faking It ($2.99 Kindle), the second novel in the Losing It series by Cora Carmack [HarperCollins]. If you missed Losing It when it was a Daily Deal, it's back down to $1.99, joined by Keeping Her ($0.99 novella) and Finding It ($4.74 pre-order).

Book Description
Mackenzie "Max" Miller has a problem. Her parents have arrived in town for a surprise visit, and if they see her dyed hair, tattoos, and piercings, they just might disown her. Even worse, they’re expecting to meet a nice wholesome boyfriend, not a guy named Mace who has a neck tattoo and plays in a band. All her lies are about to come crashing down around her, but then she meets Cade.

Cade moved to Philadelphia to act and to leave his problems behind in Texas. So far though, he’s kept the problems and had very little opportunity to take the stage. When Max approaches him in a coffee shop with a crazy request to pretend to be her boyfriend, he agrees to play the part. But when Cade plays the role a little too well, they’re forced to keep the ruse going. And the more they fake the relationship, the more real it begins to feel.

The hot new, New Adult title from New York Times bestselling author of Losing It, Cora Carmack.

Tempest Rising ($3.79 Kindle), the first Jane True novel by Nicole Peeler [Orbit], with the companion audiobook for $2.99.

Book Description
Living in small town Rockabill, Maine, Jane True always knew she didn't quite fit in with so-called normal society. During her nightly, clandestine swim in the freezing winter ocean, a grisly find leads Jane to startling revelations about her heritage: she is only half-human.

Now, Jane must enter a world filled with supernatural creatures alternatively terrifying, beautiful, and deadly- all of which perfectly describe her new "friend," Ryu, a gorgeous and powerful vampire.

It is a world where nothing can be taken for granted: a dog can heal with a lick; spirits bag your groceries; and whatever you do, never-ever-rub the genie's lamp.

If you love Sookie Stackhouse, then you'll want to dive into Nicole Peeler's enchanting debut novel.

One Crazy Summer ($1.99 Kindle; $2.99 companion audiobook), by Rita Williams-Garcia [HarperCollins]

Book Description
Eleven-year-old Delphine has it together. Even though her mother, Cecile, abandoned her and her younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern, seven years ago. Even though her father and Big Ma will send them from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to stay with Cecile for the summer. And even though Delphine will have to take care of her sisters, as usual, and learn the truth about the missing pieces of the past.

When the girls arrive in Oakland in the summer of 1968, Cecile wants nothing to do with them. She makes them eat Chinese takeout dinners, forbids them to enter her kitchen, and never explains the strange visitors with Afros and black berets who knock on her door. Rather than spend time with them, Cecile sends Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern to a summer camp sponsored by a revolutionary group, the Black Panthers, where the girls get a radical new education.

Set during one of the most tumultuous years in recent American history, one crazy summer is the heartbreaking, funny tale of three girls in search of the mother who abandoned them—an unforgettable story told by a distinguished author of books for children and teens, Rita Williams-Garcia.

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

Kindle Daily Deals 6/28

Can you believe it's Friday already and another week (and nearly the month!) is gone? I hope everyone has a great weekend; if you are in the Chattanooga area, be sure to drop by LibertyCon and say hello or bring something by to be signed by one of the authors attending (such as the guest of honor, Kevin J. Anderson).

Amazon's Android Free App of the Day is Shine Runner. Instead of driving a hot-rod down Thunder Road, though, you pilot an airboat thru the swamps (don't ask me why it has longhorn steer antlers in the front of the craft, tho, as I'm pretty sure that wasn't a tradition of the 'glades)

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Hush: A Novel ($1.99), by Kate White [HarperCollins].

Book Description
In this exciting thriller by Kate White, Cosmopolitan editor-in-chief and New York Times bestselling author of the Bailey Weggins mystery series (If Looks Could Kill, A Body to Die For, ’Til Death Do Us Part, Over Her Dead Body, Lethally Blond), a mother of two goes from ordinary New Yorker to victim and detective overnight. Readers of Laura Lippman and Iris Johansen are sure to find many page-turning thrills in Kate White's Hush.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Wild Horses ($0.99), by D'Ann Lindun [Crimson Romance].

Book Description
Her family ranch outside of Payson, Arizona, is the last place Castaña Castillo thought she’d ever see again. But when her mustang activist brother goes missing, Castaña returns home to lead the search. Years of bad blood between local law enforcement and the Castillo men lead Castaña to believe the local cops won’t put out much effort to locate her brother. Especially since they think he murdered two federal wildlife agents.

Disgraced FBI agent Jake Breton needs to bring in Martin Castillo to redeem himself and resurrect his career. Falling in love with someone related to the suspect is the last thing he can afford to do. The last time he followed his heart, and not his head, it nearly cost him his life.

Danger, adventure, and death push Jake and Castaña together. Will they learn to trust each other and leave their pasts behind?

Sensuality Level: Sensual

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Fates Worse Than Death: An Autobiographical Collage ($1.99), by Kurt Vonnegut [RosettaBooks].

Book Description
Kurt Vonnegut presents in Fates Worse than Deatha veritable cornucopia of Vonnegut's thought on what could best be summed up as perhaps "anti-theology", a manifesto for atheism that details Vonnegut's drift from conventional religion, even a tract evidencing belief in the divine held within each individual self; the Deity within each individual person present in a universe that otherwise lacks any real order.

Vonnegut was never a real optimist and with just cause: he had an incredibly difficult life (he had been a prisoner of war from which he drew the title for his book Slaughterhouse-Five) and suffered from failing health, which only showed him his own mortality even more than he already knew it. Still, most readers find that in the body of Vonnegut's work there is still a glimmer of desperate hope. Vonnegut's continued search for meaning surely counts for a great deal as he balances hope and despair.

Scholars and fans can read about Vonnegut's experiences during World War II and the after-effect he felt it had on him. His religious (or anti-religious) ramblings and notations are interesting and, by turns, funny and perceptive. The humor may be dark, but that does not make it any the less funny.

Today's Kindle Teen Daily Deal is Nobody's Secret ($1.99), by Michaela MacColl [Chronicle Books].

Book Description
One day, fifteen-year-old Emily Dickinson meets a mysterious, handsome young man. Surprisingly, he doesn't seem to know who she or her family is. And even more surprisingly, he playfully refuses to divulge his name. Emily enjoys her secret flirtation with Mr. "Nobody" until he turns up dead in her family's pond. She's stricken with guilt. Only Emily can discover who this enigmatic stranger was before he's condemned to be buried in an anonymous grave. Her investigation takes her deep into town secrets, blossoming romance, and deadly danger. Exquisitely written and meticulously researched, this novel celebrates Emily Dickinson's intellect and spunk in a page-turner of a book that will excite fans of mystery, romance, and poetry alike.

Two Free Audiobooks - Rotters & Frankenstein

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 Rotters ($9.99 Kindle; $29.95 Audible), by Daniel Kraus, narrated by Kirby Heyborne. This looks like it will be very good and will probably go to the top of my listening list.

Book Description
Grave-robbing. What kind of monster would do such a thing? It's true that Leonardo da Vinci did it, Shakespeare wrote about it, and the resurrection men of nineteenth-century Scotland practically made it an art. But none of this matters to Joey Crouch, a sixteen-year-old straight-A student living in Chicago with his single mom. For the most part, Joey's life is about playing the trumpet and avoiding the daily humiliations of high school.

Everything changes when Joey's mother dies in a tragic accident and he is sent to rural Iowa to live with the father he has never known, a strange, solitary man with unimaginable secrets. At first, Joey's father wants nothing to do with him, but once father and son come to terms with each other, Joey's life takes a turn both macabre and exhilarating.

Daniel Kraus's masterful plotting and unforgettable characters make Rotters a moving, terrifying, and unconventional epic about fathers and sons, complex family ties, taboos, and the ever-present specter of mortality.

Frankenstein ($23.95 Audible), by Mary Shelley, narrated by Jim Weiss, 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, although this $1.99 edition from Random House is the one linked to the companion edition at Audible.

Book Description
Victor Frankenstein learns the secret of producing life, and so, by putting together parts of various corpses, he creates the Frankenstein monster. The monster is huge and disformed, but he means no harm to anyone--until constant ill treatment drives him to murder and revenge. This easy-to-read version of Mary Shelley's long-standing masterpiece easily captures the sadness and horror of the original.

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 6/27

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is The Seems: The Lost Train of Thought ($1.99), by Michael Wexler [Bloomsbury USA Childrens].

Book Description
Becker Drane's coolest job in The World-as a Fixer in The Seems-is in jeopardy. So when a trainload of Thought goes missing, Becker reluctantly agrees to join a veteran team of Fixers on a mission in The Middle of Nowhere. Turns out getting the train back on track is just a temporary Fix, and Becker's real mission just might end his Fixing days forever. This third book takes readers deeper into The Seems than ever before. It's a nail-biting thrill ride at every turn.

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

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Hillbilly Heart ($1.99), by Billy Ray Cyrus [Amazon Publishing], with the companion audiobook also $1.99. this was just released in mid-April, so I'm surprised to see it discounted so soon.

Book Description
Billy Ray Cyrus is an award-winning country music legend whose “Achy Breaky Heart” propelled his debut album, “Some Gave All,” to the top of the charts for a record-breaking seventeen weeks. He’s also father of Miley Cyrus, one of Hollywood’s most successful young stars, who grew up on stage and on screen, most famously as the lead on the Disney Channel’s “Hannah Montana,” where Billy Ray Cyrus played her father. But sometimes the truth is even better than fiction. Now, for the first time, fans can read about Cyrus’s tenacious and inspiring struggle to find his own way to faith, family, and the power of music.

Hillbilly Heart opens during Cyrus’s turbulent childhood in Kentucky, where he sought refuge in music and sports after his parents’ divorce. He was a troublemaker in training, known more for pulling pranks than for following in his preacher grandfather’s much-vaunted footsteps. But when he heard a voice telling him to get a left-handed guitar and start a band, this rebel found his cause. Ten years later, after tirelessly working the club circuit and knocking on the closed doors of music executives from Nashville to Los Angeles, Cyrus finally made a stratospheric breakthrough, becoming a multi-platinum selling artist and taking his rock-and-roll twist on country music to the world’s stage.

Cyrus fans have always been able to piece together the details of his life through his lyrics—the ups and downs, adventures and disappointments—but Hillbilly Heart gives them a front row seat for his most candid performance ever.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is A Hero Lies Within ($1.99), by Patrice Wilton [Montlake Romance]. Originally released as a Kindle Serial, all episodes now download as a complete book.

Book Description
A returning war hero and the woman who once loved him are brought together again – but will they be able to heal the wounds of their past?

Kari Winslow is a Palm Beach news reporter, fighting not only to keep her job, but take over the nightly anchor spot. Her boss has axed her special runaway series, and wants “feel good stories” instead. She has only two weeks to come up with something big, or the special series will be taken over by the new anchorman who seems determined to ruin her career.

Jake Harrington has returned from two tours in Iraq, and this wounded warrior is searching for peace – and a family friend who’s gone missing. He turns to his former love Kari for help. Though Jake hurt Kari badly once before, she agrees to help him under one condition: he must provide her with “feel good stories” about the everyday heroes he served with. But his memory is sketchy at best, and the only stories he remembers are the ones she doesn’t want to hear.

Fate, it seems, has brought them back together – but can Kari ever forget Jakes’ bitter betrayal, and will he forgive hers when to save her career she must betray his trust…?

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is A Kingdom Besieged ($1.99), the first novel in the Chaoswar Saga by Raymond E. Feist [HarperCollins]. If you missed this when it was on sale last December and are an epic fantasy fan, you should definitely grab it at this price.

Book Description
Midkemia’s fifth and final Riftwar—the devastating Chaoswar—explodes in the opening volume of Raymond E. Feist’s spectacular new epic fantasy trilogy of magic, conflict, and world-shattering peril. A Kingdom Besieged is a breathtaking adventure that brings back Pug—first introduced in Feist’s classic debut novel, Magician, and now Midkemia’s most powerful sorcerer—who faces a major magical cataclysm that forces him to question everything he’s ever held as true and dear…including the loyalty of his beloved son Magnus. The Chaoswar promises to be the crowning achievement in the three decades-long career of a New York Times bestselling master fantasist who rules the sword and sorcery universe along with Terry Goodkind, George R. R. Martin, and Terry Brooks.

Kindle Daily Deals 6/26

Today on Amazon's Lightning Deals starting at 2PM Pacific (5PM on the East Coast) are for Kindle Fire accessories (at 3PM is the official sleep / wake cover for the Fire HD) and at 5PM is a portrait / landscape charging speaker dock.)

Today is the last day to take advantage of the Audible 2-for-1 Sale.

Amazon has price matched Catherine Coulter's The Cove ($1.99), which is today's Nook Daily Find.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Hawk Quest ($1.99), by Robert Lyndon [Hachette], with the companion audiobook for $4.99 (at least, that is the price according to the Amazon page). This is a stand-alone historical thriller (with elements of romance), running to nearly 700 pages in print.

Book Description
The year is 1072.

The Normans have captured England. The Turks have captured a Norman knight. And in order to free him, a soldier named Vallon must capture four rare hawks.

On a heart-stopping journey to the far ends of the earth, braving Arctic seas, Viking warlords, and the blood-drenched battlefields, Vallon and his comrades must track down their quarry one by one in a relentless race against time.

The scale is huge. The journey is incredible. The history is real. This is Hawk Quest.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is In Rides Trouble ($1.99), the second novel in Julie Ann Walker's Black Knights Inc. series [Sourcebooks Casablanca]. I'd snap this up, if I didn't already have it (and the rest of the series) in my library.

Book Description
Rebel with a Cause

Becky "Rebel" Reichert never actually goes looking for trouble. It just has a tendency to find her. Like the day Frank Knight showed up at her door, wanting to use her motorcycle shop as a cover for his elite special ops team. But Becky prides herself on being able to hang with the big boys-she can weld, drive, and shoot just as well as any of them.

Man with a Mission

Munitions, missiles, and mayhem are Frank's way of life. The last thing the ex-SEAL wants is for one brash blonde to come within fifty feet of anything that goes boom. Yet it's just his rotten luck when she ends up in a hostage situation at sea. Come hell or high water, he will get her back-whether she says she needs him or not.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Dead Spots ($1.99), the first novel in the Scarlett Bernard urban fantasy series by Melissa F. Olson [47North], with the companion audiobook also $1.99. I bought this when it was featured last November, read it straight thru last Spring (staying up late at night), then pre-ordered the next in the series, Trail of Dead, which now available and only $3.99.

Book Description
Scarlett Bernard knows about personal space: step within ten feet of her, and any supernatural spells or demonic forces are instantly defused—vampires and werewolves become human again, and witches can’t get out so much as a “hocus pocus.” This special skill makes her a null and very valuable to Los Angeles’s three most powerful magical communities, who utilize her ability to scrub crime scenes clean of all traces of the paranormal to keep humanity, and the LAPD, in the dark.

But one night Scarlett’s late arrival to a grisly murder scene reveals her agenda and ends with LAPD’s Jesse Cruz tracking her down to strike a deal: he’ll keep quiet about the undead underworld if she helps solve the case. Their pact doesn’t sit well with Dash, the city’s chief bloodsucker, who fears his whole vampire empire is at stake. And when clues start to point to Scarlett, it’ll take more than her unique powers to catch the real killer and clear her name.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Squirrel World ($1.99), by Johanna Hurwitz [Chronicle Books].

Book Description
Award-winning author Johanna Hurwitz is back with a new addition to the charming Park Pals Adventures series. Squirrels Lexington (Lexi) and Lenox decide to visit the New York City streets they were named after. Lexi is worried about leaving Central Park, but Lenox is confident that their streets will be beautiful places, maybe even better than the park! When the two squirrels venture into the city, they soon realize that the human world is stranger and more dangerous than they'd ever imagined. This exciting Park Pals tale brings back the fun, adventure, and favorite furry characters that this award-winning series is known for.

Age Range: 6 - 10 years

Kindle Daily Deals 6/25

Today on Amazon's Gold Box save $50 PlayStation 3 320 GB Uncharted 3; Drake's Deception bundle and it's Video Game Day on the Lightning Deals.

Amazon's Android Free App of the Day is a "Rube Goldberg" style puzzle game called Crazy Machines - Golden Gears HD

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Quicksilver ($1.99), the first Baroque Cycle novel by Neal Stephenson [HarperCollins], with the companion audiobook for $3.49. This is an excellent selection (one I picked up long ago, when Fictionwise was still around) and will appeal both to his fans and any fan of historical fiction, as he tells the story of the birth of the scientific revolution.

Book Description
Quicksilver is the story of Daniel Waterhouse, fearless thinker and conflicted Puritan, pursuing knowledge in the company of the greatest minds of Baroque-era Europe, in a chaotic world where reason wars with the bloody ambitions of the mighty, and where catastrophe, natural or otherwise, can alter the political landscape overnight.

It is a chronicle of the breathtaking exploits of "Half-Cocked Jack" Shaftoe -- London street urchin turned swashbuckling adventurer and legendary King of the Vagabonds -- risking life and limb for fortune and love while slowly maddening from the pox.

And it is the tale of Eliza, rescued by Jack from a Turkish harem to become spy, confidante, and pawn of royals in order to reinvent Europe through the newborn power of finance.

A gloriously rich, entertaining, and endlessly inventive novel that brings a remarkable age and its momentous events to vivid life, Quicksilver is an extraordinary achievement from one of the most original and important literary talents of our time.

And it's just the beginning ...

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is The Replacement Wife ($1.99), by Eileen Goudge [Open Road].

Book Description
From New York Times bestselling author Eileen Goudge comes a poignant new novel that asks the question, “What would you do if you were told you had only six months to live?” For one professional matchmaker the answer is heart-wrenching: She must find her husband’s next wife.

Camille Hart, one of Manhattan’s most sought-after matchmakers, has survived more than her fair share of hardships. Her mother died when she was a young girl, leaving her and her sister with an absentee father. Now in her forties, she has already survived cancer once, though the battle revealed just how ill-equipped her husband Edward is to be a single parent. So when doctors tell Camille that her cancer is back—and this time it’s terminal—she decides to put her matchmaking expertise to the test for one final job. Seeking stability for her children and happiness for her husband, Camille sets out to find the perfect woman to replace her when she’s gone.

But what happens when a dying wish becomes a case of “be careful what you wish for”? For Edward and Camille, the stunning conclusion arrives with one last twist of fate that no one saw coming.

At once deeply felt and witty, The Replacement Wife is an unforgettable story of love and family, and a refreshing look at the unexpected paths that lead us to our own happy endings.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Fade to Black ($1.99), the first novel in the Rojan Dizon series by Francis Knight [Orbit/Hachette]. The second in the series, Before the Fall, was just released last week, with Last to Rise scheduled for release in November.

Book Description
From the depths of a valley rises the city of Mahala

It's a city built upwards, not across - where streets are built upon streets, buildings upon buildings. A city that the Ministry rules from the sunlit summit, and where the forsaken lurk in the darkness of Under.

Rojan Dizon doesn't mind staying in the shadows, because he's got things to hide. Things like being a pain-mage, with the forbidden power to draw magic from pain. But he can't hide for ever.

Because when Rojan stumbles upon the secrets lurking in the depths of the Pit, the fate of Mahala will depend on him using his magic. And unlucky for Rojan - this is going to hurt.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is The Dragleon ($1.99), by Guy Waddilove [Peach Publishing].

Book Description
A magical creature is born, curled up inside a flower. With no parents around to name or teach her, she must work out what she is, all by herself. She soon learns that she can blend in perfectly with any plants around her.

When she huffs and puffs only the sweet scent of flowers wafts over her victims, sending them to sleep or making them think happy thoughts. Grasses spring up in her wake, or flowers, if she’s feeling really happy, while thorns tend to shoot up beside her if something makes her cross.

She soon grows very large indeed, so all the other animals fear her and her strange powers and flee at the very sight of her. But she is all alone in the world, with only mute little chameleons for company, for they think nothing of her changing colour and can’t run away from anything much.

An absolutely charming and magical story that brings sheer delight to the reader who can’t but conjure up beautiful flowers and fruits as Dragleon happily weaves her magic. Yet beneath the colour and wonder are the age-old prejudices of colour, race and disability and how the friendship between a young girl and a strange creature develops because they have focused on their similarities rather than their differences and finally overcome the adversities of life.

This book is suitable for children between the ages of 6–10.

Nook Daily Find 6/25

Wake ($2.69 Kindle, $2.99 B&N), the first novel in Amanda Hocking's Watersong series [St. Martin's Griffin/Macmillan], is the Nook Daily Find, (better than) price matched on Kindle.

Book Description
Fall under the spell of Wake—the first book in an achingly beautiful new series by celebrated author Amanda Hocking—and lose yourself to the Watersong.

Gorgeous. Fearless. Dangerous. They're the kind of girls you envy; the kind of girls you want to hate. Strangers in town for the summer, Penn, Lexi and Thea have caught everyone's attention—but it’s Gemma who’s attracted theirs. She’s the one they’ve chosen to be part of their group.

Gemma seems to have it all—she’s carefree, pretty, and falling in love with Alex, the boy next door. He’s always been just a friend, but this summer they’ve taken their relationship to the next level, and now there’s no going back. Then one night, Gemma’s ordinary life changes forever. She’s taking a late night swim under the stars when she finds Penn, Lexi and Thea partying on the cove. They invite her to join them, and the next morning she wakes up on the beach feeling groggy and sick, knowing something is different.

Suddenly Gemma is stronger, faster, and more beautiful than ever. But her new powers come with a terrifying price. And as she uncovers the truth, she’s is forced to choose between staying with those she loves—or entering a new world brimming with dark hungers and unimaginable secrets.

Kindle Daily Deals 6/24

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Dixie Divas ($1.99), the first novel in the Diva series by Virginia Brown [Bell Bridge Book], with the companion audiobook also $1.99. Long time readers should check their libraries, as I believe this was free about three years ago, but in a different edition.

Book Description
"You found my philandering ex-husband?" Bitty asked. "Where? Mexico? Paris? In Tupelo with a cocktail waitress?" "In your closet," I answered. "Dead."

Break out the hoop skirts and the zinfandel. The Divas are on the case. Wine. Chocolate. Transvestite strippers. Just another good-time get-together for the Dixie Divas of historic Holly Springs, Mississippi, where moonlight and magnolias mingle with delicious smalltown scandal.

But Eureka "Trinket" Truevine, the newest Diva, gets more than she bargained for when she finds her best Diva girlfriend Bitty Hollandale's ex-husband in Bitty's hall closet. He's dead. Very dead. Now Trinket and the Divas have to help Bitty finger the murderer and clear her name..

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Ex on the Beach ($1.99), by Kim Law [Montlake Romance]. Originally released as a Kindle Serial, all episodes are now download as a complete book.

Book Description
She vowed to protect her heart…

Andie Shayne believes in forever…for everyone else. She has an up-and-coming wedding planning business, and her own failed engagement, to prove it. Now, all Andie wants is to save the date for Seaglass Celebrations becoming a premier destination wedding resort. And making sure the wedding of the summer goes off without a hitch will get her there - despite the arrival of one unexpected guest.

The sexy-as-sin best man…who’s also the ex who broke Andie’s heart.

Mark Kavanaugh wants to make amends with Andie. He knows breaking off their engagement—at the altar!—was unforgivable. But he’s a wiser man now, vowing to make peace with his past. But with desire reigniting on Turtle Island, Mark realizes he never stopped loving Andie. He wants her; and this time, he’s determined to do it right.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Iron Master ($1.99), the third novel in The Amtrak Wars series by Patrick Tilley [Bloomsbury Reader]. I've been picking up this series, one by one, as it shows up on Daily Deals or sales and grabbed this one right away.

Book Description
With his heart and mind now torn between the conflicting worlds of Tracker and Mute, Steve embarks on his most dangerous mission yet: the rescue of Cadillac and Clearwater, now held captive by the Iron Masters in the lands by the Eastern Sea. Disguised as a Mute, he penetrates a society ruled by samurai warriors in search of his friends. He has promised to reunite them with Mr Snow but his masters in the Federation still expect him to complete his assignment and are closely monitoring every move he makes.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is For the Love of My Pet ($1.99), by Owen Burgess, Rob Hartley and Joshua Hartley (Illustrator) [indie/Morgan James Publishing].

Book Description
Mo lives on the planet of Floopar, which doesn't have any pets or animals.

Therefore Mo travels to the planet Earth to adopt pets and bring them back to his planet. He discovers through the process he doesn't know much about pets and needs to learn how to take care of them. He also sees that many pets are homeless. Mo decides to make it his mission to find homes for pets and learn everything he can so he can return to his planet with the knowledge of how to take care of the animals.

Kindle Daily Deals 6/23

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is 27 spy and assassin thrillers for $1.99 apiece. That's too many to include in one post, so I'm just listing the authors included (click the link above for the entire sale list), but do note that there are a LOT of Ian Fleming James Bond titles on this sale. Many also have companion audiobooks, for as low as $1.99, for those that prefer to listen or use the immersion reading on their Kindle Fire.

Authors included:

• Ian Fleming
• J.A. Konrath
• J.C. Carleson

• Michael Prescott
• Gregory Widen
• J. Carson Black
• Dan Mayland

Celebrate Sonic The Hedgehog's Anniversary with savings on Four Android Sonic Games for $0.99 (regularly up to $5)

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Her Knight in Black Leather ($0.99), by JM Stewart [Crimson Romance].

Book Description
Cat Edwards has spent her life playing the wallflower in an effort to escape the repressive weight of her mother’s tarnished name. Dragged to a bar by her best friend in an effort to forget a broken heart, the shy bookworm is determined to be someone else for the night, but quickly gets in over her head. She discovers chivalry isn’t dead after all when a mysterious stranger comes to her rescue. He’s wearing black leather and a mischievous smile that promises to be exactly what she needs.

When his terminally ill father suffers a setback, Michael Brant returns to the town he swore ten years ago he’d never return to. He’s come home this time determined to make peace with the past that haunts him, but being home brings up memories he doesn’t want to remember anymore. His first night in town, he’s captured by a damsel in distress. Cat’s beauty is made all the more alluring when he realizes she has no idea who he is. He can’t resist spending a single night in her arms. With her, he’s only a man, disconnected from his family’s name and the past that haunts him here.

As the town erupts with the news of his return, Michael’s dark past comes back to haunt him, putting Cat danger. Someone is threatening her life and the life of her family. Desperate to keep history from repeating itself, Michael offers her his family’s name in order to keep her safe. When the lie spirals beyond their control, can they stop their hearts from becoming entangled as well?

Sensuality Level: Sensual

Today's Kindle Teen Daily Deal is Finn Finnegan ($1.99), by Darby Karchut [Spencer Hill Press].

Book Description
Finn (not bleedin Finnegan) MacCullen is eager to begin his apprenticeship. He soon discovers the ups and downs of hunting monsters in a suburban neighborhood under the demanding tutelage of the Knight, Gideon Lir. Both master and apprentice are descendents of the Tuatha De Danaan, a magical race of warriors from Ireland. Scattered long ago to the four corners of the world, the De Danaan wage a two thousand year old clandestine battle with their ancient enemy, the Amandn, a breed of goblin-like creatures.Now with the beasts concentrating their attacks on Finn, he and his master must race to locate the lost Spear of the Tuatha De Danaan, the only weapon that can destroy the Amandn, all the while hiding his true identity from his new friends, Rafe and Savannah, twins whose South African roots may hold a key to Finns survival. Armed with a bronze dagger, some ancient Celtic magic, and a hair-trigger temper, Finn is about to show his enemies the true meaning of fighting Irish.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Seven Princes ($1.99), the first novel of the Books of the Shaper Trilogy by John R. Fultz [Orbit], with the companion audiobook for $3.99. I thought it was a good deal when I bought in it December; it's an even better deal at this price.

Book Description
It is an Age of Legends.

Under the watchful eye of the Giants, the kingdoms of Men rose to power. Now, the Giant-King has slain the last of the Serpents and ushered in an era of untold peace and prosperity. Where a fire-blackened desert once stood, golden cities flourish in verdant fields.

It is an Age of Heroes.

But the realms of Man face a new threat-- an ancient sorcerer slaughters the rightful King of Yaskatha before the unbelieving eyes of his son, young Prince D'zan. With the Giant-King lost to a mysterious doom, it seems that no one has the power to stop the coming storm.

It is an Age of War.

The fugitive Prince seeks allies across the realms of Men and Giants to liberate his father's stolen kingdom. Six foreign Princes are tied to his fate. Only one thing is certain: War is coming.

SEVEN PRINCES.

Some will seek glory.

Some will seek vengeance.

All will be legends.

Kindle Daily Deals 6/22

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is One Last Thing Before I Go ($2.99), by Jonathan Tropper [Penguin].

Book Description
The bestselling author of This Is Where I Leave You returns with a hilarious and heart-rending tale about one family's struggle to reconnect.

“Mistakes have been made.” Drew Silver has begun to accept that life isn’t going to turn out as he expected. His fleeting fame as the drummer for a one-hit wonder rock band is nearly a decade behind him. His ex-wife is about to marry a terrific guy. And his Princeton-bound teenage daughter Casey has just confided in him that she’s pregnant— because Silver is the one she cares least about letting down.

So when Silver learns that he requires emergency life-saving heart surgery, he makes the radical decision to refuse the operation, choosing instead to spend what time he has left to repair his relationship with Casey, become a better man, and live in the moment — even if that moment isn’t going to last very long. As his exasperated family looks on, Silver grapples with the ultimate question of whether or not his own life is worth saving.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is The Genius and the Muse ($1.99), by Elizabeth Hunter [indie].

Book Description
The first contemporary romance from the author of the best-selling Elemental Mysteries.

When Kate Mitchell decided to research the mysterious portrait in the student gallery, she had no idea how her life would change. She thought she knew what she wanted in life. She had a great boyfriend, a promising career, and a clear path.

How could one simple portrait change all that?

A photograph. A sculpture. A painting. One clue leads to another, and Kate learns that pieces of the past might leave unexpected marks on her own future, too.

And how, exactly, did she end up in an irritable sculptor's studio?

One portrait may hold the answers, but learning its secrets will challenge everything Kate thought she knew about love, art, and life. A single picture can tell more than one story, and in the end, a young artist will discover that every real love story is a unique work of art.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Deadeye Dick ($1.99), by Kurt Vonnegut [RosettaBooks].

Book Description
Rudy Waltz (aka "Deadeye Dick") is the lead in this latter day Vonnegut novel. Waltz, our protagonist, moves through the book trying to make sense of a life that is rife with disaster; there is a double murder, a fatal dose of radioactivity, a decapitation, the total annihilation of a city by nuclear holocaust and, believe it or not, more. Waltz, a diarist, becomes symbolic of a person living a fraught post-technological life in which frailty is as likely to be a person's undoing as any bomb.

Waltz finally reaches the point of resignation; a realization and understanding that there are things that are just beyond our control and understanding that make all human motive, ambition, and circumstance absolutely irrelevant. Waltz's search for meaning leads him ultimately to a kind of resignation which ought not be confused with understanding of any kind, for it is not. It is simple resignation.

It is this theme of Vonnegut's--the impossibility of trying to live meaningfully in a meaningless world--that is ultimately central to this novel. Rudy Waltz (like some of Vonnegut's other protagonists, Billy Pilgrim or Howard Campbell) is ultimately only a stand-in for Vonnegut himself who is really narrating for us as the lead witness and character here--the philosopher who is telling us why and what for.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is The Marble Queen ($1.99), by Stephanie J. Blake [Two Lions].

Book Description
Freedom Jane McKenzie isn’t good at following the rules. She doesn’t like any of the things that girls are supposed to like. She’s good at fishing, getting into trouble—and playing marbles. All she wants is to enter the marble competition at the Autumn Jubilee and show the boys in the neighborhood that she’s the best player. If she can’t be the Marble King, then she’ll be the Marble Queen. First, Freedom has to convince her mother to let her enter. But there’s a new baby on the way, Freedom’s daddy is drinking too much, her little brother is a handful, and her mother is even more difficult than usual. Freedom learns that when it comes to love, friendship, and family, sometimes there are no rules. Set in 1959, The Marble Queen is a timeless story about growing up.

The author of The Marble Queen has donated this book to the Worldreader program

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5th and up

Kindle Daily Deals 6/21

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is The Trinity Game ($1.99), the 2013 International Thriller Award Nominee by Sean Chercover [Thomas & Mercer], with the companion audiobook for $1.99.

Book Description
Daniel Byrne is an investigator for the Vatican’s secretive Office of the Devil’s Advocate—the department that scrutinizes miracle claims. Over ten years and 721 cases, not one miracle he tested has proved true. But case #722 is different; Daniel’s estranged uncle, a crooked TV evangelist, has started speaking in tongues—and accurately predicting the future. Daniel knows Reverend Tim Trinity is a con man. Could Trinity also be something more?

The evangelist himself is baffled by his newfound power—and the violent reaction it provokes. After years of scams, he suddenly has the ability to predict everything from natural disasters to sports scores. Now the mob wants him dead for ruining their gambling business, and the Vatican wants him debunked as a false messiah. On the run from assassins, Trinity flees with Daniel’s help through the back roads of the Bible Belt to New Orleans, where Trinity plans to deliver a final prophecy so shattering his enemies will do anything to keep him silent.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is To Whisper Her Name ($1.99), the first novel in Tamera Alexander's new Belle Meade Plantation series [HarperCollins].

Book Description
Set at Nashville's historic Belle Meade Plantation, the most influential thoroughbred stud farm in America's history, To Whisper Her Name weaves the struggles of real people of the post-war South with the journeys of a man and a woman scarred by betrayal.

Olivia Aberdeen, destitute widow of a man shot as a traitor to the South, is shunned by proper society and gratefully accepts an invitation from "Aunt" Elizabeth Harding, mistress of Belle Meade Plantation. Expecting to be the Harding's head housekeeper, Olivia is disillusioned when she learns the real reason Elizabeth's husband, Confederate General William Giles Harding, agreed to her coming. Not finding the safe haven she expects, Olivia is caught off guard by her feelings for Ridley Adam Cooper, a Southern man who seems anything but a Southern gentleman.

Branded a traitor by some, Ridley Cooper, a Southern son who chose to fight for the Union, is a man desperate to end the war still raging inside him. Determined to learn "the gift" that Belle Meade's head horse trainer and former slave, Bob Green, possesses, Ridley harbors secrets that threaten both their lives.

As Ridley seeks to make peace within himself for "betraying" the South he loved, Olivia is determined to never be betrayed again.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is The Fallen Blade ($1.99), the first novel in the Vampire Assassin Trilogy by Jon Courtenay Grimwood [Orbit/Hachette]. Orbit always has some of the best books on the SF/Fantasy shelves and I haven't read this series, so will be checking the sample on it today.

Book Description
Venice in the early fifteenth century is at the height of its power. In theory Duke Marco commands. But Marco is a simpleton so his aunt and uncle rule in his stead. Within the Serene Republic, their word is law, but for all their influence, Venice's fate still lies in other hands . . .

Lady Giulietta is the Duke's cousin. She enjoys greater privilege than many can even dream of, but her status will demand a terrible price.

Atilo Il Mauros is head of the Assassini, the shadow army that enforces Venice's will - both at home and abroad.

Prince Leopold zum Bas Friedland is the bastard son of the German emperor and leader of the krieghund - the only force in Venice more feared than Atilo's assassins.

And then there is Atilo's angel-faced apprentice. Only a boy, Tycho is already stronger and faster than any man has a right to be. He can see in the dark, but sunlight burns him. It is said that he drinks blood.

Award-winning author Jon Courtenay Grimwood seamlessly blends history, politics and dark fantasy in a compelling vision of a Venice that might have been.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is I Love the Rain ($0.99), by Margaret Park Bridges [Chronicle Books].

Book Description
Molly hates rainy days. The gray sky, the soggy wait for the school bus, they seem to make everyone grumpy. Everyone except her friend Sophie, who shows Molly the magic she has been missing.

The simple, poetic language in this lovely book takes readers on a journey from the girls' first tentative steps into the drizzle to a rain-drenched romp in a puddle. The lyrical text is perfectly matched by the joyful watercolor paintings, which capture not only the color and beauty of a rainy day, but the warm interactions of the girls' blossoming friendship. An exuberant homage to finding pleasure where it's unexpected, the power of imagination, and the joys of friendship, I Love the Rain will have readers singing, "Sun, sun, go away!"