Free Audiobook - The Case of the Missing Will

The AudioFile Magazine, BBC Audiobooks America and Audible.com are celebrating Agatha Christie Week and part of that includes a free download of The Case of the Missing Will, read by David Suchet. This is a short story, 21 minutes in length, so easy to listen to in on session, whether on a commute or working out.

Poirot receives an unusual request for help from a Miss Violet Marsh, who was orphaned as a child and went to live with her peculiar Uncle Andrew. He died a month ago, leaving a will with a strange clause. Marsh has given instructions that his "clever" niece is allowed to live in his house for one month and in that time she has to "prove her wits" and find his second will. If at the end of that time she hasn't, all his worldly goods go to charitable institutions and she will be left with nothing. Can Poirot help her?

Click HERE to sign up for the download. You'll get a link via email that will take you to Audible.com to get the free story (the signup page says it is limited to US residents, which means you'll need a US based Audible account; you can create an account then, if you don't have one). When you get ready to download, it looks like you can choose the traditional Audible format or a new enhanced format. The Kindle2 and KindleDX are amongst the supported devices (as are newer Ipods and the Sansa Fuze; the Sansa Clip Plus isn't on the list, but it technically isn't available yet, even if I have had mine for two weeks, now!

While you are there, you might want to pick up President Obama's 9/09/09 Health Care Address to Congress, if you missed it when it aired live (or you just wanted to listen again for yourself, rather than be told what he said by the media). It's also a free download.

Tumor - Chapters 2 and 3

Tumor Chapter 2, by Joshua Hale Fialkov and Noel Tuazon, is out and priced at 99 cents. You can still pick up Chapter 1 as a free download, if you missed it when it was released. You might want to check out my first blog post, HERE, for my impressions reading it on the DX.

Warning: The language used in quite adult and there is graphic violence (albeit, in black and white). Nothing that a typical adolescent boy isn't already reading (and in color), but it may not be suitable for the very young.

Book Description
Frank Armstrong has an inoperable brain tumor that’s killing him. In his final days, with his body, senses, and mind failing him, he’s going to do the one thing that he’s never been able to do before… save the girl.

The Chapter 3 appears to have been submitted to Amazon's DTP system, but with the new screening they are doing, it has been stuck in the "not yet available" status for about a week. There is no price indicated yet, but I'd expect it to be the same 99 cents as Chapter 2.

Update: Chapter 3 is now available and is the same 99 cents as Chapter 2. We'll have to wait until next month to get the next part of the story.

In the meantime, Fialkov's short story Belly Button Reset ($0.99) was submitted two days later (according to the publication dates), but is already available. They must be checking the graphic novels by hand and have a more automated system to check text based books.

Update: You can now get this and another a short story written by Fialkov, Half a Person, for free from Feedbooks. Just follow the links and select the Mobipocket/Kindle version.

Three Books for Three Cents

Skeeter: A Cat Tale, by Anne L. Watson, is the second book she has released on the Kindle platform that is selling for a penny.

Book Description
When a stray kitten romps into Lynne's life, she has no idea what she's getting into. As Lynne describes in letters to her friend Angie, Skeeter is all cat -- high-spirited, contrary, and inventive. He's so goofy that he reminds Lynne of her own nuttiest escapades; so irrepressible that even Lynne's neighbor, Mark, gets wound around his paw. And when Angie visits to see Skeeter for herself . . . . Well, no one who meets Skeeter will ever be quite the same again.

Pacific Avenue, by Anne L. Watson, the first book she has released on the Kindle, back in January. Some of you may have missed it when I wrote about it in March, so I'm including it again; it's still selling for a single penny.

Book Description
Where do you go from the end of the line? This is the question facing Kathy Woodbridge as she steps off the bus in the port city of San Pedro, California. Nineteen years old, from Louisiana, she is running away from her past. There's a lot to run away from.

What do you do when there's no one to do for? That's what Lacey Greer wants to know, with her only child off at college. When Kathy gets a job at the office where Lacey works, she can tell that Kathy's in trouble. Lacey's husband advises her to stay out of it -- but what's she supposed to do, buy a rocking chair?

Set in San Pedro, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans in the early seventies, Pacific Avenue explores themes of love, belonging, helpfulness, hope, forgiveness, reconciliation, interracial marriage, and healing from the trauma of war. At the end of the line, will Kathy find a way to return home?

Timothy Tolliver and the Bully Basher, by Aaron Shepard, is a childrens book (and fairly short), an update on a Jewish legend (and does contain a few expressions with Jewish holidays, which may need explaining to children not yet exposed to Hanukkah or Passover).

Book Description
Timothy Tolliver and his friend Arnie Rosenberg have a problem -- a gang of older bullies called the Stinks. But besides being a fourth-grader, Timothy is also a world-class inventor. He and Arnie get the bright idea of defending themselves with Timothy's science-project robot.

When their first try fails, Timothy finds a way to update the mystical formulae that gave life to the Jewish clay monster, the Golem. The robot comes alive, and it looks like their worries are over -- till the robot stops following orders and takes matters into its own hands.

Can Timothy bring his creation back under control? Find out, as the Golem legend replays in a modern American elementary school.

Thanks to Xia for the tip on these.

Everyone's Reading - and now they can do it for free!

Mills and Boon publishing is celebrating the fist anniversary of their ebook program by giving everyone a free book out of each of their series, ten in all. They also have a contest to win a Sony Reader (they are in the UK, so the Kindle isn't there, yet) and it appears you can re-enter each month until the end of the year. Some of these are either out of print or only available as imports in the US, but enough of them are at Amazon that I'm including links here, for those that want to check out the reviews before downloading. All total, these books would cost $26.40 if bought thru Amazon and you'd have to skip three of them completely.

Romance
Mistress: Hired for the Billionaire's Pleasure ($3.40 Kindle)
The Rake's Unconventional Mistress ($4.32 Kindle)
Pleasure, Pregnancy and a Proposition ($3.40 Kindle)
The Midwife's Little Miracle ($3.40 Kindle)
Father Material ($3.96 Kindle)
Adopted: Outback Baby ($2.88 Kindle)
The Player (Out of Print)
The Billionaire's Baby Negotiation (Out of Print)

Mystery/Suspense/Thrillers
Diagnosis: Danger (IMPORT)
Silent in the Grave ($5.04 Kindle)

Click HERE to get the free downloads. You can choose between EPUB or MOBI/PRC (Kindle) formats (I'd skip having the book sent to your phone, unless you are in the UK). Also, it's a bit tricky to download the books. First, click on the cover image of the book you are interested in (not the "download" button underneath). The image at the right of the screen will change, showing you the book's cover. Next, click on the red banner over the large cover image. This will replace the image with a synopsis of the book and the two links (just above the synopsis). Click on the picture of the format your want - the first one is EPUB and the second picture shown is for Mobi/PRC (that's the one you want for your Kindle). You'll be prompted to save the file; just be sure to pick a place you can find it later, when you want to copy it onto the Kindle. If you are not prompted to save the file and instead the MobiPocket Reader (or other program) starts when you click the link, you'll need to instead Right Click and choose Save Link As or Save Target As from the menu, then name the book once the save file dialog is displayed.

UPDATE: If you open the books on your Kindle and there seems to be nothing there other than a few pages of advertisements, check the location number -- some people are reporting that the books open at the end, rather than the beginning. To find the beginning, use the Menu to select the Cover, Table of Contents or Location (enter "1"), not "the Beginning", as this flag is incorrectly set. I haven't seen the issue on the desktop with the Mobi or Epub, but don't have a Sony Reader to test it there (someone want to send me one?).

Two Dollar Deals from Hatchette Publishing

In addition to Brian Haig's Secret Sanction (see Monday's post), Hatchette Books has four more titles discounted to $1.99 this month.

Storm Track, by Margaret Maron, is a legal mystery/thriller under the Mysterious Press imprint.

Book Description
Judge Deborah Knott blows the lid off a murder investigation with gale force winds in this newest entry in the award-winning series. As Hurricane Fran strikes the North Carolina coast, Judge Knott seeks clues to a motel murder and a determined killer finds a perfect time to strike again.

The Hook, by Donald E. Westlake, is another from Mysterious Press, this time more psychological suspense than thriller.

Book Description
Bryce Proctorr has a multi-million dollar contract for his next novel, a trophy wife raking him over the coals of a protracted divorce, a bad case of writer's block and an impending deadline. Wayne Prentice is a fading author in a world that no longer values his work. Proctorr has a proposition: if Prentice will hand over his unsold manuscript to publish under Proctorr's name, the two will split the book advance fifty-fifty. There's just one small rider to the deal...

Dead Before Dying, by Deon Meyer, is also a thriller, but this time under Little, Brown and Company.

Book Description
Someone in Cape Town has chosen a conspicuous murder weapon -- a century-old German handgun, with ancient bullets that tear through flesh and bone. Three men who have nothing in common are found murdered, and the string of vicious killings pushes the city toward panic. Captain Mat Joubert is left scrambling for answers in a case that might be his last chance to prove that his life's slow spiral will not pull him under. DEAD BEFORE DYING is a heart-racing thriller about a troubled detective determined to find the single thread that weaves together what is otherwise just an assortment of strangers, dead by the same hand.

Bitten & Smitten, by Michelle Rowen is another romance from the Warner Forever label. There were four of these back in June (one is still available for 1.99),

Book Description
In Rowen's death-defyingly funny debut--a cross between "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Sex in the City"--Sarah Dearly goes on a blind date . . . with a vampire.

If you don't have a Kindle, but have a Sony Reader, you can find these same deals in the Sony EBookstore.

UPDATE: Looks like you can get all of these at BooksOnBoard.com as well, although the formats available vary (all appear to be available in DRM'd PDF, some also in Mobi/PRC, Epub or LIT). You can even get the audio version of Secret Sanction for $1.99, which is a real bargain. As for Fictionwise.com - they only have one of the titles at the $1.99 price, so I'd skip them for this deal, just as with the Orbit Dollar Book that they still haven't marked down this month.