Two Free Books on Sony

These are both still pre-orders at Amazon, but can be downloaded for free from Sony (read on your PC or a Sony Reader). They may end up free on Kindle, as well, once released, but there is no guarantee (Sony has had some exclusives, including two others free right now, even though Amazon is far ahead in books given away).

A Catered Birthday Party ($9.99 Kindle), by Isis Crawford

Book Description
When sisters Bernie and Libby Simmons sign on to cater a prize pooch's birthday bash, they think they're ready for anything. But they haven't bargained for a killer with a bone to pick . . .

A Little Taste of Heaven catering certainly knows how to feed people. Dogs, however. . .? Bernie and Libby will have their chance to impress guests of the four-legged variety when they lay out the spread for Trudy the Pug's birthday luncheon. But this isn't just any doggie 'do. Trudy's owner, Annabel Colbert, is one of the richest women in town--and as mascot of the Colbert toy company, Trudy herself is a bona fide celebrity.

When the big day arrives, Trudy and her canine cohorts are ready to dig in to the delicacies--but the first to dip her fangs into the wine is Annabel. Mere moments later, the hostess is shrieking she's been poisoned--and proving it by falling face first into her soup. After two days in a coma, Annabel is dead.

It seems the woman who had everything also had her share of enemies. In fact, Annabel was cheating, blackmailing, or backstabbing most of the people she knew, including her very own best friend, her very own husband, his personal assistant, and last but not least, Trudy's trainer and kennel owner.

With so many suspects, sniffing out the truth is rapidly becoming a tricky, not to mention risky, proposition. Bernie and Libby had better close the oven on this case fast--before they get burned. . .

Hotter After Midnight ($4.47 Kindle), by Cynthia Eden, which is apparently being re-released, as it is already available in the Kindle store for $8.96.

Book Description
A Seductive Nighttime World. . .

Dr. Emily Drake's psychotherapy patients tend to be a little unusual. Instead of midlife crises and mother fixations, Emily treats vampires with blood phobias and sex-demons looking for meaningful relationships. But healing these powerful beings requires an important rule: Never trust a shifter. Especially not one like Detective Colin Gyth, whose gold-flecked eyes and predatory air make Emily realize how much she longs to lose control. . .

A Dark And Dangerous Hunger. . .

Colin can't believe the doctor he has to work with on the Night Butcher murder case is the one person who could expose his true identity as a wolf shifter. Smart and sexy, Emily brings out the alpha male in Colin, unleashing a wild desire that takes them both over the edge. . .. But in the shadows, the Night Butcher waits, eager to spill Emily's blood and taste her terror. And he'll use any means to destroy her, including the one person she has grown to trust. . .

To get these free, start up the Sony Ebook Library Software (it's free) and either search on the titles or try the Bargain Priced section of the Store (all the free books don't show up there, though, so you may have to do a manual search).

Bargain Mystery/Suspense

Bone by Bone ($2.60), by Carol O'Connell

Book Description
In the northern California town of Coventry, two teenage brothers go into the woods one day, but only one comes back. No one knows what happened to the younger brother, Josh, until twenty years later, when the older brother, Oren, now an ex-investigator for the Army CID, returns to Coventry for the first time in many years. His first morning back, he hears a thump on the front porch. Lying in front of the door is a human jawbone, the teeth still intact. And it is not the first such object, his father tells him. Other remains have been left there as well. Josh is coming home . . . bone by bone.Using all his investigative skills, Oren sets out to solve the mystery of his brother's murder, but Coventry is a town full of secrets and secret-keepers: the housekeeper with the fugitive past, the deputy with the old grudge, the reclusive ex-cop from L.A., the woman with the title of town monster, and, not least of all, Oren himself. But the greatest secret of all belonged to his brother, and it is only by unraveling it that Oren can begin to discover the truth that has haunted them all for twenty years.

"A" is for Alibi ($2.38), by Sue Grafton

Book Description
A tough-talking former cop, private investigator Kinsey Millhone has set up a modest detective agency in a quiet corner of Santa Teresa, California. A twice-divorced loner with few personal possessions and fewer personal attachments, she’s got a soft spot for underdogs and lost causes.

Eight years ago, Nikki Fife was convicted of killing her philandering husband. Now she’s out on parole and needs Kinsey’s help to find the real killer.

If there's one thing that makes Kinsey feel alive, it's playing on the edge. When her investigation turns up a second corpse, more suspects, and a new reason to kill, Kinsey discovers that the edge is closer—and sharper—than she imagined.

Don't Tell ($4.99), by Karen Rose (not to be confused with Karen Rose Smith, the Harlequin romance author)

Book Description
It was a desperate plan. But Mary Grace Winters knew the only way to save herself and her child from her abusive cop husband was to stage their own death. Now all that remains of their former life is at the bottom of a lake...

Armed with a new identity in a new town, she and her son have found refuge hundreds of miles away. As Caroline Stewart, she has almost forgotten the nightmare she left behind nine years ago. She is even taking a chance on love with Max Hunter, a man with wounds of his own. But her past is about to collide with the present when her husband uncovers her trail and threatens her hard-won peace. Step by step, he's closing in on her -- and everything and everyone she loves.

Don't look ... Don't trust... Don't Tell.

False Refuge ($1.99), by Steve Anderson. Also available at Smashwords.

Book Description
Army reservist Alex Swenson goes AWOL in 2004 to avoid Iraq duty. He's fled to the Big Island of Hawaii, where he finds himself attracted to cute and wily Kanani, a crime-world survivor searching for a better life. Yet Alex's old army buddy, Jerry, is hot on Alex's trail.

A secretive island haven, Krieger Estates, was supposed to grant Alex a new life and identity, but soon Alex finds that the estates' amoral founders thrive on absolute power, lockstep obedience, and unjust violence. Fleeing's no option this time. Alex refuses to play along and it brings his new overseers' full wrath.

To save Alex, Kanani and Jerry join forces with a hard-nosed plan, yet it's Alex who'll find a way free without relying on Kanani's doomed schemes, or Jerry's tragic sense of loyalty, or any savage methods. Alex will do it his way to the bitter end.

Executive Lunch ($1.99), by Maria E. Schneider. Also available at Smashwords.

Book Description
Sedona is given the opportunity of a lifetime: play an up-and-coming executive with all the trappings of wealth with someone else footing the bill. The catch: find out who is stealing company funds before the criminals find out that their program is being debugged.

Sedona runs into danger, the corporate glass ceiling, and an occasional chance at romance in her quest to figure out who is stealing money from Strandfrost. Unfortunately, Sedona is better at writing computer code than deciphering political vitriol, and if she doesn’t find a way to wade through the red tape and red herrings, she could lose both her job and her quarry!

Win a Kindle and The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Amazon is giving away four Kindles, each preloaded with The Road ($7.99), by Cormac McCarthy. The first winner has already been announced, but if your enter quickly you'll be in the running for this week's drawing. The rules state that only one entry per email address is allowed, but does not you can't enter multiple addresses into the contest (although you may get a lot more junk mail if you do). I'd suggest that you spread your entries out, if you make more than one, entering a different email address each week, in case they limit each week's winners to new entries during the previous week (it's unclear from the rules if entries carry over into future weeks).

Click HERE to enter the sweepstakes.

Fictionwise Magazine Sale

As some of you know, I tend to buy my fiction/short story magazines from Fictionwise. They are DRM-Free, in multiple formats (multiformat) and stay on your bookshelf "forever" (or as long as the store lasts), rather than being limited to just the last few copies. You can read them on any of your readers or your PC, also, rather than being limited to a single device, as is true of the subscriptions in the Amazon store.

This week (thru Sunday), Fictionwise is having a sale on their magazines - all of their one subscriptions have a 25% micropay rebate and and two year subscriptions get a 20% rebate (members get an additional 15% off the list price, as well). This is an instant credit to your account, which can then be used towards the purchase of any other books or subscriptions (although some rebates, including this one, don't work when you pay with Micropay Credit, the smaller percentages do).

They also have a good deal on back issues of Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine: From now until November 30, get all 2008 issues in a half-priced bundle for ONLY $24.00 ($20.40 for members).

Because of the way their searches work, I can't give you a link just to the subscriptions, but if you click HERE and then enter SUBSCRIPTION in the title search, you'll get a quick list of all the one and two year subscriptions.

To give you a quick idea of how the prices compare, Amazon charges $2.99/month for Analog Science Fiction & Fact, or $35.88/year. You can then read this on one Kindle device, but not on the iPhone or PC App and up to six issues remain on your device (although it could be fewer) unless you save them manually to your PC. Fictionwise charges $32.97/year for a subscription, so you save some right off the bat. This is then discounted to $28.02/year for members. If you pay by credit card/paypal, you get 25% of the price back as a credit ($8.24 or $7.01). If you were to purchase 4 subscriptions by credit card, you would have enough in your micropay account to then purchase a fifth subscription with credit (for which you would not get a rebate, in the current sale). Or, just save it and use on another book in the future.

If you happen to be a five-year member (which they charge for), you also get a 100% rebate on all books (not on magazines) paid for via credit card, up to $300, this week (on top of the usual 15% discount). Most of their books do have DRM and are not compatible with the Kindle, but their multiformat books (and magazines) are. Their ereader format will work with the upcoming Nook and their epub format works with the Nook and most of the Sony devices (and some others, as well). All the formats have at least one reader that works on PC's, as well.

If you have existing micropay credit, the magazine sale isn't as good a deal, since you'll accumulate more credit when extending your subscriptions ... in this case, I'd wait (unless you are about to expire) to see if they have another sale later on that lets you use your credit and still get the discount/rebate.

Araminta Spookie and Septimus Heap

Angie Sage has two series for children, Araminta Spookie and Septimus Heap. The entire first series is on sale (except for book 3, Frognapped, which isn't available on Kindle, yet) and a couple of the second are marked down and just squeaked under the $5 mark. The first series is aimed at grades 2-4, while the second is grades 5-8.

My Haunted House ($2.39), Book 1 in the Araminta Spookie series

Book Description
Araminta Spookie lives in a wonderful old haunted house, but her crabby aunt Tabby wants to move. Aunt Tabby is determined to sell their house -- Araminta has to stop her! With the help of a haunted suit of armor named Sir Horace, a ghost named Edmund, and a lot of imagination, Araminta hatches a plot for an Awful Ambush that is so ghoulish, it just might work!

The Sword in the Grotto ($2.39), Book 2 in the Araminta Spookie series

Book Description
Sir Horace is about to turn five hundred years old! Araminta and Wanda need to find him the perfect gift. Araminta finds an ancient sword in a grotto hidden under her haunted house and it should be a cinch to get it. But she wasn't planning on the nasty surprise of a portcullis-trap and a rising tide in the grotto. Will Araminta and Wanda make it to Sir Horace's birthday party?

Vampire Brat ($2.39), Book 4 in the Araminta Spookie series

Book Description
Araminta thinks something horrible is hiding in the deep, hidden passages of Spookie House -- could it be a werewolf? Add to that the arrival of Uncle Drac's creepy nephew, Max, and Araminta knows things will never be the same. Max is Wanda's new best friend, and Araminta finds him annoying. She comes up with a plan to figure out what Max is up to -- and also to capture the werewolf. But will it work?

Ghostsitters ($3.19), Book 5 in the Araminta Spookie series

Book Description
When Aunt Tabby and Uncle Drac head off to Transylvania, Araminta is upset they're going to be away on her birthday. However, when it turns out that her almost-grown-up cousin, Mathilda, will be babysitting, it seems things couldn't get any better. But Mathilda's brought along trouble: two rowdy teenage ghosts, Ned and Jed, who listen to no one. It's a disaster! Can the girls figure out a way to get Ned and Jed out of the house for good?

Magyk ($4.79), Book 1 in the Septimus Heap series

Book Description
The Magyk Begins Here Septimus Heap, the seventh son of the seventh son, disappears the night he is born, pronounced dead by the midwife. That same night, the baby's father, Silas Heap, comes across an abandoned child in the snow -- a newborn girl with violet eyes. The Heaps take her into their home, name her Jenna, and raise her as their own. But who is this mysterious baby girl, and what really happened to their beloved son Septimus?

Flyte ($4.79), Book 2 in the Septimus Heap series

Book Description
It's been a year since Septimus Heap discovered his real family and true calling to be a wizard. As Apprentice to Extra Ordinary Wizard Marcia Overstrand, he is learning the fine arts of Conjurations, Charms, and other Magyk, while Jenna is adapting to life as the Princess and enjoying the freedom of the Castle.

But there is something sinister at work. Marcia is constantly trailed by a menacing Darke Shadow, and Septimus's brother Simon seems bent on a revenge no one understands. Why is the Darke Magyk still lingering?

Physik ($4.79), Book 3 in the Septimus Heap series

Book Description
When Silas Heap unSeals a forgotten room in the Palace, he releases the ghost of a Queen who lived five hundred years earlier. Queen Etheldredda is as awful in death as she was in life, and she's still up to no good. Her diabolical plan to give herself everlasting life requires Jenna's compliance, Septimus's disappearance, and the talents of her son, Marcellus Pye, a famous Alchemist and Physician. And if Queen Etheldredda's plot involves Jenna and Septimus, then it will surely involve Nicko, Alther Mella, Marcia Overstrand, Beetle, Stanley, Sarah, Silas, Spit Fyre, Aunt Zelda, and all of the other wacky, wonderful characters that made magyk and flyte so memorable.

Queste ($4.79), Book 4 in the Septimus Heap series

Book Description
There's trouble at the Castle, and it's all because Merrin Meredith has returned with Darke plans for Septimus. More trouble awaits Septimus and Jenna in the form of Tertius Fume, the ghost of the very first Chief Hermetic Scribe, who is determined to send Septimus on a deadly Queste. But Septimus and Jenna have other plans -- they are headed for the mysterious House of Foryx, a place where all Time meets and the place where they fervently hope they will be able to find Nicko and Snorri, who were trapped back in time in physik. But how will Septimus escape the Queste?

That leaves just the last two in the series, Syren ($9.99) and The Magykal Papers ($9.71)..