Free Book from Kobo - Death Message

Death Message ($13.99 Kindle), by Mark Billingham, is another brand new release from Harper Collins with several positive reviews in the Kindle store and a digital list price of $25 (the Hardcover is over $17). Click HERE to get Death Message for free in EPUB format (sorry, no Kindle compatibility).

Book Description
Thorne looked at the picture, feeling the pulse quicken at the side of his neck. There were times when he couldn't see what was staring him in the face, but this, for better or worse, was his area of expertise. Thorne knew a dead man when he saw him.Delivering the "death message." That's what cops call those harrowing moments when they must tell someone that a loved one has been killed. Now Detective Investigator Tom Thorne is receiving messages of his own: photographs of murder victims sent to his cell phone.Who are the victims? Who is sending the photographs? And why is he sending them to Tom Thorne? The answer lies in the detective investigator's past, with a man he had once sent to prison for life. But even behind bars, the most dangerous psychopath Thorne has ever faced is still a master at manipulating others to do his dirty work for him. And Thorne must act fast because the photos keep on coming, and the killer's next target is someone the detective investigator knows very well. . . .

Free Books from Kobo - Sway and Midnight Fugue

Sway, by Jennifer Gibson, is free in EPUB format and as an online read (at least for now) at Kobo. I don't see the book for sale anywhere else and can't find any info on the author, but I suspect it is self-published, as I am seeing several other books at Kobo that are sourced from Smashwords (although I don't see this one there).

Book Description
“There was something different about Jessie, she struggled to fit in at school, seemingly surrounded by a web of lies and deceit, until she met Ethan.” Based on a true story, the novel “Sway” is about a teenager named Jessie, who stands out from the crowd. She tries her best to blend in, but has a tendency to stick out like a sore thumb. Even though she looks like every else around her, there is one obvious difference, she is hard of hearing. She struggles from the onslaught of her classmate’s ruthless pranks and shocking events at school. Jessie is determined to be strong, but there are times when she feels her strength dwindling, slipping through her fingers, until a handsome stranger crosses her path and her life is changed forever. They can’t help but feel the irresistible pull towards each other. Ethan remains by her side through a brutal attack and helps her regain her confidence.

Midnight Fugue ($9.99 Kindle), by Reginald Hill, is a brand new release from Harper Collins, has several positive reviews in the Kindle store and has a digital list price of $25 (the Hardcover is over $17). Click HERE to get Midnight Fugue for free in EPUB format (sorry, no Kindle compatibility).

Book Description
It starts with a phone call to Superintendent Dalziel from an old friend asking for help. But where it ends is a very different story. Gina Wolfe has come to mid Yorkshire in search of her missing husband, believed dead. Her fiance, Commander Mick Purdy of the Met, thinks Dalziel should be able to take care of the job. What none of them realize is how events set in motion decades ago will come to a violent head on this otherwise ordinary summer's day. A Welsh tabloid journalist senses the story he's been chasing for years may have finally landed in his lap. A Tory MP's secretary suspects her boss's father has an unsavory history that could taint his son's prime ministerial ambitions. The ruthless entrepreneur in question sends two henchmen out to make sure the past stays in the past. And the lethal pair dispatched have some awkward secrets of their own. Four stories, two mismatched detectives trying to figure it all out, and twenty-four hours in which to do it: Dalziel and Pascoe are about to learn the hard way just how much difference a day makes.

Sookie Stackhouse "8-Copy Boxed Set" in EPUB

Shortcovers has changed their name to kobo, but is continuing their 24 days of Christmas sale.

Sookie Stackhouse "8-Copy Boxed Set", by Charlaine Harris, is available for $26.85, today only ($29.50 Kindle), in EPUB format (also can be read on the web, but I'm not sure why anyone would bother). It is DRM'd, so not suitable for the Kindle, but should work with the Sony and nook readers. Either store is offering a good deal, for those who don't yet have this series, at $3.36 or $3.68/book)

Book Description
Cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse is no typical Southern belle. She can read minds. And she’s got a thing for vampires. Which, in a town like Bon Temps, Louisiana, means she’ll have to watch her back—and neck… Includes: Dead Until Dark, Living Dead in Dallas, Club Dead, Dead to the World, Dead as a Doornail, Definitely Dead, All Together Dead & From Dead to Worse

12 Days of Free Romance - Day 3

It's the third day of All Romance's 12 Days of Christmas giveaways:

Cowboy, by J.M. Snyder. The price shows as $5.99, but when you click on Buy Now, you should see the discount for the 12 Days of Christmas sale. Available as many formats: Mobipocket, Microsoft Reader, HTML, Adobe Acrobat, Epub; you can purchase more than one and get the discount each time.

This one has a "heat index" of 4 and the genre is gay (M/M ) cowboy erotica.

Book Description

Marcus was just passing through Texas when he met Kent. In his cowboy hat, low-riding jeans, and black boots, Kent looks like the type of guy Marcus desperately wants to love.

But two years later, he’s discovered Kent is cold and distant, the quintessential American cowboy, and spends more time drunk than sober. Marcus can never predict his mood and blames himself for the flailing relationship.

Then, one day when Kent rides into town, Marcus finds a young runaway hiding in their barn. Luke is warm, loving, and quick to please… everything Kent is not. Though the answer seems obvious, Marcus finds himself torn between the boy who demands his love and the man whose love he craves.

If you sign up for the Wildfire newsletter when you create your account, you'll get an email each day to remind you about the free book of the day.

Free Audiobook - The Book of the Shepherd

The Book of the Shepherd, by Joann Davis & narrated by Kirby Heyborne & Joann Davis is free (for a limited time) from Audible.com

Book Description
The Story of One Simple Prayer, and How It Changed the World

Stone the builder who erects a house that falls on its occupants. Sever the hands of the criminal who pilfers livestock or grain or another's garment. Whip the child who defies an elder. For such is the law and the law must be obeyed.

For generations, these ironclad rules had governed the people. Nobody questioned whether it was right to humiliate a child or execute a murderer. An eye for an eye was the way of the world. But was there another way?

When an antiquarian book is discovered in the disheveled study of an old Vermont farm-house, the house's new owner has the volume translated. The result is The Book of the Shepherd, a timeless story full of life lessons for us all.

Set in a mythical time, in an unnamed land, The Book of the Shepherd tells the tale of a shepherd, Joshua, who is troubled by the harsh code of "an eye for an eye" that governs his world. Called by a dream, the shepherd sets off on a journey to find "the new way".

Accompanied by Elizabeth, a former slave who is kind and generous, and David, a boy who must learn to walk in new shoes, the shepherd knows that "an age of miracles" will come when the new way is found. But the journey is not without incident. En route to a cave near the Great Inland Sea, the travelers meet a cast of extraordinary characters, including the Storyteller, the Apothecary, the Blind Man, and the Stranger. Each imparts an important lesson that pushes the travelers toward their destiny.

At the cave, Joshua must see if he can bring forth secrets long buried. But he, Elizabeth, and David will also discover that sometimes what we have been searching for has been inside us all along.