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Thursday, October 28, 2010

Bargain Book Roundup

It's the end of the month, so the free books seem to be slowing down for a bit. I'm going to try to get caught up on some more of the bargains I've found in the last few days.

Cirque Du Freak: A Living Nightmare ($1.99 Kindle, B&N and Kobo), by Darren Shan, the first in the Saga of Darren Shan, has good reviews and I've seen good things about the movie, Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (which is now out on DVD and Blu-ray), as well.

Book Description
In the tradition of Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot, Cirque Du Freak is the frightening saga of a young boy whose visit to a mysterious freak show leads him on a journey into a dark world of vampires. Filled with grotesque creatures, murderous vampires, and a petrifying ending, Cirque Du Freak will chill, thrill, and leave readers begging for more.

Blue Moon ($2.99 Kindle, B&N and Kobo), by Lori Handeland. Thanks to a reader for a tip on this one; I've already added it to my Kindle bookshelf.

Book Description
Miniwa, Wisconsin is under siege, but not by the usual summer tourists. The area's normally shy wolf population has begun stalking human prey, and their victims have been disappearing...or worse. Something is happening in the woods. Something brutal and primitive...

Officer Jessie McQuade has seen plenty in her years on the force-but nothing as intriguing as the gorgeous, naked man she encounters while tracking a rogue wolf. Professor Will Cadotte is a Native American activist. He's also the only man capable of distracting Jessie from her work. And for a cop, distraction-no matter how pleasurable-can be deadly. It's against Jessie's better judgment to accept Will's help in her investigation, yet she soon finds herself doing exactly that-and more. Will's dark, penetrating eyes see into a part of Jessie's soul she never knew existed. It's exhilarating...and terrifying.

Now, as a town's deepest secrets come to light, no one is safe: not friends, lovers, or strangers. And as Jessie follows a bloody trail to the shocking truth, she'll have to decide who she can trust when the moon is full...


Ain't Too Proud to Beg ($2.99 Kindle, B&N and Kobo), by Susan Donovan

Book Description
Josie Sheehan collects failed relationships the way some women collect designer handbags. Now, at thirty-five, she has exactly one male in her life: her Labradoodle, Genghis. In fact Josie, along with the three very single women in her dog-walking group, has recently sworn off men, resigning herself to long walks in the park with her devoted, four-legged friend.

All bets are off, however, when she meets Rick Rousseau, a pet-company CEO who is smart, sexy, and, best of all, head-over-heels for Josie. Even Genghis, an excellent judge of character, seems to know that Rick is the real deal. But just when Josie starts to think that she has found something more enduring than puppy love, she discovers that Rick has a complicated past—and a secret that could put the woman he loves in serious danger...


The Quiche of Death ($2.99), by M. C. Beaton, is the first in the Agatha Raisin series, several of which have been offered as bargain reads in recent months.

Book Description
Putting all her eggs in one basket, Agatha Raisin gives up her successful PR firm, sells her London flat, and samples a taste of early retirement in the quiet village of Carsely. Bored, lonely and used to getting her way, she enters a local baking contest: Surely a blue ribbon for the best quiche will make her the toast of the town. But her recipe for social advancement sours when Judge Cummings-Browne not only snubs her entry—but falls over dead! After her quiche's secret ingredient turns out to be poison, she must reveal the unsavory truth…

Agatha has never baked a thing in her life! In fact, she bought her entry ready-made from an upper crust London quicherie. Grating on the nerves of several Carsely residents, she is soon receiving sinister notes. Has her cheating and meddling landed her in hot water, or are the threats related to the suspicious death? It may mean the difference between egg on her face and a coroner's tag on her toe…


Amazing Women: Inspirational Stories ($2.99), by Charles Margerison

Book Description
Who was the first woman to qualify as a doctor? Who is the only woman to have won two Nobel Prizes? Explore these and other amazing stories in Amazing Women. In this unique story collection from The Amazing People Club, the real lives of iconic women including Coco Chanel, Sojourner Truth, Maria Montessori, Eva Peron and Helen Keller come to life. Understand their real lives and challenges and be inspired by what they did and how they achieved it. This is a must-read for every woman seeking inspiration. Meetsome of the world's most amazing women through BioViews®.

A BioView® is a short biographical story, similar to an interview. These unique stories provide an easy way of learning about amazing people who made major contributions to our world and can help you achieve your ambitions in your journey through life.


Remember the Alamo ($2.99), by William W. Johnstone

Book Description
The Battle of the Alamo is about to be fought all over again!
William J. Johnstone, the author of Vengeance is Mine, Invasion USA, and Invasion USA: Border War, sounds another wake-up call with his latest action-packed novel set on America's most dangerous battleground: its own border.

Remember The Alamo
Only career politicians could dream up a politically correct stunt like this. Courting the growing Hispanic community that keeps them in office, the geniuses in charge in San Antonio decide to grant temporary dominion over the Alamo to the Mexican government. That doesn't sit too well with Gulf War vet Phil Cody, who remembers his history and holds his heritage dear.

With veterans from wars as far back as WWII--Cody organizes an outraged but nonviolent protest on the day of the handover. But word comes from Mexico that the reconquistadors--anti-American extremists determined to reassert Mexican control over the southwestern U.S. by the bloodiest means necessary--are planning to take over the Alamo permanently, and Cody's plan turns decidedly un-peaceful.

Despite ample warning, the American authorities twiddling their thumbs when the reconquistadors make their move, leaving it up to Cody and his band of patriots to protect the Alamo--who are seriously outnumbered and outgunned by the enemy just as Jim Bowie, Davy Crockett, and their men were on March 6, 1836. Left out to dry by their own government, history repeats itself as Americans are once again besieged within those hallowed walls and forced to take a stand against the might of the ruthless reconquistadors.

When this battle is over, America will have a new reason to Remember The Alamo.


Ordinary World ($2.99), by Elisa Lorello, is a pre-order from the author of Faking It, published by AmazonEncore. I know a lot of these end up being $7.99 by the time they are published, so if you enjoyed her earlier work, be sure to order this one now. You could grab the edition that is already out, but this one will have gone thru the editing process with AmazonEncore, so I suspect it'll be a better read. Then again, you could get both and read it now and again next March!

Book Description
Readers who fell in love with Andi Cutrone in Elisa Lorello’s first novel, Faking It, can now join Andi on a new journey in which she faces a challenge unlike any she has ever known. Ordinary World begins six years after Lorello’s first installment left off: Andi is blissfully married, works as a recently tenured professor at Northampton University, and is a published author. Life is ideal—until her husband’s death in a senseless accident shatters Andi’s world, plunging her into a gulf of depression and grief. Her family and friends do what that they can to ease her anguish, but no one seems to have the right words to heal Andi’s pain. On the advice of a friend, she travels to Italy to escape and unexpectedly runs into the man who once helped her discover her authentic self. As their friendship is renewed, Andi finally begins to heal, daring to hope that someday she will be happy again. Both wrenching and uplifting, Ordinary World is a moving tale of love and loss, joy and sorrow, heartbreak and hope.

Stormjammers: The Extraordinary Story of Electronic Warfare Operations in the Gulf War ($2.99), by Robert Stanek

Book Description
When the U.S. went to war in Iraq during the first Gulf War, Robert Stanek was there. He lived and breathed combat from the opening days of the war to its end and beyond. In this book, this bestselling author chronicles the military life, his experiences in the war with vivid accounts of combat training before the war, reflections on life, family, duty, honor, and love, and remembrances of combat missions into the heart of Baghdad.

Candid and fast-paced like the best combat memoirs, Stanek focuses on the men and women he flew with, telling their stories as well as his own and creating what is ultimately an inspiring and uplifting story of the human spirit challenged by the agony and terror of war. Based on the inspiring true story, this is the only book about electronic warfare operations in Iraq written by a military flyer who was there.

Robert Stanek's experiences in the Gulf War changed his life and helped drive his successful career as a writer and entrepreneur. To date, he has written and had published over 100 books. His books are sold all over the world and have been translated into many languages. His distinguished accomplishments during the Gulf War earned him nine medals, including our nation-s highest flying honor, the Distinguished Flying Cross.


Shaken (with Bonus Content) ($2.99), by J.A. Konrath, the seventh in his Jack Daniels series, has been released by AmazonEncore this week and, so far, it's still at a bargain price, as is Shot of Tequila and the short story collection Jack Daniels Stories. In fact, it isn't until the third page of his book listings at Amazon that you'll find one over $2.99, which is part of the success story of this traditionally published author turned indie.

Book Description
This Bonus Content Edition includes the full text of Shaken plus an alternate, chronologically linear version of the book which allows readers to choose their own reading experience.

Since her debut in Whiskey Sour, Lieutenant Jacqueline “Jack” Daniels has dealt with her fair share of criminals. But she may have finally met her match in “Mr. K,” the brutal serial killer who has eluded Jack not once, but twice, over the years. Mr. K is the essence of evil, credited with more than two hundred horrific homicides. Now, on a hot August night, Jack finally gets the chance to face the maniac—unfortunately, she must do so while bound and gagged in a storage locker, primed to be his next victim. As she awaits her fate, Jack looks back on her career, from her first homicide case to her recent retirement. The twenty-five years in between saw Jack’s attitude toward justice, the law, her job, and her personal life shift drastically. She is a different woman now…but is she good enough to stop a madman? Novelist J. A. Konrath’s trademark blend of suspense and wry humor are on full display in this tense thriller, a gripping tale that will keep readers on the edge of their seats.


Gateways ($2.99 Kindle and Kobo), by F. Paul Wilson, is the sixth in his Repairman Jack series.

Book Description
Following last year's successful The Haunted Air, F. Paul Wilson returns with another riveting episode in the saga of Repairman Jack, the secretive, ingenious, and heroic champion of those whose problems no one else can solve. As Dean Koontz says, "Repairman Jack is one of the most original and intriguing characters to arise out of contemporary fiction in ages. His adventures are hugely entertaining."

In Gateways, Jack learns that his father is in a coma after a car accident in Florida. They've been on the outs, but this is his dad, so he heads south. In the hospital he meets Anya, one of his father's neighbors. She's a weird old duck who seems to know an awful lot about his father, and even a lot about Jack.

Jack's arrival does not go unnoticed. A young woman named Semelee, who has strange talents and lives in an isolated area of the Everglades with a group of misshapen men, feels his presence. She senses that he's "special," like her.

Anya takes Jack back to Dad's senior community, Gateways South, which borders on the Everglades. Florida is going through an unusual drought. There's a ban on watering; everything is brown and wilting, but Anya's lawn is a deep green.

Who is Anya? Who is Semelee, and what is her connection to the recent strange deaths of Gateways residents-killed by birds, spiders, and snakes-during the past year? And what are the "lights" Jack keeps hearing about-? Lights that emanate twice a year from a sinkhole deep in the Everglades . . . lights from another place, another reality.

If he is to protect his father from becoming the next fatality at Gateways, there are questions Jack must answer, secrets he must uncover. Secrets . . . Jack has plenty of his own, and along the way he learns that even his father has secrets.

Free Audiobook - Horus Rising

Update: This one is only a "sample", disc 1 of the set, which I didn't see when I first posted it.

It isn't yet Friday and it isn't an ebook, but The Black Library has an audiobook now posted on their free download site, Horus Rising ($19.77 CD pre-order), by Dan Abnet, the first in the The Horus Heresy series. This is an abridged version and runs 1:13 in length. Like the other offerings from The Black Library (which has just dipped their toes into ebook publishing), this one isn't available on Kindle; this audiobook, though, will work on it just fine.

Book Description
After thousands of years of expansion and conquest, the human Imperium is at its height. His dream for humanity accomplished, the Emperor hands over the reins of power to his Warmaster, Horus, and heads back to Terra. But is Horus strong enough to control his fellow commanders and continue the Emperor's grand design, or will such incredible power corrupt him?

Click HERE to get the free download.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Free Book (EPUB) - Last-Minute Halloween Costumes and Projects

LifeHacker has a free download of Last-Minute Halloween Costumes and Projects, from DIY haven Instructables, today (and today, only). It's in EPUB format and about 24 MB in size, but no DRM, so you can convert to the format of your choice. I glanced thru the book and I may just have to try out the Melon Brains instructions next week. When you read thru the book, there are also more links to other food projects on the web.

Book Description
There are great, cheap, creative costumes to be had in DIY Halloween, including a "Kidnapped Mermaid," a 3-armed mutant baby get-up for your little one, cardboard armor and its logical Boba Fett extreme, Lady Gaga costumes, and a DIY Iron Man Arc Reactor for all your Tony-Stark-on-his-off-day needs. There's also a whole bunch of projects that will make for great decorations, and a good batch of Halloween-themed snacks and (literal) finger foods. It's fun stuff with an eye toward creativity and can-do.

Click HERE to get to their download page, then on the "direct epub link" lower down on the screen.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Free Book - All The Right Reasons

All The Right Reasons, by Sandy James, has been marked down to 99 cents in the Kindle store, but is free direct from AllRomanceEbooks. This is the third in her Damaged Heroes series and is a fairly long novel, at 113,000 words (the rest of the series is $4.79/title on Kindle).

Book Description
Can love heal all wounds? Lucas Mitchell returned from Iraq a bitter, changed man, wracked with guilt over his friend's death. He buys an old mansion and deals with his injuries and grief by restoring his new home and rehabilitating retired racehorses.

Joy Kovacs falls in love with Lucas at first sight. Descended from gypsies who are still influenced by the lingering effects of the Holocaust, her family follows the traditional ways. A husband has already been selected for her, and her father insists she work at their ethnic restaurant. But Joy wants to use her talent and be an artist, and she wants no one but Lucas.

How can Joy find a way to help Lucas break out of his prison of grief? Although they've committed their hearts to each other, can the growing love and passion between Lucas and Joy survive her family's insistence that she marry within her culture?


Click HERE to get the free book. There is no DRM, so the mobi/prc format will work on your Kindle and it or the LIT format are easily converted for other ereader devices. If you want more than one format, you'll have to buy it more than once, as once you download, the format becomes locked in.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Free Book (Sony) - Purgatory

The latest in the Star Wars-Lost Tribe of the Sith series is out, #5: Purgatory, by John Jackson Miller, and Sony has beat everyone else to the punch. So far, they are the only ones listing this one and, as usual, it's a free download.

Book Description
The mighty Sith dynasty founded on the planet Kesh by the survivors of the shipwrecked Omen has endured for a thousand years -- and so has the merciless Sith code, which prizes power above all else. Lady Orielle Kitai enjoys power as the scion of a noble family and member of the elite Sith Sabers. But Lillia Venn, as reigning Grand Lord of the Sith, possesses absolute power . . . and is determined to keep it.

When a failed regicide sparks a political -- and literal -- bloodbath, and suspicion falls on Orielle, she is swiftly condemned to slavery by the ruthless Grand Lord Venn. But seeing the cunning power play for what it is, Orielle vows to strike back. And at the ramshackle home of a poor dirt farmer with an astounding secret, she discovers the means to make her vengeance a devastating reality.


Update: You can get the PDF from the Suvudu Library, HERE.