Free Companion Book? Dick Francis's Gamble

The companion audiobook for Dick Francis's Gamble ($9.99 Kindle), by Felix Francis, is supposed to be free at Audible if you have first purchased the Kindle edition, at least, according to the Kindle edition page. The Audible page has a different price, tho, and I'm not sure which you'd end up paying; however, if you own the ebook and want the audiobook, it's worth giving it a shot (and contacting support if it tries to charge you, as they will often make good on the advertised price). If you do, you might want to make your own screenshot of the page to show support (include the date/time in your pic, if possible).

Book Description
One of the youngest winners of the Grand National, Nick “Foxy” Foxton suffered a near-fatal injury that cut short his career. Years later, he’s out for a day at the Grand National races when his colleague, Herb Kovack, is shot at point-blank range right in front of him. Like the police, Nick is baffled: Why would anyone kill such an apparently gentle soul?

Then Nick finds a threatening note in the dead man’s coat, and he begins to doubt how well he really knew his friend. And on discovering that Herb named him beneficiary in his will, Nick wonders why he’s been entrusted with the legacy. Is this a generous gift from a friend, or is it, in fact, a poisoned chalice?

Get the companion audiobook from Audible.

Today's Deals

BooksOnBoard will be discounting all eligible books 35% plus 8% back in rewards, for a net 43% off, thru midnight (CST) tonight (9/20/2012). The sale includes audio books and non-Agency titles (some publishers still haven't dropped it, such as Penguin).

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Omaha Beach: D-Day, June 6, 1944 ($1.99), by Joseph Balkoski.

Book Description
In this unforgettable narrative of D-Day, Joseph Balkoski describes the minute-by-minute combat as it unfolded on Omaha Beach, allowing soldiers to speak for themselves as they recall their attempts to maneuver bombers through heavy cloud cover, the claustrophobic terror aboard transports, and the relentless fire that greeted them on the beach. Equal parts oral history and meticulous reconstruction, Omaha Beach is the closest the modern reader can get to experiencing the Normandy landings firsthand.

The Joy of Sin: The Psychology of the Seven Deadly Sins ($1.61 / £0.99 UK), by Simon Laham, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $9.99 and has been retitled The Science of Sin: The Psychology of the Seven Deadlies (and Why They Are So Good For You)).

Book Description
Using modern psychological science, a great deal of research, historical anecdotes and an eloquent turn of phrase, the author contends that the 'seven deadly sins' not only feel good, but are also good for you.

From gluttony to greed, to envy and lust, even the deadliest of sins can make you smart, successful and happy. For example, anger can breed perseverance, sloth: hopefulness, greed: happiness and envy can actually bolster one's self-esteem. Based on many studies, the author tells us why the greedy are happy, the slothful are smart, gluttons are social butterflies and how anger can make you a fearsome negotiator.

The simplistic labelling of the seven deadly sins as 'sins' or as uniformly wrong does nothing but breed contempt for 'sinners' and stifle sophisticated discussion. Sin rails against this simplicity. Each chapter will cover an array of fascinating psychological research that demonstrates just how interesting and complex the seven deadly sins are. So the basic message of Sin: relax, spend, eat, drink and generally covet - you'll be better off for it.

A Little Death In Dixie ($9.39 Kindle, $1.99 B&N), by Lisa Turner, is the Nook Daily Find. No price matched on Kindle, but you can borrow it in the Kindle Lending Library. Long-time readers will find this one in their Kindle Library already, as it was offered free in Aug '10.

Book Description
The Blues were born out of need, anger and pride. Murder comes from those same dark places. Memphis has both. One of Memphis' most seductive and notorious socialites has vanished. Either she's off on another drunken escapade or the disappearance is something much more frightening. What begins as an ordinary day's work for Detective Billy Able quickly grows into a complex spider's web of tragedy, mystery, suspicion, and sordid secrets including a few of Billy's own. With the help of Mercy Snow, the estranged sister of the missing socialite, Billy follows a twisted trail of human frailty and corruption to disturbing truths that undermine everything he thought he knew about himself and the people he loves.

The Big Con: Crackpot Economics and the Fleecing of America ($9.99 Kindle, $1.99 B&N), by Jonathan Chait, is the Nook Daily Find: Election 2012.

Book Description
American politics has been hijacked. Over the past three decades, a fringe group of economic hucksters has corrupted and perverted our nation’s policies. With dark, engaging wit, Jonathan Chait reveals how these canny zealots first took over the Republican Party and then gamed the political system and the media so that once unthinkable policies—without a shred of academic, expert, or even popular support—now drive the political agenda, regardless of which party is in power.

Why have these ideas succeeded in Washington? How did a clique of extremists gain control of American economic policy and sell short the country’s future? And why do their outlandish ideas still determine policy despite repeated electoral setbacks? Chait tells the outrageous and eye-opening story, expertly explaining just how politics and economics work in Washington. He has produced a riveting drama of greed and deceit that should be read by every concerned citizen, especially in an election year.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Gossie ($1.99), by Olivier Dunrea.

Book Description
Meet Gossie, a small yellow gosling who loves to wear bright red boots—every day. One morning Gossie can’t find her beloved boots. She looks everywhere for them: under the bed, over the wall, even in the barn. Preschoolers will enjoy helping Gossie find her red boots and delight in where Gossie finally finds them.

Grade Level: P and up

Today's Deals

Additional formats on free books:

• Love and War (K/N/DF)

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Goodbye To All That ($1.99), by Judith Arnold. Looks like this was free this past June, but this is a good price for those that missed it, since BellBridge doesn't repeat as much as some of the publishers.

Book Description
Redefining who we are in our family takes courage and an indestructible sense of humor.

Being the middle child is never easy, but thirty-six-year-old Jill Bendel is about to find out just how hard that job is when her mother throws away her sensible pumps, packs up her collection of classical music and runs away from home.

Longtime wife and mother Ruth Bendel loves her family but hates her life. Husband Richard doesn't even know how the steam iron works, let alone how a woman works. When Ruth's last nerve snaps, she finally does what she's wanted to do so many times before-she gets an apartment, a job, a new life and new friends. How will her pampered family survive ? Who will take care of her son Doug's daughters when he flies off for a romantic week with his wife? How can youngest daughter Melissa contemplate getting pregnant now that she's the child of a broken home? How is Jill going to juggle the demands of her own marriage, her kids, her siblings and her career while simultaneously trying to get her parents to reconcile?

Why is it that when things fall apart, everyone expects Jill to put them back together? Maybe she ought to run away from home, too.

Judith Arnold is a bestselling and award winning author with more than ten million copies of her novels in print. Before turning to fiction writing, she was a working playwright with plays staged in California, Connecticut, Washington, D.C. and off-Broadway in New York City, as well as in Calgary, Canada. A native New Yorker, Judith lives in a small town near Boston.

VIII ($1.61 / £0.99 UK), by H.M. Castor, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $7.89).

Book Description
Destined for greatness - tormented by demons. VIII (Eight) is the untold story of Henry VIII, a gripping examination of why he turned from a charismatic teenager to the cruel tyrant he became in later life. Hal is a young, handsome and gifted warrior, who believes he has been divinely chosen to lead his people. But throughout his life, he is haunted by a ghostly apparition, and, once he rises to power, he turns to murder and rapacious cruelty.

Mogworld ($7.99 paperback, no Kindle edition $2.99 B&N), by Yahtzee Croshaw, is the Nook Daily Find.

Book Description
In a world full to bursting with would-be heroes, Jim couldn't be less interested in saving the day. His fireballs fizzle. He's awfully grumpy. Plus, he's been dead for about sixty years. When a renegade necromancer wrenches him from eternal slumber and into a world gone terribly, bizarrely wrong, all Jim wants is to find a way to die properly, once and for all.

On his side, he's got a few shambling corpses, an inept thief, and a powerful death wish. But he's up against tough odds: angry mobs of adventurers, a body falling apart at the seams and a team of programmers racing a deadline to hammer out the last few bugs in their AI.

Mogworld is the debut novel from video-game icon Yahtzee Croshaw (Zero Punctuation). Mogworld is a comic fantasy novel in the tradition of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett, with a video-game twist: the main character is a minor character in a massively multiplayer online role-playing game.

The Faith of Barack Obama ($8.79 Kindle, $2.99 B&N), by Stephen Mansfield, is the Nook Daily Find: Election 2012.

Book Description
Get inside the mind and soul of Barack Obama

In The Faith of Barack Obama, New York Times bestselling author Stephen Mansfield takes readers inside the mind, heart, and soul of presidential hopeful Barack Obama—as a person of faith, as a man, as an American, and possibly as our future commander in chief.

America faces looming inflation, climate change, a national credit crisis, war in the Middle East, threats to security and liberty at home, and skyrocketing oil and gas prices.

With all of these threats to our security, prosperity and freedom on the horizon, it has never been more important to choose the right leader for America.

“If a man’s faith is sincere, it is the most important thing about him, and it is impossible to understand who he is and how he will lead without first understanding the religious vision that informs his life,” writes Mansfield.

In The Faith of Barack Obama, Mansfield holds back nothing to share that vision and explain its roots, including:

• Obama’s upbringing in a non-Christian home
• the influence on his life from his agnostic mother and Muslim father
• his remarkable turn to Christianity after working in the inner cities of Chicago
• his years at the controversial Trinity United Church of Christ
• his association to the radical teachings of Rev. Jeremiah Wright
• the source of Obama’s relentless optimism and hope for America

Every American voter concerned to know more about Obama’s beliefs, both religious and political, and how the two intertwine should read this book, as should every thinking person who continues to shape and evolve his or her religious beliefs.

Barack Obama, according to Mansfield, is “raising the banner of what he hopes will be the faith-based politics of a new generation . . . and he will carry that banner to whatever heights of power his God and the American people allow.”

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Pie-Rits: A Pirate Adventure ($0.99), by Julia Dweck and Fian Arroyo (Illustrator). All I can say is ARRRRGH! Why didn't we adults get a Talk Like a Pirate Day selection?

Book Description
Set sail for a daring pirate adventure like no other. Can a cherry cupcake, a French bread and a flaky croissant battle a crew of assorted pie-rits? Children will delight in the humor, word play, and action of this rhyming pirate adventure that will keep readers laughing from beginning to end. Pirates have never been so deliciously nasty.

Note: Vivid, Full-Color Children's Books with Kindle Text Pop-Up; requires Kindle Paperwhite, Kindle Fire, Kindle Cloud Reader, Kindle for iPad or Kindle for Android.

$5 Instant Amazon Instant Video Credit (KSO)

This offer for those with a Kindle Fire with Special Offers only. On your Kindle Fire with Special Offers (and presumably on the HD, which I don't have yet, since I ordered the large memory size), swipe the top menu to the left until you see Offers, then press/click in order to see the current offers. At the bottom, you should see the offer to Get $5 to spend on Select Titles. Click on the offer, then on the orange button to add the credit directly to your account. It's nearly instant and the next screen offers to take you to Amazon so you can spend that credit away! If you miss that screen, though, don't worry - a document about the offer will appear on your home page.

It looks like you can shop the entire Instant Video Store (rentals and purchases) and just check for any individual product that is excluded from this (and all other) promotions, on the product detail page (not that I saw any that were excluded and I checked a couple of dozen pages). The credit expires Sept 29, so be sure to use it quickly.

I'm half-tempted by The Pirates!, especially with the ebook being featured at Amazon today (but only a super-deal for those in the UK) and with tomorrow being Talk Like a Pirate Day (a local donut chain is giving them away to all those dress up or just talk like a pirate in the store.

Don't forget to use your $5 MP3 credit - it expires Sept 24!

Today's Deals

If you are trying to take advantage of the Pour $20 for any Amazon.com Gift Card at Coinstar, get $5 in MP3s deal going on, be aware that you don't want to feed too many pennies into the machine - it will shut off around $15 or so and you won't get a chance to get your bonus MP3 code. Just mix in some larger change and you should be fine (yes, I had this happen, as we were cleaning out some penny jars).

DecalGirl is having a Buy One, Get one 50% off sale, thru Sept. 19, using coupon code BOGO50.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is the AmazonCrossing edition of Chaperoned ($1.99), by Dora Heldt and Jamie Lee Searle (Translator), with a companion audiobook for $4.99.

Book Description
When an old friend invites her to help renovate a bar in a posh resort town, single gal Christine immediately agrees, anticipating two blissful weeks of sun, cocktails, and gorgeous men. Her excitement is short-lived, however, thanks in no small part to her overbearing mother and one heavy-handed guilt trip. Now, for the first time in nearly thirty years, Christine and her best friend Dorothea find themselves saddled with an unexpected chaperone: Christine’s father, Heinz.

The trip is a catastrophe from the get-go. For starters, Heinz insists on taking charge of the bar’s overhaul. And when he learns that the locals are hunting for an escaped con artist, he promptly joins the investigation. At the top of his suspect list? Johann, the handsome, mysterious traveler who makes Christine go weak at the knees. But just when she thinks she can’t take one more day of his “father knows best” routine, Christine makes a poignant realization that will forever change the way she looks at Heinz.

Sparkling with humor, this delightful novel, which spent over one hundred weeks on Germany’s bestseller list, captures the unique—and occasionally exasperating—bond between fathers and daughters.

The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists ($2.09 / £1.29 UK), the first title in the Pirates! series by Gideon Defoe, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (there's no equivalent US edition, but the dual-title omnibus The Pirates!: An Adventure with Scientists & An Adventure with Ahab is $8.99).

Book Description
1837: the Victorian Era approaches and the golden age of piracy draws to a close. Worried that his pirates are growing bored of roaring, running people through, and sitting about on tropical beaches, the Pirate Captain decides it's time they had an adventure. A chance encounter with the young Charles Darwin leads the Captain and his crew to the fog-filled streets of London, a grisly murder and a diabolical Bishop...

The Scorpio Races ($3.99 Kindle, B&N), by Maggie Stiefvater, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle. The Scorpio Races is a 2012 Michael L. Printz award honor book for excellence in young adult literature.

Book Description
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Shiver and Linger comes a brand new, heartstopping novel.Some race to win. Others race to survive. It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live. Others die. At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them. Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn't given her much of a choice. So she enters the competition - the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen. As she did in her bestselling Shiver trilogy, author Maggie Stiefvater takes us to the breaking point, where both love and life meet their greatest obstacles, and only the strong of heart can survive. The Scorpio Races is an unforgettable reading experience.

The Mormon Way of Doing Business: How Nine Western Boys Reached the Top of Corporate America ($3.99 Kindle, B&N), by Jeff Benedict, is the Nook Daily Find: Election 2012, price matched on Kindle.

Book Description
The Founder of JetBlue. The former CEO of Dell Computers. The CEO of Deloitte & Touche. The former Dean of the Harvard Business School. They all have one thing in common. They are devout Mormons who spend their Sundays exclusively with their families, never work long hours, and always put their spouses and children first. How do they do it?

Critically acclaimed author and investigative journalist Jeff Benedict (a Mormon himself) examines these highly successful business execs and discovers how their beliefs have influenced them, and enabled them to achieve incredible success.With original interviews and unparalleled access, Benedict shares what truly drives these individuals, and the invaluable life lessons from which anyone can benefit.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Feed ($1.99), by M. T. Anderson. I bought this last September, when it was on a similar sale.

Book Description
For Titus and his friends, it started out like any ordinary trip to the moon - a chance to party during spring break and play with some stupid low-grav at the Ricochet Lounge. But that was before the crazy hacker caused all their feeds to malfunction, sending them to the hospital to lie around with nothing inside their heads for days. And it was before Titus met Violet, a beautiful, brainy teenage girl who has decided to fight the feed and its omnipresent ability to categorize human thoughts and desires. Following in the footsteps of George Orwell, Anthony Burgess, and Kurt Vonnegut Jr., M. T. Anderson has created a not-so-brave new world — and a smart, savage satire that has captivated readers with its view of an imagined future that veers unnervingly close to the here and now.

Grade Level: 9 and up