Today's Deals 12/11

Today is Video Games Deal Day in the Gold Box at Amazon, with "Assassin's Creed III" on sale and Lightning Deals all day long. There are also several good deals on the Digital Games Deals page this week. Any purchase in that store, thru Dec 15, seems to earn you various free bundles in some of the "free-to-play" games (which, like most tablet games, earn their money thru selling add-ons and in-game items).

Amazon's Android Appstore spotlight today is on World Series of Poker (Kindle Tablet Edition) for $0.00.

Don't forget to register for the gift card giveaway on Amazon's 12 Days of Book Deals promotion page. Today's book is "a best seller in Humor."

Today's Audible Daily Deal is Holiday Favorites for $5.95 each.

At Harlequin, get your "nice" wallpaper today (puppies and kittens!).

Join the festivities with 12 Days and 12 FREE comics during comiXology’s 12 Days of Gifting! Today, (until 1PM) get Action Comics #1 for FREE today from DC Comics! After 1PM, the free download will change.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is The Shadow Hunter ($1.99), by Michael Prescott; the companion audiobook is also $1.99.

Book Description
Abby Sinclair deals in risk assessment—but it’s lives, not fortunes, that are at stake. The Los Angeles investigator goes undercover to figure out whether a client’s stalker is simply an overzealous fan or a dangerous psychopath. She’s learned the hard way that the difference isn’t always apparent until it’s too late. In Raymond Hickle’s case, however, Abby has no doubts.

The awkward loner’s fixation with gorgeous news anchor Kris Barwood has progressed from creepy to murderous. So Abby befriends Hickle, trying to gauge when and how he’ll strike. Yet her target is as wily as he is unhinged, and Abby has unwittingly made herself a madman’s latest obsession. With her reputation and life on the line, Abby races to save Kris before Hickle eliminates them both.

New York Times best-selling author Michael Prescott takes readers on an adrenaline-pumping thrill ride packed with ingenious twists and gut-churning suspense.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is The Grand Sophy ($1.99), by Georgette Heyer

Book Description
Sophy sets everything right for her desperate family in one of Georgette Heyer's most popular Regency romances.

When Lady Ombersley agrees to take in her young niece, no one expects Sophy, who sweeps in and immediately takes the ton by storm. Sophy discovers that her aunt's family is in desperate need of her talent for setting everything right: Ceclia is in love with a poet, Charles has tyrannical tendencies that are being aggravated by his grim fiancee, her uncle is of no use at all, and the younger children are in desperate need of some fun and freedom. By the time she's done, Sophy has commandeered Charles's horses, his household, and finally, his heart.

Today's Kindle Sci-Fi / Fantasy Daily Deal is Genesis ($1.99), "a stunning debut" by Bernard Beckett

Book Description
As rich in ideas as it is in suspense, destined to become a modern classic of post-apocalyptic literature...

Anax thinks she knows history. Her grueling all-day Examination has just begun, and if she passes, she’ll be admitted into the Academy—the elite governing institution of her utopian society. But Anax is about to discover that for all her learning, the history she’s been taught isn’t the whole story. And the Academy isn’t what she believes it to be. In this brilliant novel of dazzling ingenuity, Anax’s examination leads us into a future where we are confronted with unresolved questions raised by science and philosophy. Centuries old, these questions have gained new urgency in the face of rapidly developing technology. What is consciousness? What makes us human? If artificial intelligence were developed to a high enough capability, what special status could humanity still claim? Outstanding and original, Beckett’s dramatic narrative comes to a shocking conclusion.

Pines ($1.59 / £0.99 UK), by Blake Crouch, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $3.99).

Book Description
Secret service agent Ethan Burke arrives in Wayward Pines, Idaho, with a clear mission: locate and recover two federal agents who went missing in the bucolic town one month earlier. But within minutes of his arrival, Ethan is involved in a violent accident. He comes to in a hospital, with no ID, no cell phone, and no briefcase. The medical staff seems friendly enough, but something feels…off. As the days pass, Ethan’s investigation into the disappearance of his colleagues turns up more questions than answers. Why can’t he get any phone calls through to his wife and son in the outside world? Why doesn’t anyone believe he is who he says he is? And what is the purpose of the electrified fences surrounding the town? Are they meant to keep the residents in? Or something else out? Each step closer to the truth takes Ethan further from the world he thought he knew, from the man he thought he was, until he must face a horrifying fact—he may never get out of Wayward Pines alive. Intense and gripping, Pines is another masterful thriller from the mind of bestselling novelist Blake Crouch.

The Traveler's Gift ($2.99 Kindle, B&N), by Andy Andrews, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle.

Book Description
Only a few months ago, he was a successful executive. Now he's a desperate man. But a divine adventure is about to unfold. Join David Ponder on an incredible journey that will help you discover the Seven Decisions for Success.

In the tradition of best-selling books by Og Mandino, The Traveler's Gift is destined to become a classic.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is A Dress for Me! ($1.99), by Sue Fliess and Mike Laughead (Illustrator).

Book Description
Should we shop now? I say, Yes! Mom says I can choose a dress! Hippo is looking for a new dress There are so many choices! Dresses with beads and fringe, dresses with shiny sequins, dresses with stripes and checkers, and more! Watch me as I try them all! Will Hippo find the perfect dress? Sue Fliess's rhyming text and Mike Laughead's adorable digital illustrations bring to life Hippo's exciting day at the mall.

Grade Level: Pre-K and up

Already Bought a Kindle Fire 8.9? Get a $50 Refund!

If you already bought a Kindle Fire HD 8.9" this year, you can get a $50 refund if you call Kindle Support TODAY ONLY, while the Deal of the Day promotion is still active, and ask for it. If you bought more than one, you can get a $50 refund for each one that you still have (in case you've returned one, you can't get a further refund on it; if you had to have a replacement sent, though, you can still get the refund on the original purchase).

The reason you can get this refund is that all Kindles have a 30-day no-questions-asked return policy and Amazon doesn't want to handle a large number of returns and ship out new units, just so you can get a price match.

If you are on Twitter or Facebook - be sure to ReTweet or LIKE this post and let your friends know that they can get this refund. It's only valid today and only for as long as they have the promotion active (if they sell out early, the refunds stop when they take down the deal).

Today's Deals 12/10

Don't forget to register for the gift card giveaway on Amazon's 12 Days of Book Deals promotion page. Today's book is "a fiction best seller (paperback ...)".

Today's Audible Daily Deal is 20% Off Gift Memberships!

At Harlequin, get free "naughty" wallpaper for your computer or mobile device. Although, it's nice enough to even put on your computer at work.

Join the festivities with 12 Days and 12 FREE comics during comiXology’s 12 Days of Gifting! Today, (until 1PM) get Green Lantern #1 for FREE today from DC Comics! After 1PM, the free download will change.

The Starbucks Gift special today is 30% Off Starbucks® mugs and gift packs.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is The Story of Snow ($1.99), by Mark Cassino and Jon Nelson, PhD., which was awarded a Starred Review by Booklist.

Book Description
How do snow crystals form? What shapes can they take? Why do star-shaped snow crystals usually have six arms? Are no two snow crystals alike? These questions and more are answered inside this exploration of the science of snow, featuring photos of real snow crystals in all their beautiful diversity. Perfect for reading on winter days, this book by a nature photographer and a snow scientist will inspire wonder and curiosity about the marvels of snow. And for those inspired to collect and study their own snow crystals, there are snow-crystal-catching instructions in the back.

Grade Level: P and up

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Persona Non Grata ($0.99), the third novel in the Medicus Investigation/Roman Empire series by Ruth Downie, with the companion audiobook only $3.49. If you need the first in the series, be sure to grab Medicus while it's marked down to $1.99.

Book Description
At long last, Gaius Petreius Ruso and his companion, Tilla, are headed home-to Gaul. Having received a note consisting only of the words "COME HOME!" Ruso has (reluctantly, of course) pulled up stakes and brought Tilla to meet his family.

But the reception there is not what Ruso has hoped for: no one will admit to sending for him, and his brother Lucius is hoping he'll leave. With Tilla getting icy greetings from his relatives, Lucius' brother-in-law mysteriously drowned at sea, and the whole Ruso family being sued for bankruptcy, it's hard to imagine an unhappier reunion. That is, until Severus, the plaintiff in the bankruptcy suit, winds up dead, and the real trouble begins...

Engrossing, intricate, and-as always-wonderfully comic, Ruth Downie's latest is a brilliant new installment in this irresistible series. This is everything we've come to expect from our charming, luckless hero.

Stanley: Africa's Greatest Explorer ($1.91 / £1.19 UK), by Tim Jeal, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $10.99).

Book Description
Henry Morton Stanley was a cruel imperialist - a bad man of Africa. Or so we think: but as Tim Jeal brilliantly shows, the reality of Stanley's life is yet more extraordinary. Few people know of his dazzling trans-Africa journey, a heart-breaking epic of human endurance which solved virtually every one of the continent's remaining geographical puzzles. With new documentary evidence, Jeal explores the very nature of exploration and reappraises a reputation, in a way that is both moving and truly majestic.

Keeker and the Sneaky Pony ($0.99 Kindle, B&N), the first title in by Hadley Higginson's Sneaky Pony children's series, illustrated by Maja Andersen, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle. If you have kids (or grandkids) in this age range, don't miss picking up Keeker and the Horse Show Show-Off (#2) and Keeker and the Not-So-Sleepy Hollow (#6) at the same price (only at Amazon); all of these will work on any Kindle, so you aren't limited to reading them on the new tablets.

Book Description
Meet Catherine Corey Keegan Dana (everyone calls her Keeker). What she wants most of all is a pony.

Meet Plum. Plum is a Shetland pony (who's known to be a teeny bit sneaky). She rarely, if ever, thinks about little girls. She certainly doesn't want one.

When Plum moves to Keeker's farm, Keeker faces the challenge of winning a pony's trust and friendship. And when Plum and Keeker find themselves lost in the woods, they learn that working together is the best way to get out of a fix. This fast-paced story of adventure and friendship will have new readers galloping back for more.

Grade Level: P and up

Kindle Fire HD 8.9" $249!

Today only, save $50 on Kindle Fire HD 8.9" (now $249) or Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 4G LTE Wireless (now $449), by entering promotional code FIREHD89 at checkout. They've been showing that this was the week that these would be back in stock and now they are ready to start shipping them out in time for Christmas

There are some restrictions, which work out to basically one per customer (account), only those sold by Amazon (no third party sellers or used), and only until the number they've set aside for the promotion sell out. Although only the base models are shown on the deals page, the wording says on any model, so the $50 discount should work on the ones with more than the base RAM configurations, as well.

Limit one discount per customer. U.S. customers only. Discount valid on all versions of Kindle Fire HD 8.9” sold and shipped by Amazon. It does not apply to the same products sold by other sellers. Amazon reserves the right to cancel the promotion at any time. Promo codes may not be combined with other offers. If you return items purchased using a promo code, we will subtract the value of the discount from your return credit. Offer not valid with 1-Click ordering. Void where prohibited,

Free Audio Short Story - The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle

The audiobook edition of The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle, by Arthur Conan Doyle, narrated by Alan Cumming, is free for members (those with a subscription) at Audible. I checked the price while not logged in, however, and it looks like everyone with an account can get it free, as well.

Book Description
The season of gift-giving is here, and this year we've got something special for our members: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Yuletide whodunit "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle". In this holiday-themed short story, Sherlock Holmes and his trusty sidekick, Dr. Watson, follow the trail of a lost hat and a Christmas goose through the streets of London and into a rapidly expanding mystery. And, since a great story calls for a great voice, we’ve brought in Emmy Award nominee Alan Cumming (TV's The Good Wife), a past Audie Award winner for Best Male Narrator and one of our very favorite narrators. We enjoyed it, and we hope you will too. Happy listening and happy holidays!

Get the free audiobook from Audible.