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Friday, October 14, 2011

Free and Bargain Book Roundup, Part II

This is a continuation of the post began here. Since these are all Agency titles, the price ($3.99) should be the same (for those in the US), at Barnes & Noble, Kobo and Sony.

One update on a free book, now with a straight EPUB format: Straw House (Kindle/EPUB/nook).

Also, this weekend, Fictionwise is having a 60% off sale. Enter code 101411 during checkout (note: their DRM'd EREADER format books are only compatible with their app or the original Nook). Their magazines (mostly SciFi/Fantasy/Mystery) are multi-format, though, and work with most any ereader.

Rise Again, by Ben Tripp
Book Description
A MYSTERIOUS CONTAGION. MASS HYSTERIA. SUDDEN DEATH.

And a warning that would come all too late . . .

Forest Peak, California. Fourth of July. Sheriff Danielle Adelman, a troubled war veteran, thinks she has all the problems she can handle in this all-American town after her kid sister runs away from home. But when a disease-stricken horde of panicked refugees fleeing the fall of Los Angeles swarms her small mountain community, Danny realizes her problems have only just begun—starting with what might very well be the end of the world. Danny thought she had seen humanity at its worst in war-torn Iraq, but nothing could prepare her for the remorseless struggle to survive in a dying world being overrun by the reanimated dead and men turned monster. Obsessed with finding her missing sister against all odds, Danny’s epic and dangerous journey across the California desert will challenge her spirit . . . and bring her to the precipice of sanity itself. . . .

Filled with adventurous human drama—and shocking inhuman horror—Rise Again marks a vivid and powerful fiction debut.

Enemy Lover, by Karin Harlow, is the first in her L.O.S.T. series.
Book Description
When you have no alternative, then you call in L.O.S.T. Because with the Last Option Special Team, it’s do or die. . . .

It’s Jax Cassidy’s first mission for L.O.S.T.—one that will give the former cop who went rogue a chance to prove herself. Her assignment: gain the trust of assassin Marcus Cross . . . eliminate him . . . then take down Marcus’s mentor, Joseph Lazarus, a man with a bold eye on the White House. But the woman who’s known by her team for being a femme fatale succumbs to passion, only to discover Cross’s deadly secret. He’s a vampire, and Joseph Lazarus is his creator.

Left for dead by his platoon in the violent hills of Afghanistan, Special Ops sniper Marcus Cross was given a second chance at life. His newly heightened skills make him the perfect killing machine, and as Lazarus’s right-hand man, he’s quickly rising to the top of his dark empire, purging enemies with speed and precision. Only when dangerous beauty Jax Cassidy is sent to bring him in does he begin to question Lazarus’s motives and his own actions. But when Jax’s life is threatened by the one thing that can destroy them both, Marcus must make a bitter choice—her death or his.

Masked by Moonlight, by Nancy Gideon, is the first in her Moonlight series.
Book Description
IN THIS STUNNING FIRST BOOK FROM NANCY GIDEON’S SIZZLING NEW SERIES, A TENACIOUS COP AND HER SHAPE-SHIFTING ENEMY SACRIFICE EVERYTHING FOR FORBIDDEN DESIRE.

ALL SHE WANTS IS REVENGE.
New Orleans homicide detective Charlotte Caissie is dedicated to bringing down the crime boss responsible for her father’s murder. Using Jimmy Legere’s mysterious and irresistible right-hand man is a dangerous gamble, and not only due to his reputation as more monster than man. Because her feelings for Max Savoie are . . . complicated.

THEN HE RISKS HIS LIFE TO SAVE HERS.
Rescued from the swamps as a child, Max exists silently in Legere’s shadow, heeding only his voice—until Charlotte Caissie awakens his emotions and tests his loyalties. Stepping outside his cautious rules threatens more than just his heart. He could expose his darkest secret.

NOW THEY’RE BOTH IN OVER THEIR HEADS.
Testing boundaries they weren’t meant to cross means facing the truth about who and what they are—and what they need from each other. If Max is the murderer she seeks, Charlotte could be his next victim. She can’t afford to trust any man. Good thing Max isn’t one.

Dark Stranger, by Susan Sizemore, is the tenth in her Primes series.
Book Description
A twist of fate made Zoe Pappas heir to the Byzant throne. Bound by duty and devotion to keep the Empire safe, Zoe is captured while on a secret diplomatic mission and sent to an underground prisoner-of-war camp. In this strange, shadowy place, residents are governed by fellow inmate General Matthias "Doc" Raven, whose powerful magnetism rouses an urgent desire in Zoe. But the intensity of her attraction is matched by her surprise at discovering that Doc has a secret of his own: he is a vampire.

Zoe's presence puts everyone in the camp in danger. Doc knows it, and knows too that Zoe's royal status makes it impossible for her to bond with a vampire. The only way to save her is to help her escape, and lose her forever. But some fires are impossible to quench, even when following your heart is the ultimate taboo....

Tempt Me with Darkness, by Shayla Black, is the first in her Doomsday Brethren series.
Book Description
He's an immortal knight hungering for satisfaction....

As soon as Marrok sees Olivia Gray's dark windswept hair and burning violet eyes, he's sure they've met in eons past. He's felt her soft gentle curves writhing in pleasure beneath his own hard powerful body...Morganna! For centuries, towering Marrok, once the mightiest of King Arthur's warriors, has endured a terrible curse cast upon him when he spurned the witch.

She's a modern woman about to discover ancient magic....

Olivia shares a mystical -- and irresistible -- connection with brooding Marrok. Soon after the sexy warrior appears in her erotic dreams, he abducts her, demanding she uncurse him. Their intense passion is more powerful -- and intimate -- than either of them has ever known. Olivia may be the key to unlocking the diary that will break Morganna's hold on his life. But in the wrong hands, the book also holds the power to destroy all magickind. As they search for answers, a ruthless wizard returned from exile is building an army of evil. When he discovers Marrok and Olivia have the diary, only their love -- with the help of a powerful group of magical Brethren -- can save them.

Staked, by J. F. Lewis, is the first in his Void City series.
Book Description
UNREPENTANT. UNIMPRESSED. AND TOTALLY UNDEAD.

Eric's got issues. He has short-term and long-term memory problems; he can't remember who he ate for dinner yesterday, much less how he became a vampire in the first place. His best friend, Roger, is souring on the strip club he and Eric own together. And his girlfriend, Tabitha, keeps pressuring him to turn her so she can join him in undeath. It's almost enough to put a Vlad off his appetite. Almost.

Eric tries to solve one problem, only to create another: he turns Tabitha into a vampire, but finds that once he does, his desire for her fades -- and her younger sister, Rachel, sure is cute. And when he kills a werewolf in self-defense, things really get out of hand. Now a pack of born-again lycanthropes is out for holy retribution, while Tabitha and Rachel have their own agendas -- which may or may not include helping Eric stay in one piece.

All Eric wants to do is run his strip club, drink a little blood, and be left alone. Instead, he must survive car crashes, enchanted bullets, sunlight, sex magic, and werewolves on ice -- not to mention his own nasty temper and forgetfulness.

Because being undead isn't easy, but it sure beats the alternative.

Serpents Among the Ruins, by David R. George III, is another Star Trek title, which I just turned up. For those reading the first post late, I'm going to add it there, as well.
Book Description
THE YEAR IS 2311

It is a year of infamy, a year that later generations will remember as one that altered the course of history at the cost of thousands of lives. It is the year of the Tomed Incident, and its tale can at last be told.

In the midst of escalating political tensions among the Klingons, the Romulans, and the Federation, Starfleet goes forward with the inaugural flight of Universe, a prototype starship that promises to revolutionize space exploration. But the Universe experiment results in disaster, ravaging a region of space dangerously close to the Romulan Star Empire, apparently confirming suspicions that the Federation has begun testing a weapon of mass destruction.

As the military buildup accelerates on both sides of the Neutral Zone, Captain John Harriman of the Federation flagship U.S.S. Enterprise™ NCC-1701-B is fated for a final confrontation with his oldest enemy at a flashpoint in history -- with the Beta Quadrant one wrong move from the outbreak of total war.

Tempting the Highlander, by Janet Chapman, is the fourth in her Pine Creek Highlander series.
Book Description
She has the power to tempt him beyond all reason....

Catherine Daniels arrives in Pine Creek, Maine, at just the right time for Robbie MacBain. She is on the run from her ex-husband, and Robbie is a sexy, single foster parent who needs a housekeeper while he travels back in time to medieval Scotland. Unbeknownst to Catherine, Robbie's looking for a book of spells to save the future of his family...and little did he expect to find a burning passion in Catherine's arms. Can Robbie seal his family's fate while enticing Catherine to follow him and her own heart wherever love will take them?

Marked by Moonlight, by Sharie Kohler, is the first in her Moon Chasers series.
Book Description
She doesn't know what bit her...

Seemingly overnight, Claire Morgan has transformed: the normally mousy schoolteacher is now bold, and her behavior is truly wild. Her eyes gleam silver. Suddenly she's a self-confident femme fatale with a libido that just won't quit. After an impulsive makeover, she's even...dare she say it?...sexy. Is Claire going insane?

Then brutally handsome stranger Gideon March tells her she was bitten by a werewolf, and Claire figures he's the insane one. Sure, she was attacked by a nasty dog in a back alley, but this guy stalking her says he's a member of an underground society of lycan hunters -- and his mission is to kill her immediately.

When Claire finally realizes she really is a lycan, there's no turning back -- because by now Claire and Gideon are bound by a hungry passion. If they can't break the curse by the next full moon, Claire's soul will be lost forever and Gideon will be forced to terminate his prey -- a woman dangerously close to devouring him, heart and soul.

Thirty Nights with a Highland Husband, by Melissa Mayhue, is the first in her Daughters of the Glen series.
Book Description
SCOTLAND, 1272. Connor MacKiernan, a descendant of the Fae Prince, is a warrior who lives only for honor and duty. Though he's vowed never to marry, that's exactly what he must do to save his sister. Enter a little Faerie magic, and the search for a bride is on.

DENVER, 2007. Caitlyn Coryell is having a really bad day -- she just discovered her fiancé with another woman! Imagine her surprise when she puts on some sexy lingerie and an antique pendant and Connor appears in her bedroom, begging for her help. He offers a simple yet outrageous adventure: travel to his time, marry him, and return home.

But nothing's simple when Cate is trapped in the thirteenth century. The wedding's delayed, someone's trying to kill her, and in the middle of all this, she realizes she's falling in love with a man who can only be her husband for thirty nights.

These are few that have discounted prices outside the US.
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Free and Bargain Book Roundup, Part I

Today's Bargain Books are all Simon & Schuster imprints. Several are part of a $3.99 sale they are holding, thru Nov. 14, but others are sale prices I turned up outside the official sale. All the ones with descriptions are US prices (prices vary wildly outside the US), but at the end I've compile a list of some big bargains for those outside the US (where the US pays considerably more). For each title in the latter list, I've included the region where the price is valid (availability may still vary by country in that region, but I have no way to check that). There are also several that I've already highlighted recently, which I'm listing here only by title:
Also, since not every one is into Star Trek, I'm only listing The Original Start Trek series selections by title, as well. You know who you are, which ones you already have and that these are good prices, so grab then while it lasts.
Since these are all Agency titles, the price ($3.99) should be the same (for those in the US), at Barnes & Noble, Kobo and Sony.

Wicked Game, by Jeri Smith-Ready (recommended author). You can still get her novella The Wild's Call free on Kindle.
Book Description
LATE NIGHT RADIO YOU CAN SINK YOUR TEETH INTO

Recovering con artist Ciara Griffin is trying to live the straight life, even if it means finding a (shudder!) real job. She takes an internship at a local radio station, whose late-night time-warp format features 1940s blues, '60s psychedelia, '80s goth, and more, all with an uncannily authentic flair. Ciara soon discovers just how the DJs maintain their cred: they're vampires, stuck forever in the eras in which they were turned.

Ciara's first instinct, as always, is to cut and run. But communications giant Skywave wants to buy WVMP and turn it into just another hit-playing clone. Without the station -- and the link it provides to their original Life Times -- the vampires would "fade," becoming little more than mindless ghosts of the past. Suddenly a routine corporate takeover is a matter of life and undeath.

To boost ratings and save the lives of her strange new friends, Ciara rebrands the station as "WVMP, the Lifeblood of Rock 'n' Roll." In the ultimate con, she hides the DJs' vampire nature in plain sight, disguising the bloody truth as a marketing gimmick. WVMP becomes the hottest thing around -- next to Ciara's complicated affair with grunge vamp Shane McAllister. But the "gimmick" enrages a posse of ancient and powerful vampires who aren't so eager to be brought into the light. Soon the stakes are higher -- and the perils graver -- than any con game Ciara's ever played....

Surrender the Dark, by L. A. Banks (recommended author)
Book Description
National bestselling author L.A. Banks’s electrifying new paranormal series is set in a sizzling world where Dark and Light are trapped in an eternal struggle for the fate of mankind.

Celeste Jackson has fought all her life against a fog of hallucination and substance abuse, but it’s not until she meets her protector, Azrael, an angel who has left the safety of the Light, that she learns of the evil forces that have been trying to ruin her, and why. A fierce battle for control of the mortal realm is brewing, and only Celeste—with the help of the Remnant, her half-human, half-angel brethren—can stand in the way. Together, Celeste and Azrael must gather an army of sensitives to defeat the dark powers that have ruled humanity for centuries, but time is running out. If Azrael surrenders to his growing desire for Celeste, he risks being trapped among humanity forever. But the longer he stays, the harder she is to resist. To save the world, Celeste must draw on her own dark experiences with addiction to help Azrael overcome the one temptation that could possibly make him an eternal prisoner—his obsession with her.

Master of None, by Sonya Bateman. As a bonus, you can download The Getaway, a novella connected to the series, for free.
Book Description
ONE UNLUCKY THIEF. ONE UNLIKELY GENIE. ONE VERY ODD COUPLE.

Gavyn Donatti is the world’s unluckiest thief. Just ask all the partners he’s lost over the years. And when he misplaces an irreplaceable item he was hired to steal for his ruthless employer, Trevor—well, his latest bungle just might be his last. But then his luck finally turns: right when Trevor’s thugs have him cornered, a djinn, otherwise known as a genie, appears to save him.

Unfortunately, this genie—who goes by the very non-magical name of “Ian”—is more Hellboy than dream girl. An overgrown and extremely surly man who seems to hate Donatti on the spot, he may call Donatti master, but he isn’t interested in granting three wishes. He informs Donatti that he is bound to help the thief fulfill his life’s purpose, and then he will be free. The problem is that neither Donatti nor Ian has any idea what exactly that purpose is.

At first Donatti’s too concerned with his own survival to look a gift genie in the mouth, but when his ex-girlfriend Jazz and her young son get drawn into the crossfire, the stakes skyrocket. And when Ian reveals that he has an agenda of his own—with both Donatti and the murderous Trevor at the center of it—Donatti will have to become the man he never knew he could be, or the entire world could pay the price. . . .

Raziel, the first in The Fallen series by Kristina Douglas
Book Description
Kristina Douglas’s sexy new series introduces a realm of fallen angels and ruthless demons, where an eternal rebellion is brewing . . . and one unsuspecting woman can change the fate of the Fallen forever.

She was just an ordinary mortal . . .

“You’re dead” is so not what Allie Watson wants to hear. Unfortunately, it explains a lot. Like the dark, angelically handsome man who ferried her to this strange, hidden land. The last thing she remembers is stepping off a curb in front of a crosstown bus. Now she’s surrounded by gorgeous fallen angels with an unsettling taste for blood—and they really don’t want her around. Not exactly how she pictured heaven.

. . . until death catapulted her into a seductive world she never imagined.

Raziel is unsure why he rescued Allie from hellfire against Uriel’s orders, but she stirs in him a longing he hasn't felt in centuries. Now the Fallen are bracing for the divine wrath brought by his disobedience, and they blame Allie for the ferocious Nephilim clawing at the kingdom’s shrouded gates. Facing impossible odds at every turn, the two must work together to survive. Raziel will do anything to defend his spirited lover against the forces of darkness—because Allie may be the Fallen’s only salvation.

Dark Descendant, by Jenna Black (recommended author). It's a different series, but her short story Remedial Magic is still free.
Book Description
From the acclaimed author of the Morgan Kingsley, Exorcist books comes the gripping first novel in a new series about a private eye who discovers, to her surprise, that she’s an immortal huntress.

Nikki Glass can track down any man. But when her latest client turns out to be a true descendant of Hades, Nikki now discovers she can’t die. . . . Crazy as it sounds, Nikki’s manhunting skills are literally god-given. She’s a living, breathing descendant of Artemis who has stepped right into a trap set by the children of the gods. Nikki’s new “friends” include a descendant of Eros, who uses sex as a weapon; a descendant of Loki, whose tricks are no laughing matter; and a half-mad descendant of Kali who thinks she’s a spy. But most powerful of all are the Olympians, a rival clan of immortals seeking to destroy all Descendants who refuse to bow down to them. In the eternal battle of good god/bad god, Nikki would make a divine weapon. But if they think she’ll surrender without a fight, the gods must be crazy. . . .

A Rush of Wings, by Adrian Phoenix, is the first title in her Maker's Song series. (recommended author)
Book Description
HIS NAME IS DANTE.

Dark. Talented. Beautiful. Star of the rock band Inferno. Rumored owner of the hot New Orleans nightspot Club Hell. Born of the Blood, then broken by an evil beyond imagination.

HIS PAST IS A MYSTERY.

F.B.I. Special Agent Heather Wallace has been tracking a sadistic serial murderer known as the Cross Country Killer, and the trail has led her to New Orleans, Club Hell, and Dante. But the dangerously attractive musician not only resists her investigation, he claims to be "nightkind": in other words, a vampire. Digging into his past for answers reveals little. A juvenile record a mile long. No social security number. No known birth date. In and out of foster homes for most of his life before being taken in by a man named Lucien DeNoir, who appears to guard mysteries of his own.

HIS FUTURE IS CHAOS.

What Heather does know about Dante is that something links him to the killer -- and she's pretty sure that link makes him the CCK's next target. Heather must unravel the truth about this sensual, complicated, vulnerable young man -- who, she begins to believe, may indeed be a vampire -- in order to finally bring a killer to justice. But Dante's past holds a shocking, dangerous secret, and once it is revealed not even Heather will be able to protect him from his destiny....

Unclean Spirits, by M.L.N. Hanover (aka Daniel Abraham), is the first title in his Black Sun's Daughter series.
Book Description
In a world where magic walks and demons ride, you can't always play by the rules.

Jayné Heller thinks of herself as a realist, until she discovers reality isn't quite what she thought it was. When her uncle Eric is murdered, Jayné travels to Denver to settle his estate, only to learn that it's all hers -- and vaster than she ever imagined. And along with properties across the world and an inexhaustible fortune, Eric left her a legacy of a different kind: his unfinished business with a cabal of wizards known as the Invisible College.

Led by the ruthless Randolph Coin, the Invisible College harnesses demon spirits for their own ends of power and domination. Jayné finds it difficult to believe magic and demons can even exist, let alone be responsible for the death of her uncle. But Coin sees Eric's heir as a threat to be eliminated by any means -- magical or mundane -- so Jayné had better start believing in something to save her own life.

Aided in her mission by a group of unlikely companions -- Aubrey, Eric's devastatingly attractive assistant; Ex, a former Jesuit with a lethal agenda; Midian, a two-hundred-year-old man who claims to be under a curse from Randolph Coin himself; and Chogyi Jake, a self-styled Buddhist with mystical abilities -- Jayné finds that her new reality is not only unexpected, but often unexplainable. And if she hopes to survive, she'll have to learn the new rules fast -- or break them completely....

The Better Part of Darkness, by Kelly Gay, is the first in her Charlie Madigan series and won several awards.
Book Description
Atlanta: it's the promised city for the off-worlders, foreigners from the alternate dimensions of heaven-like Elysia and hell-like Charbydon. Some bring good works and miracles. And some bring unimaginable evil....

Charlie Madigan is a divorced mother of one, and a kick-ass cop trained to take down the toughest human and off-world criminals. She's recently returned from the dead after a brutal attack, an unexplained revival that has left her plagued by ruthless nightmares and random outbursts of strength that make doing her job for Atlanta P.D.'s Integration Task Force even harder. Since the Revelation, the criminal element in Underground Atlanta has grown, leaving Charlie and her partner Hank to keep the chaos to a dull roar. But now an insidious new danger is descending on her city with terrifying speed, threatening innocent lives: a deadly, off-world narcotic known as ash. Charlie is determined to uncover the source of ash before it targets another victim -- but can she protect those she loves from a force more powerful than heaven and hell combined?

Soulless, by Christopher Golden (aka Thomas Randall)
Book Description
Times Square, New York City: The first ever mass séance is broadcasting live on the Sunrise morning show. If it works, the spirits of the departed on the other side will have a brief window -- just a few minutes -- to send a final message to their grieving loved ones.

Clasping hands in an impenetrable grip, three mediums call to their spirit guides as the audience looks on in breathless anticipation. The mediums slump over, slackjawed -- catatonic. And in cemeteries surrounding Manhattan, fragments of old corpses dig themselves out of the ground....

The spirits have returned. The dead are walking. They will seek out those who loved them in life, those they left behind...but they are savage and they are hungry. They are no longer your mother or father, your brother or sister, your best friend or lover.

The horror spreads quickly, droves of the ravenous dead seeking out the living -- shredding flesh from bone, feeding. But a disparate group of unlikely heroes -- two headstrong college rivals, a troubled gang member, a teenage pop star and her bodyguard -- is making its way to the center of the nightmare, fighting to protect their loved ones, fighting for their lives, and fighting to end the madness.

The River Kings' Road, by Liane Merciel, is the first of two titles in the Ithelas series.
Book Description
A thrilling new voice in fantasy makes an unforgettable debut with this "intriguingly twisted tale of treachery and magic" (New York Times bestselling author L. E. Modesitt, Jr.). Liane Merciel’s The River Kings’ Road takes us to a world of bitter enmity between kingdoms, divided loyalties between comrades, and an insidious magic that destroys everything it touches. . . .

The wounded maidservant thrust the knotted blankets at him; instinctively, Brys stepped forward and caught the bundle before it fell. Then he glimpsed what lay inside and nearly dropped it himself.

There was a baby in the blankets. A baby with a tear-swollen face red and round as a midsummer plum. A baby he knew, even without seeing the lacquered medallion tucked into the swaddling—a medallion far too heavy, on a chain far too cold for an infant who had not yet seen a year.

A fragile period of peace between the eternally warring kingdoms of Oakharn and Langmyr is shattered when a surprise massacre fueled by bloodmagic ravages the Langmyrne border village of Willowfield, killing its inhabitants—including a visiting Oakharne lord and his family—and leaving behind a scene so grisly that even the carrion eaters avoid its desecrated earth. But the dead lord’s infant heir has survived the carnage—a discovery that entwines the destinies of Brys Tarnell, a mercenary who rescues the helpless and ailing babe, and who enlists a Langmyr peasant, a young mother herself, to nourish and nurture the child of her enemies as they travel a dark, perilous road . . . Odosse, the peasant woman whose only weapons are wit, courage, and her fierce maternal love—and who risks everything she holds dear to protect her new charge . . . Sir Kelland, a divinely blessed Knight of the Sun, called upon to unmask the architects behind the slaughter and avert war between ancestral enemies . . . Bitharn, Kelland’s companion on his journey, who conceals her lifelong love for the Knight behind her flawless archery skills—and whose feelings may ultimately be Kelland’s undoing . . . and Leferic, an Oakharne Lord’s bitter youngest son, whose dark ambitions fuel the most horrific acts of violence. As one infant’s life hangs in the balance, so too does the fate of thousands, while deep in the forest, a Maimed Witch practices an evil bloodmagic that could doom them all. . . .

Gears of War: Coalition's End, by Karen Traviss
Book Description
Understand what a world had to do to survive.

When the Locust Horde burst from the ground fifteen years ago to slaughter the human population of Sera, mankind began a desperate war against extinction. Now after a decade and a half of bloody fighting, and with billions dead, the survivors—the Gears of the Coalition of Ordered Governments, along with a small band of civilians—have been forced to destroy their own cities and sacrifice their entire civilization to halt the Locust advance.

The last-ditch measures have succeeded, but at an enormous cost: the survivors have been reduced to a handful of refugees.

Escaping to a haven on the remote island of Vectes, they begin the heartbreaking task of rebuilding their devastated world. For a while, there’s hope . . . making peace with old enemies, and once again planning for the future.

But the short respite is shattered when Vectes comes under siege from an even deadlier force than the Locust—the Lambent, a hideous and constantly mutating life-form that destroys everything in its path. As the Lambent’s relentless assault spreads from the mainland to the island, the refugees finally understand what drove the Locust from their underground warrens and sparked the global war.

While Marcus Fenix and the Gears struggle to hold back the invasion, the Coalition faces a stark choice—fight this new enemy to the last human, or flee to the wastelands to take their chances and live like the human pariahs known as the Stranded . . . even as Coalition chairman Richard Prescott still guards one last, terrible secret about the Locust, the Lambent, and the future of mankind. . . .

Wicked, by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguié, is an omnibus of the first two titles in the Wicked series, Witch and Curse. A second omnibus, Wicked 2 ($7.99), contains the third and fourth titles in the series, Legacy and Spellbound.
Book Description
Holly Cathers's world shatters when her parents are killed in a terrible accident. Wrenched from her home in San Francisco, she is sent to Seattle to live with her relatives, Aunt Marie-Claire and her twin cousins, Amanda and Nicole.

In her new home, Holly's sorrow and grief soon give way to bewilderment at the strange incidents going on around her. Such as how any wish she whispers to her cat seems to come true. Or the way a friend is injured after a freak attack from a vicious falcon. And there's the undeniable, magnetic attraction to a boy Holly barely knows.

Holly, Amanda, and Nicole are about to be launced into a dark legacy of witches, secrets, and alliances, where ancient magics yield dangerous results. The girls will assume their roles in an intergenerational feud beyond their wildest imaginations...and in doing so, will attempt to fulfill their shared destiny.

Such a Lovely Couple, by Linda Yellin
Book Description
A charming and bittersweet novel about falling in love, drifting apart, and realizing a terrible mistake.

Cigarette Girl, by Carol Wolper, is still in pre-release (Dec 27), but there are some reviews already at GoodReads.
Book Description
A furiously funny, clear-eyed novel about a non-bimbo's dating adventures in a town that celebrates bimbosity.

Elizabeth West is twenty-eight, which means she's just entered The Zone--that seven-year span in a woman's life when the pressure to find Mr. Right is at its most intense. For Elizabeth, however, the quest is not about Mr. Right so much as it is about Mr. Maybe. And on some nights, all she's looking for is a little distraction . . .

What complicates Elizabeth's quest are the particulars of her situation. She is a writer of testosterone-heavy screenplays--the blow-'em-up vehicles for eight-figure stars and their bad-boy directors--and therefore deals on a daily basis with men who traffic nearly exclusively in bimbos, which, like smog and palm trees, are a fixture of the L.A. landscape. Though her job requires her to sound like one of the boys (sample dialogue: "I don't deal with dickbrains"), she's very much a girl, from her cell-phone codependency to her chronic attraction to dangerous men. With her female friends succumbing to marriage or morphing into Spermtrappers (women who hunger to be impregnated--husband optional), Elizabeth finds herself questioning the long-term benefits of remaining an SCU (self-contained unit) and looking with new eyes at the mating options around her
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Today's Deals and Free Book Updates

I'm repeating the info on Prevention's Chicken Coobook, now free on Kindle, in case you missed it yesterday (I added it to the Deals post after it was published). In addition, three Christian published titles are now free in pure EPUB formats.

A History of the World in 6 Glasses ($3.19 Kindle, B&N), by Tom Standage, is today's Nook Daily Find.
Book Description
From beer to Coca-Cola, the six drinks that have helped shape human history.
Throughout human history. certain drinks have done much more than just quench thirst. As Tom Standage relates with authority and charm, six of them have had a surprisingly pervasive influence on the course of history, becoming the defining drink during a pivotal historical period.

A History of the World in 6 Glasses tells the story of humanity from the Stone Age to the 21st century through the lens of beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and cola. Beer was first made in the Fertile Crescent and by 3000 B.C.E. was so important to Mesopotamia and Egypt that it was used to pay wages. In ancient Greece wine became the main export of her vast seaborne trade, helping spread Greek culture abroad. Spirits such as brandy and rum fueled the Age of Exploration, fortifying seamen on long voyages and oiling the pernicious slave trade. Although coffee originated in the Arab world, it stoked revolutionary thought in Europe during the Age of Reason, when coffeehouses became centers of intellectual exchange. And hundreds of years after the Chinese began drinking tea, it became especially popular in Britain, with far-reaching effects on British foreign policy. Finally, though carbonated drinks were invented in 18th-century Europe they became a 20th-century phenomenon, and Coca-Cola in particular is the leading symbol of globalization.

For Tom Standage, each drink is a kind of technology, a catalyst for advancing culture by which he demonstrates the intricate interplay of different civilizations. You may never look at your favorite drink the same way again.

Gone to Green ($1.99 Kindle, B&N), by Judy Christie, is today's Kindle Deal of the Day. Most of you already have this, I'd imagine, as it was free in August.
Book Description
In Gone to Green, Lois goes from being a corporate journalist at a large paper in the Midwest to the owner of The Green News-Item, a small twice-weekly newspaper in rural North Louisiana. The paper was an unexpected inheritance from a close colleague, and Lois must keep it for at least a year, bringing a host of challenges, lessons, and blessings into her life.When Lois pulls into Green on New Year’s Day, she expects a charming little town full of smiling people. She quickly realizes her mistake. After settling into a loaned house out on Route 2, she finds herself battling town prejudices and inner doubts and making friends with the most surprising people: troubled teenager Katy, good-looking catfish farmer Chris, wise and feisty Aunt Helen, and a female African-American physician named Kevin.Whether fighting a greedy, deceitful politician or rescuing a dog she fears, Lois notices the headlines in her life have definitely improved. She learns how to provide small-town news in a big-hearted way and realizes that life is full of newsworthy moments. When she encounters racial prejudice and financial corruption, Lois also discovers more about the goodness of real people and the importance of being part of a community.While secretly preparing the paper for a sale, Lois begins to realize that God might indeed have a plan for her life and that perhaps the allure of city life and career ambition are not what she wants after all.
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Free Book (Kindle) - Milking the Rhino

Milking the Rhino: Dangerously Funny Lists, by Chris Rush, is free in the Kindle store.
Book Description
Comedian Chris Rush was one of the original contributors to National Lampoon magazine. He can be heard on Sirius and XM satellite radio and on the Joey Reynolds radio show every Friday at 1 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.

In Milking the Rhino, Rush uses a series of unforgettable surreal images to create hilarious verbal cartoons presented in a seductive list form to transport you into a world of nonstop laughter.

Lists include:
  • Seven Examples of Truth in Advertising You Will Never See
  • Twenty-Five Really Lousy Jobs
  • The Ten Worst Pickup Lines
  • Ten Bizarre Hobbies
  • Fourteen Novelty Items That Never Took Off
  • Four Things You Shouldn't Do in Zero-Gravity Conditions
  • Four UFO Incidents That Are Weirder Than Usual
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Free Book (Kindle) - Death Wishing

Death Wishing, by Laura Ellen Scott, is free in the Kindle store.
Book Description
In post-Katrina New Orleans, dying wishes can cure cancer, eliminate cats, bring back Elvis (1968 vintage), and turn the clouds orange. Divorced and disgraced up north, Victor hopes to live a carefree, drunken existence in the French Quarter, making capes and corsets and lusting for the girl who lives across the street—until the hysteria surrounding "death wishing" changes his world in ways he never imagined.

Laura Ellen Scott teaches fiction writing at George Mason University. Her work has been selected for The Wigleaf Top Fifty of 2009 and Barrelhouse magazine's "Futures" issue. She has twice been nominated for Dzanc's Best of the Web 2010 anthology.
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Free Book (Kindle/EPUB/nook) - Until Again

Update: Also free from Sony.

Until Again, by Lou Aronica, is free on Kindle and from Barnes & Noble. This novella is a prequel to Blue, currently marked down to $2.99 on Kindle, although you may have picked it up free last March, and which is free from Barnes & Noble.
Book Description
Reviewers have called Lou Aronica’s novel BLUE “compelling,” “beautifully written,” “a story to remember and cherish,” and “one of those books that everyone should find a moment to read.” Readers have said it was “a great inspiration,” “I’ve never been more moved or inspired,” and “one of the best books I’ve read.” Now comes this prequel novella, a short work that provides the essential story behind the story. UNTIL AGAIN tells of a decidedly real-world event: the final weekend in the breakup of a marriage. For Chris Astor, the divorce is not something he wants, primarily because of the distance it will put between his ten-year-old daughter Becky and himself. Juxtaposed against this is a critical event in Tamarisk, the bedtime-story fantasy world that Chris and Becky created when Becky was much younger. Miea, the university-age princess of Tamarisk fears that her world has become a terribly dangerous place...but she could not possibly have imagined where that danger will lead her and the people she loves. These parallel stories converge, in a most unusual way, in a tale of change and new tomorrows. A powerful revelation for those who have read BLUE, and an emotionally charged introduction to these deeply relatable characters for those who haven’t, UNTIL AGAIN is a warm, engaging, and bittersweet work that promises to speak to your heart.
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from Sony.
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Free Book (KindleUK/EPUB/nook) - Blue

Update: 10/15/11 Now free for UK Kindle customers (only).
Update: Also free from Sony.

Blue ($2.99 Kindle US; free Kindle UK), by Lou Aronica, is this week's Free Friday selection from Barnes & Noble. If you missed this one when it was free on Amazon last March, be sure to report the lower price and it should drop over the weekend.
Book Description
Do not begin this novel unless you are prepared to be moved, willing to open your heart, and available to the possibility that life can bring you magic.Chris Astor is a man in his early forties who is going through the toughest stretch of his life. Not long before, Chris’ world sparkled – he was doing significant work, he had a good home, and his young daughter brought him more joy than he ever could have imagined. Now, divorce and estrangement have left him confused and all too often alone. Becky is Chris’ fourteen-year-old daughter, a girl who overcame enormous challenges in her early years to become a vibrant, vital young woman. Her parents’ divorce has left its mark, though, most significantly in her relationship with her father. Once, they told remarkable stories together. Now, they barely speak. Emotional detachment from Chris is not Becky’s biggest concern, though.Miea is the young queen of a fantasy land that Becky and Chris created when Becky was little – a fantasy land that has developed a life of its own. Miea knows nothing of Becky and Chris. She only knows that her beautiful kingdom – a place of remarkably varied flora, dignified and distinctive fauna, and an ecology that works in symphonic majesty – is in terrible, maybe fatal trouble. At the most challenging junctures of their lives, Becky and Miea discover each other and Miea shares this discovery with Chris. For Becky, it is nearly inconceivable that a place she created has come into existence. For Miea, it is nearly inconceivable that a child created her land. For Chris, it is beyond inconceivable that he is again sharing something important in his daughter’s life. For all of them, it as though a world of opportunity has opened up before them. But time is not on their side. In fact, time might be running out. Together, they need to uncover a secret. The secret to why these worlds have joined at this moment. The secret to their purpose. The secret to the future. It is a secret that, when discovered, will redefine imagination for all of them.Blue is a novel of trial and hope, invention and rediscovery. It might very well take you someplace you never knew existed. Do not, however, begin it unless you are prepared to be moved.
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Get the free ebook from Sony.
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Thursday, October 13, 2011

Free Short Story (Kindle) Tomorrow Is Today

Tomorrow Is Today: A Tempest Series Bonus Short Story, by Julie Cross, is free to pre-order in the Kindle store. It won't be delivered until Dec 6 and I expect it to be free in other stores, then.
Book Description
The year is 2009. Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, throws lots of parties, is interested in a girl he can’t have, and oh yeah, he can travel back through time.

But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors – it’s just harmless fun.
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Free Book (EPUB/nook) - Hurry Less Worry Less for Moms

Update:Also free from Barnes & Noble.

Hurry Less Worry Less for Moms ($9.99 Kindle), by Judy Christie, is free from ChristianBook, courtesy of Christian publisher Abingdon Press. There is no guarantee this one will end up free at Amazon (Hero's Ransom never has), but I do believe that reporting the lower price to Amazon helps.
Book Description
You know the feeling. You’re constantly trying to fit everything – work, laundry, shuttle service, you name it - into 24-hours. You want to enjoy every day with your family but you’re just not sure where to begin.

Author Judy Christie offers hope, inspiration, practical ideas and reminders of how important you are in Hurry Less, Worry Less for Moms. So take a deep breath and refresh your life. Chapters include:
  • A Map for Mom: Being the person you are meant to be
  • Organization versus Procrastination: Assess, start, repeat
  • Prayerful Not Fretful: Leaning of God in a hectic world
  • Making Choices, Facing Changes: Realign as needed
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from ChristianBook.
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Today's Deals and Bargain Books

Free on Kindle as a pre-order, Between the Panels is now also free from B&N and Sony, while Prevention Healthy Favorites: Chicken is now free on Kindle.

October Fest ($1.99), the sixth in the Murder-By-Month Mysteries series by Jess Lourey, is today's Kindle Deal of the Day. June Bug was free back in June and I've picked up one more during a sale, so I'll probably get this light murder mystery and keep working on filling in the series.
Book Description
Beer and polka music reign supreme at Octoberfest, Battle Lake's premier fall festival. To kick off the celebrations, the town hosts a public debate between the two congressional candidates: straight-laced Arnold Swydecker, and slippery incumbent, Sarah Glokkmann. As a reporter for the Battle Lake Recall, Mira James is roped into writing up the word war. But the festive mood sours when a well-known Glokkmann-bashing blogger is found dead . . . and the congresswoman herself meets a gruesome fate.

To keep the heat off her best friend's fiancé—an ex-con reporter—Mira wades through the candidates' dirty laundry, their unsavory secrets, and some murderous mudslinging to expose the killer.

Sweet Talk ($2.16 Kindle, B&N), the first title in the Bakery Sisters series by Susan Mallery, is the Nook Daily Find and price matched at Amazon. Checking my library, it appears I already have this one and the next in the series, Sweet Spot.
Book Description
Is there anything sweeter than first love?

Don't ask Claire Keyes. The twenty-eight-year-old piano prodigy has never had a regular boyfriend, much less a real romance. Her music career has left little room for friends or family--which is just part of the reason she hasn't seen the family bakery or her two sisters in years.

But now Nicole is sick, and Jesse is AWOL. Despite the fact that Claire can't boil water, she's determined to play caretaker. Connecting with her sisters tops her to-do list...along with falling in love, or at least in lust, for the first time.

Ruggedly sexy Wyatt just might fit the bill. Although he keeps saying that he and Claire come from entirely different worlds, he lights up hotter than a bakery oven whenever Claire is near. If this keeps up, she just might sweet--talk him into her bed...and her life.

Lipstick Jungle ($2.99), by Candace Bushnell
Book Description
In her fourth book, LIPSTICK JUNGLE, best-selling author Candace Bushnell re-creates a real-life world as compelling and fascinating as Sex and the City. In LIPSTICK JUNGLE, high fashion meets the powerful women who actually wear it.

Victory Ford -- single, beautiful, creative and unconventional -- has worked for years to create her own independent fashion house. But when her company goes into a tailspin, Victory falls into the arms of the ruthless cosmetics baron, Lyne Bennett. As she struggles to keep her company afloat, she learns crucial lessons about what she really wants from a relationship.

One of the most powerful women in publishing, Nico O'Neilly seems to have it all -- a stellar career, a well-respected husband, and an eight-year-old daughter whom she adores. But at forty-three, Nico finds that this isn't enough. Her secret ambition is to become the first female CEO of Splatch-Verner (the multimedia company that owns her magazine), but if she's going to achieve her goal, she needs to start acting now.

Wendy Healy, President of Parador Pictures, has chutzpah to spare. It’s propelled her to the very top of the cutthroat movie business, yet as she tries to bring her most important movie to the screen, her drive is not enough to save her. Selden Rose, the president of MovieTime, is secretly lobbying to oust Wendy and take over Parador; meanwhile, her twelve-year-marriage to her metrosexual househusband is falling apart. One has to go--and in a series of unconventional plot twists, Wendy finds a startling answer.

Following these determined but likeable leading ladies through the ups and downs of their careers, their marriages and their affairs, Candace Bushnell shows us how three strong women stay at the top of their fields in the toughest town in the world.

The second and third in Kat Martin's Raines of Wind Canyon series, Against the Fire and Against the Law, are marked down to $4.99. Several of her other titles are also under $5, while the first in this series, Against the Wind, is $5.24 and a new title, Against the Storm, will be released later this month.
Against the Fire
At thirty-two Dev is "mostly retired" from Raines Investigations, content to run operations from his sprawling Arizona home. But Dev has never been able to say no to a beautiful woman, so when Lark Delaney comes to him for help, the former U.S. Army Ranger from Wind Canyon gets back in the game.

Lark is sexy, successful and dedicated to tracking down the baby girl her sister gave up for adoption. It should be a straightforward case, but it's not long before Dev uncovers a shady adoption ring and worse—the child's parents have been murdered and the little girl has been taken.

As the case grows dangerous and Lark needs him more than ever, Dev can't ignore his growing attraction for her. He also can't trust his judgment with women or the emotions he's long-since buried. But there's a chance, if he gets this right and saves Lark's niece, that he'll end up saving himself, too.

Against the Law
You can't fight what you can't see. And Gabriel Raines can't be sure just who's setting the fires in his new real-estate development. When two fires hit back-to-back, he knows it's personal, but any number of competitors or ex-employees could be the arsonist.

The police suspect Angel Ramirez, a local teen who's been in trouble before. But Mattie Baker, a volunteer at the Family Abuse center, just can't believe the kid she's been working with would go back to his delinquent ways.

Determined to convince Gabe that she's right, Mattie must get close to him and find out who's putting their neighborhood in jeopardy. And just as the arsonist's flames continue to burn, they find a heat developing between them. It might just turn into a full-fledged fire…if they can survive long enough.

You can get Daniel Woodrell's The Bayou Trilogy in a single volume for $9.99. The individual titles are not available separately on Kindle and have mostly been out of print for some time.
Book Description
A hard-hitting, critically acclaimed trilogy of crime novels from an author about whom New York magazine has written, "What people say about Cormac McCarthy ... goes double for [Woodrell]. Possibly more."

In the parish of St. Bruno, sex is easy, corruption festers, and double-dealing is a way of life. Rene Shade is an uncompromising detective swimming in a sea of filth.

As Shade takes on hit men, porn kings, a gang of ex-cons, and the ghosts of his own checkered past, Woodrell's three seminal novels pit long-entrenched criminals against the hard line of the law, brother against brother, and two vastly different sons against a long-absent father.

THE BAYOU TRILOGY highlights the origins of a one-of-a-kind author, a writer who for over two decades has created an indelible representation of the shadows of the rural American experience and has steadily built a devoted following among crime fiction aficionados and esteemed literary critics alike.

What You Have Left ($7.19), by James Sallis, gets you all three titles in The Turner Trilogy at one very low price. If you already have any title in the series, then Walker Books is making it easy on you, as you can also get any individual title for $2.51 right now.
Book Description
Over the past five years, James Sallis has created three of the most acclaimed mysteries published in America, each of them featuring the complex John Turner--former cop, therapist, and an ex-con, trying to escape his past, yet ever involved in the small community somewhere near Memphis where he has sought refuge. The Turner Trilogy--concise, elegiac, memorable--collects these three classics in one volume.

Cypress Grove (2003)
As he has shown so often in previous novels, James Sallis is one of our great stylists and storytellers, whose deep interest in human nature is expressed in the powerful stories of men too often at odds with themselves as well as the world around them. His new novel, Cypress Grove, continues in that highly praised tradition.

The small town where Turner has moved is one of America's lost places, halfway between Memphis and forever. That makes it a perfect hideaway: a place where a man can bury the past and escape the pain of human contact, where you are left alone unless you want company, where conversation only happens when there's something to say, where you can sit and watch an owl fly silently across the face of the moon. And where Turner hopes to forget that he has been a cop, a psychotherapist, and, always, an ex-con.

There is no major crime to speak of until Sheriff Lonnie Bates arrives on Turner's porch with a bottle of Wild Turkey and a problem: The body of a drifter has been found-brutally and ritualistically- murdered and Bates and his deputy need help from someone with big-city experience who appreciates the delicacy of investigating people in a small town. Thrust back into the middle of what he left behind, Turner slowly becomes reacquainted not only with the darkness he had fled, but with the unsuspected kindness of others.

Brilliantly balancing Turner's past and present lives, Cypress Grove is lyrical, moving, and filled with the sense of place and character that only our finest writers can achieve. It is proof positive that the acclaim James Sallis has enjoyed for years is richly deserved.

Cripple Creek (2005)
As this tale opens, Turner, ex-cop, ex-con, and ex-psychotherapist, remains on the lam in rural Cypress Grove, Tennessee, escaping the demons of past lives in Memphis, but he is starting to mend. There's a developing relationship with Val Bjorn, teacher and country musician; there's the appearance of his daughter from Seattle; and there's the fact that he has come out of hibernation to accept the job as deputy sheriff of Cypress Grove. Then his boss, the kindly sheriff, is assaulted by a gang of mobbed-up toughs in the act of breaking one of their own out of the small-town jail. Turner pursues the thugs to Memphis, confronting his past and giving vent to his suppressed blood lust. Every action prompts a reaction, however, and soon the thugs return to Cypress Grove looking for some blood of their own. Sallis tells the violent tale quietly, effectively using jump cuts, flashbacks, and flashforwards to generate both suspense and, simultaneously, a sense of inevitability.

Salt River (2007)
As Salt River begins, two years have passed since Turner's amour, Val Bjorn, was shot as they sat together on the porch of his cabin. Sometimes you just have to see how much music you can make with what you have left, Val had told him, a mantra for picking up the pieces around her death, not sure how much he or the town has left. Then the sheriff's long-lost son comes plowing down Main Street into City Hall in what appears to be a stolen car. And waiting at Turner's cabin is his good friend, Eldon Brown, Val's banjo on the back of his motorcycle so that it looks as though he has two heads. "They think I killed someone," he says. Turner asks: "Did you?" And Eldon responds: "I don't know." Haunted by his own ghosts, Turner nonetheless goes in search of a truth he's not sure he can live with.

If you missed Martian Summer: Robot Arms, Cowboy Spacemen, and My 90 Days with the Phoenix Mars Mission ($4.99), by Andrew Kessler, the last time it was on sale, now is your chance to read a great behind-the-scenes account of the Phoenix Mission.
Book Description
Spend a summer exploring the Martian arctic—something that has taken nearly the entirety of human knowledge to achieve

There’s never been a better time to be an armchair astronaut. Forget this planet. The economy is terrible, global warming inevitable, and there are at least eight major wars happening right now. That’s why Kessler left home and moved to Mars. Well, not all the way to Mars. The closest spot on Earth you can get without a rocket. In the summer of 2008, he lived a space dream, spending three months in mission control of The Phoenix expedition with 130 top NASA scientists and engineers as they explored Mars. This story is a human drama about modern-day Magellans battling NASA politics—you haven’t lived until you’ve seen this miracle of birth from the inside—and the bizarre world of daily life in mission control. Kessler was the first outsider ever granted unfettered access to such an event, giving us a true Mars exclusive.

The Phoenix Mars mission was the first man-made probe ever sent to the Martian arctic. They planned to find out how climate change can turn a warm wet planet (read: Earth) into a cold barren desert (read: Mars). That might seem like a trivial pursuit, but it’s probably the most impressive feat we humans can achieve. It takes nearly the entirety of human knowledge to do it. This is only the sixth landing on Mars. Along the way, Phoenix discovered a giant frozen ocean trapped beneath the north pole of Mars, exotic food for aliens and liquid water. This is not science fiction. It’s fact. Not bad for a summer holiday.

The Atlantic and Its Enemies: A History of the Cold War ($3.90), by Norman Stone (winner of the Wolfson Prize for The Eastern Front 1914-1917)
Book Description
After World War II, the former allies were saddled with a devastated world economy and traumatized populace. Soviet influence spread insidiously from nation to nation, and the Atlantic powers—the Americans, the British, and a small band of allies—were caught flat-footed by the coups, collapsing armies, and civil wars that sprung from all sides. The Cold War had begun in earnest.

In The Atlantic and Its Enemies, prize-winning historian Norman Stone assesses the years between World War II and the collapse of the Iron Curtain. He vividly demonstrates that for every Atlantic success there seemed to be a dozen Communist or Third World triumphs. Then, suddenly and against all odds, the Atlantic won—economically, ideologically, and militarily—with astonishing speed and finality.

An elegant and path-breaking history, The Atlantic and Its Enemies is a monument to the immense suffering and conflict of the twentieth century, and an illuminating exploration of how the Atlantic triumphed over its enemies at last.

The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club ($2.99), by Gil McNeil
Book Description
For every woman who has ever dreamed of starting over, or being a better mother, or just knitting a really nice scarf . . .

When her husband dies in a car crash--not long after announcing he wants a divorce--Jo Mackenzie packs up her two rowdy boys and moves from London to a dilapidated villa in her seaside hometown. There, she takes over her beloved Gran's knitting shop--a quaint but out-of-date store in desperate need of a facelift. After a rough beginning, Jo soon finds comfort in a "Stitch and Bitch" group; a collection of quirky, lively women who share their stories, and their addiction to cake, with warmth and humor.

As Jo starts to get the hang of single-parent life in a small town, she relies on her knitting group for support. The women meet every week at the shop on Beach Street and trade gossip and advice as freely as they do a new stitch. But when a new man enters Jo's life, and an A-list actress moves into the local mansion, the knitting club has even more trouble confining the conversation to knit one, purl two.

The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club is an uplifting, winning tale about the healing power of friendship and new beginnings. It's a charming novel that will delight all passionate knitters--and win over befuddled, would-be knitters, too.

The Finkler Question ($2.99), by Howard Jacobson, won the Man Booker Prize in 2010.
Book Description
"He should have seen it coming. His life had been one mishap after another. So he should have been prepared for this one…"

Julian Treslove, a professionally unspectacular and disappointed BBC worker, and Sam Finkler, a popular Jewish philosopher, writer and television personality, are old school friends. Despite a prickly relationship and very different lives, they've never quite lost touch with each other - or with their former teacher, Libor Sevick, a Czechoslovakian always more concerned with the wider world than with exam results.

Now, both Libor and Finkler are recently widowed, and with Treslove, his chequered and unsuccessful record with women rendering him an honorary third widower, they dine at Libor's grand, central London apartment.

It's a sweetly painful evening of reminiscence in which all three remove themselves to a time before they had loved and lost; a time before they had fathered children, before the devastation of separations, before they had prized anything greatly enough to fear the loss of it. Better, perhaps, to go through life without knowing happiness at all because that way you had less to mourn? Treslove finds he has tears enough for the unbearable sadness of both his friends' losses.

And it's that very evening, at exactly 11:30pm, as Treslove hesitates a moment outside the window of the oldest violin dealer in the country as he walks home, that he is attacked. After this, his whole sense of who and what he is will slowly and ineluctably change.

The Finkler Question is a scorching story of exclusion and belonging, justice and love, ageing, wisdom and humanity. Funny, furious, unflinching, this extraordinary novel shows one of our finest writers at his brilliant best.

Awakening and Believing ($4.79 each) are the first and second in the (young adult) Lily Dale series by Wendy Corsi Staub. You may be more familiar with her adult suspense titles, such as Live to Tell, which is currently discounted to 99 cents.
Awakening
Calla thought that her boyfriend breaking up with her in a text message was the worst thing that could ever happen to her. But just two weeks later, her mother died in a freak accident, and life as she knew it was completely over. With her father heading to California for a new job, they decide that Calla should spend a few weeks with the grandmother she barely knows while he gets them set up.

To Calla's shock, her mother's hometown of Lily Dale is a town full of psychics-including her grandmother. Suddenly, the fact that her mother never talked about her past takes on more mysterious overtones. The longer she stays in town, the stranger things become, as Calla starts to experience unusual and unsettling events that lead her to wonder whether she has inherited her grandmother's unique gift. Is it this gift that is making her suspect that her mother's death was more than an accident, or is it just an overactive imagination? Staying in Lily Dale is the only way to uncover the truth. But will Calla be able to deal with what she learns about her mother's past and her own future?

Believing
After spending the summer in Lily Dale, Calla has decided to stay for a few more months, and will soon be starting school at Lily Dale High. She's finally getting used to her new home and her newly realized gift. But lately, the visions occur much more frequently and have a greater sense of urgency. There may be someone who needs her help but there might also be a killer on the loose. Now that Calla believes in her own ability, can she learn to use it properly? And will she be able to learn more about her mother's mysterious death without putting herself in serious danger?

Talli Roland's The Hating Game (shortlisted for Romance Reader Awards!) and Watching Willow Watts, both from small UK publisher Prospera, are marked down to 99 cents each.
The Hating Game
When Mattie Johns agrees to star on a dating game show to save her ailing recruitment business, she's confident she'll sail through to the end without letting down the perma-guard she's perfected from years of her love 'em and leave 'em dating strategy.

After all, what can go wrong with dating a few losers and hanging out long enough to pick up a juicy £200,000 prize? Plenty, Mattie discovers, when it's revealed that the contestants are four of her very unhappy exes.

Can Mattie confront her past to get the prize money she so desperately needs, or will her exes finally wreak their long-awaited revenge? And what about the ambitious TV producer whose career depends on stopping her from making it to the end?

Watching Willow Watts
For Willow Watts, life has settled into a predictably dull routine: days behind the counter at her father's antique shop and nights watching TV, as the pension-aged residents of Britain's Ugliest Village bed down for yet another early night. But everything changes when a YouTube video of Willow's epically embarrassing Marilyn Monroe impersonation gets millions of hits after a viewer spots Marilyn's ghostly image in a frame.

Instantly, Willow's town is overrun with fans flocking to see the 'new Marilyn'. Egged on by the villagers -- whose shops and businesses are cashing in -- Willow embraces her new identity, dying her hair platinum and ramming herself full of cakes to achieve Marilyn's legendary curves.

But when a former flame returns seeking the old Willow, Willow must decide: can she risk her stardom and her village's newfound fortune on love, or is being Marilyn her ticket to happiness?

Shopgirl ($2.51), by Steve Martin
Book Description
One of our country's most acclaimed and beloved entertainers, Steve Martin has written a novella that is unexpectedly perceptive about relationships and life. Martin is profoundly wise when it comes to the inner workings of the human heart.

Mirabelle is the "shopgirl" of the title, a young woman, beautiful in a wallflowerish kind of way, who works behind the glove counter at Neiman Marcus "selling things that nobody buys anymore..."

Slightly lost, slightly off-kilter, very shy, Mirabelle charms because of all that she is not: not glamorous, not aggressive, not self-aggrandizing. Still there is something about her that is irresistible.

Mirabelle captures the attention of Ray Porter, a wealthy businessman almost twice her age. As they tentatively embark on a relationship, they both struggle to decipher the language of love -- with consequences that are both comic and heartbreaking. Filled with the kind of witty, discerning observations that have brought Steve Martin critical success, Shopgirl is a work of disarming tenderness.
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New Kindle Games and Apps

There are a number of new games out on Kindle, including several just for the Halloween season that were released today. I'll try to catch us up on all the ones that I haven't mentioned previously. If you have the newest Kindle (no keyboard, no touch), you may run into some games that don't work (don't worry, Amazon seems pretty good at preventing you from purchasing one that isn't compatible), while others have been getting updates to ensure that they do work (such as the free Dots and Boxes, updated Oct 3).

Futoshiki Halloween Edition ($0.99) is a logic puzzle by Braintonik Games
Book Description
Futoshiki Halloween Edition takes an eerie twist as witches and zombies take over in a graveyard game board.

The rules of Futoshiki remain deceptively simple but the game is challenging and addictive. Each row and column must be filled with unique numbers. However, Futoshiki has a twist. It adds greater-than or less-than signs between some cells. You must honor these signs in order to solve and complete the puzzles.

This collection of 120 spooky puzzles is grouped into four different sets ranging from easy to expert. The graveyard grids are 5x5 in easy, medium, and hard modes. Expert mode holds thirty 7x7 puzzles. The game features annotations to help you keep track of possible solutions, and a hint function to help you keep playing if you get stuck.

Get Futoshiki Halloween Edition and have a scream!

Ultimate Halloween Quiz ($0.99), by HandyX
Book Description
Do you know Mary Shelley from Marilyn Manson, or Freddy from Jason?

Bring fear to your bones and take the horror challenge. Featuring hundreds of spine chilling questions, this funny, scary, and educational quiz will test your knowledge of all things dark and evil. Questions topics include horror movies, Halloween facts, scary novels, gruesome history, magical creatures, myths and legends. Halloween will never be the same!

Answer sets of questions in rounds of 10, or in a continuous stream. If you think you know it all then crank up the tension with the question countdown timer for an even greater challenge. In the 'Timer Play' contestants in the hot seat are under increased pressure to correctly answer questions before the time runs out!

Do you have the courage to answer them all?

Blossom Halloween Edition ($1.99) is a puzzle game by Braintonik Games
Book Description
Planting takes an eerie twist in Blossom Halloween Edition, where you are challenged to create a network of pipes that feed your Jack-O-Lanterns with potion from the witch's pot.

The goal of the game is to build an irrigation system that delivers a spooky brew to pumpkins by manipulating the game tiles with pipes on them. Just select the pipe tiles and rotate them until the potion flows through them and reaches the pumpkins to make them grow.

When a pipe is connected to the witch's cauldron it will fill up with potion. Make sure the brew flows in all the pipes to keep your pumpkins menacing. You'll have to rotate the tiles with pipes, pumpkins, and that all-important cauldron to make each part of the grid connect together and fill up every tile. All the pumpkins need to be connected to the cauldron and every pipe must be used to finish the puzzle. Are you facing a drought? The Hint system is there to help you figure out the next best move.

Halloween may be just around the corner, but with Blossom Halloween Edition's 120 puzzles, waiting has never been such a guilty pleasure!

Mahjong Solitaire Halloween Edition ($3.99), by Mobigloo
Book Description
It's time to celebrate Halloween with this special edition of the popular matching game Mahjong Solitaire on Kindle.

In Mahjong Solitaire, you match pairs of identical tiles in order to remove them from the board. Only free tiles can be matched. Tiles are considered free if they do not have other tiles to either the left or right of them, or on top of them. The objective of the game is to clear all the tiles from the board. The game ends when all tiles have been removed or when there are no more free tiles left to match.

Mahjong Solitaire tracks the number of pairs of free tiles available to be matched for you. In addition, the game allows for unlimited undos, and contains a Hint feature that will give you suggestions for your next move, as well a Shuffle feature that will rearrange the tiles when you get stuck.

The Mahjong Solitaire Halloween Edition gives you 13 different game board layouts to choose from and two special Halloween tile sets. This game is so fun it's scary!

Poker of the Dead ($1.99) is a Hold'em Poker solitaire game by Gameblend Studios
Book Description
Zombies are trying to break down your door! Play "heads up" poker against them to stay alive. Fortunately, zombies aren't normal poker opponents. They have no brains, never fold, and will always call your bet. Play the odds to fend them off and earn new high scores. To win, survive all seven days (10 hands per day). At the start of a hand, you and the zombie are dealt 2 cards each. Next follows 3 betting rounds, over which 5 shared cards are dealt. At each stage, you can call, raise, fold, or go all-in (if available). The best 5-card hand wins the pot. Win 3 hands to activate the "all-in" shotgun, and use it to double your money and blast a zombie. Each new day increases the stakes with higher ante and bet amounts. If you run out of money, the game is over. Poker of the Dead features a full tutorial, detailed game statistics and 12 special challenges to complete.

Can you survive the horde of poker playing zombies? Try Poker of the Dead today!

Mystery Castle: Dawn of Illusion ($1.99), by Runestone Games Limited, is a puzzle-maze game.
Book Description
Mystery Castle: Dawn of Illusion is a puzzle adventure featuring Monty the wizard as he attempts to save the inhabitants of the castle from an evil creature of the night.

You play Monty on his quest as he outwits fiendish puzzles on his journey deeper and deeper into the mysterious castle, to the inevitable showdown with a monster too scary to name. You must tread carefully on cracked and crumbling floors, while using teleporting staircases and magical keys to enter new areas. You may even need to push boxes into dangerous crags to make new paths and use bombs to get through walls to complete your quest. If you find the Eye of Truth, you can explore places that were once hidden as you try to uncover the identity of the creature assaulting the castle.

Mystery Castle: Dawn of Illusion is well suited for people who like puzzles and brain teasers, and contains 24 levels of excitement and adventure. Can you solve all the mystery puzzles in the castle? Monte is counting on you!

Ultimate Physics Quiz ($1.99), by HandyX
Book Description
Fun with Physics? Yes, believe it with Ultimate Physics Quiz!

Learning and practicing science is always more fun when it's part of a game. This application uses game play to challenge both kids and adults alike. Questions range from basic ones, such as "What does a microphone convert?" to advanced questions, such as "When two simple harmonic waves interfere, vector addition of which characteristics takes place?" Different game play modes can be used to test your speed and understanding. For example, you can play under the pressure of a timer, or see how far you can get with continuous multiple choice questions.

Explore physics concepts by answering questions in Measurement and Units, Heat and Light, Properties of Matter, Space, Universe and Stars, Motion, Work, Power and Energy, Electricity & Magnetism Forces, Light and Sound Waves, Electricity and Nuclear Physics, and Atomic Physics.

So if you are learning physics at school, or if you just want to test your knowledge, put yourself in motion and have an Ultimate Physics Quiz moment!

The Little Stick that Could ($1.99) is an interactive book for kids by Mobilehead
Book Description
The Little Stick that Could is an interactive book in which the reader embarks on an adventure in which their choices help shape the story and ultimately the outcome.

In this story, Stick's girlfriend Sally has been captured by a Dragon! Help guide Stick through his adventures to rescue Sally by solving riddles and fighting your way to save the damsel in distress. There are multiple endings, different moral choices, and plenty of battles of swords and wits to keep young readers engaged for many readings. You can join the fun by reading with your child, and by exploring the riddles and choices Stick faces together.

Get The Little Stick that Could and embark on a memorable adventure with your child.

Anywhere Spreadsheet ($3.99), by Nickel Buddy, is the lone Kindle App in today's lineup.
Book Description
Anywhere Spreadsheet allows you to create, edit, and save spreadsheets on your Kindle.

Use and modify the included templates, or create your own to track your budget, log your running miles, maintain a price list, track your gas mileage, do unit conversions...the possibilities are limited only by your imagination.

With Anywhere Spreadsheet you can insert and delete rows and columns, change row height and column width, set background shades and borders, format data as numbers, dates, currency or normal text. You can format your text by making it bold or italic and by changing its alignment, font shade and font size. You can even create charts and import and export data in CSV files to your PC.

To make it easy to be productive right away, Anywhere Spreadsheet comes with the following templates: Sale Price Calculator, Temperature Converter, Length Converter, Percent Calculator, Tip Calculator, Body Mass Index Calculator, Thank-you note list, Weight Tracker, Running Log, Road Trip Log, Gas Mileage Log and even a Chore List!

Track and calculate important data everywhere you go with Anywhere Spreadsheet.
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