Bargain Book, Music and Game Roundup

There are two free book from Marie Force on my Squidoo Lens, Today's Free Kindle Books. Pick up the second, which is indie-published, and you'll qualify for the two $1 books by Debra Holland.

For Gamers, there is a special deal on Rockstar Games Downloads through May 28 - Get both 50% off your purchase and a 5 Rockstar Games credit. Which means you could pick up Manhunt for $4.99, then use the credit later to get Manhunt 2 for $2.49 (don't try it the other way, around; the promo credit only works on items priced at $5 or more). There are other games in the sale, including at least one other at $4.99. Watch for this notice in the Special Offers section of the game before buying:

Purchase this product and receive a $5 credit towards other Rockstar Digital Downloads sold by Amazon Digital Video Games. Credit may be used on products priced greater than $5. Credit must be used by 5/28/2014

I also turned up a Jazz sale at Amazon, which includes a number of CDs that are priced in the $3.99-$4.99 range and include the AutoRip MP3 CD dropped into your account immediately. If you are into classical, here are a few bargains from the MP3 store:

• Classics for a Rainy Day ($0.99) from Cobra Entertainment
• Classics for a Rainy Day 2 ($1.09) from Cobra Entertainment
• 100 Must-Have Love Song Classics ($0.99) from Cobra Entertainment (nearly 7 hrs!)
• Piano ($0.99) from Cobra Entertainment
• Classical Music for the Reader 9: Great Masterpieces for the Dedicated Reader ($0.99) from Cobra Entertainment
• 50 Must-Have Travel Classics ($0.99) from Cobra Entertainment
• Big Haydn Box ($1.09) from Vanguard Classics
• 100 Must-Have Russian Masterpieces ($0.99) from Cobra Entertainment
• 100 Must-Have Angel Voices ($0.99) from Cobra Entertainment

The Thief ($2.09 Kindle), by Fuminori Nakamura [Soho Crime]; the companion audiobook is $3.99.

Book Description
A literary crime masterpiece that follows a Japanese pickpocket lost to the machinations of fate. Bleak and oozing existential dread, The Thief is simply unforgettable.

The Thief is a seasoned pickpocket. Anonymous in his tailored suit, he weaves in and out of Tokyo crowds, stealing wallets from strangers so smoothly sometimes he doesn’t even remember the snatch. Most people are just a blur to him, nameless faces from whom he chooses his victims. He has no family, no friends, no connections.... But he does have a past, which finally catches up with him when Ishikawa, his first partner, reappears in his life, and offers him a job he can’t refuse. It’s an easy job: tie up an old rich man, steal the contents of the safe. No one gets hurt. Only the day after the job does he learn that the old man was a prominent politician, and that he was brutally killed after the robbery. And now the Thief is caught in a tangle even he might not be able to escape.

The first four novels in Richard Kadrey's Sandman Slim series (Kindle; B&N) are on sale for $1.99 apiece [HarperCollins]; grab them now and you might get them finished by the time the fifth, Kill City Blues, is released in July.

Sandman Slim (companion audiobook $2.99)

Sandman Slim has arrived—a wild and weird, edge-of-your-seat supernatural roller-coaster rider that propels author Richard Kadrey to the forefront of the fantasy, thriller, and a host of other literary genres. This spellbinding, utterly remarkable tale of a vengeful magician/hitman’s return from hell is part H.P. Lovecraft, part Christopher Moore, part Jim Butcher, and totally, unabashedly dark, twisted, and hilarious.

Kill the Dead (companion audiobook $3.99)

Sandman Slim is back from Hell. After wreaking unholy havoc in author Richard Kadrey’s resoundingly acclaimed Sandman Slim, the demon-slaying anti-hero and half-angel fugitive from the underworld returns in a brutally funny, eye-poppingly inventive, and totally addicting follow-up, Kill the Dead. If you’re a fan of Buffy and Jim Butcher, Christopher Moore, Neil Gaiman, and Warren Ellis, or you dig the dark urban fantasy vibe of Charlaine Harris, Kim Harrison, and Simon Green, you’ll cheer Lucifer’s onetime personal assassin as he signs on as his ex-boss’ Hollywood bodyguard…and takes on the zombie apocalypse almost single-handedly.

Aloha from Hell (companion audiobook $2.99)

All hail Sandman Slim, author Richard Kadrey’s ultra-extreme anti-hero and recent escapee from Lucifer’s overheated Underworld playground. Legendary author William Gibson (Neuromancer) called Kadrey’s first deliciously twisted Slim adventure “an addictively satisfying, deeply amusing, dirty-ass masterpiece,” and in number three, Aloha from Hell, the ruthless avenger, a.k.a. Stark, finds himself trapped in the middle of a war between Heaven and Hell. With God on vacation, the Devil nosing around in Paradise, and an insane serial killer doing serious damage on Earth, Stark/Slim is ready to unleash some more adrenaline-surging, edgy and violent supernatural mayhem—and even pay another visit to Hell if necessary—which is great news for fans of Jim Butcher, Warren Ellis, Charlaine Harris, Kim Harrison, and Simon R. Green.

Devil Said Bang

Richard Kadrey’s Sandman Slim—aka James Stark—is, quite simply, one of the most outrageous uber-anti-heroes ever to kick serious butt on this or any other world or dimension.

In his previous three adventures—Sandman Slim, Kill the Dead, and Aloha from Hell—Stark has fled Hell for California, taken on angels, demons, outlaw bikers, zombies, covert government operatives, and all manner of monsters, while saving humankind from total annihilation on numerous occasions. But in Devil Said Bang, he finally assumes the role he was destined for: as the new Lucifer, ruler of the Underworld.

Combining outrageously edgy humor with a dark and truly twisted vision, Richard Kadrey has once again delivered a masterful amalgam of action novel, urban fantasy, and in-your-face horror that will delight a wide range of readers—from Christopher Moore and Warren Ellis fans to the devoted adherents of Jim Butcher, Charlaine Harris, Kim Harrison, and Simon Green.

Dead or Alive ($2.99 Kindle; $0.99 B&N), the second novel in the Outlaws and Heroes series by Mallory Rush [ePublishing Works!]; previously published as Pistol in my Pocket.

Book Description
Alaska was a rough and tumble place in the 1800s when outlaw Noble Zhivago was forced to run for his life—only to be buried alive in an avalanche!

Now, a century later, Noble is discovered, frozen in time, by a policeman's young widow.

Lori Morgan can't resist the irrational desire to release the rugged hunk from his icy tomb. Nor can she explain why Noble ignites fiery passions she thought dead.

Then Lori discovers Nobel is a murderer, wanted Dead or Alive.

Imperfect Rebel ($3.99 Kindle; $0.99 B&N), the second novel in The Carolina Magnolia series by Patricia Rice [ePublishing Works!]; previously published as Almost Perfect.

Book Description
Cleo Alyssum has a plan: stay sober, keep her job, and bite her tongue until Social Services relents and returns her little boy.

Then Jared McCloud, a celebrated cartoonist and bull-headed extrovert, shatters Cleo's carefully constructed serenity by demanding that they help their drug-dealing neighbor's neglected children.

Cleo knows Jared is right.

Risking everything they thought they wanted, the pair join forces to save the children and face a new realization: there's more to life and love than either of them ever planned or dreamed.

Zero Separation ($3.99 Kindle), by Philip Donlay [Oceanview Publishing]; the companion audiobook is $3.99.

Book Description
Donovan Nash has a secret he'll do anything to keep. But he's the prime suspect after someone steals a fifty million dollar executive jet, and FBI agent Veronica Montero put him squarely in the crosshairs. As she digs, she discovers Nash's secret -- a revelation that, if made public, would stun the world. Operating on her own agenda, Montero blackmails Nash into helping her hunt down a man she wants dead.Powerless against the information Montero holds, Nash is forced into a situation far deadlier than either of them could ever have imagined. The man they are after isn't the criminal they expect, he's a terrorist with a plan to use the stolen jet to carry out an unthinkable and devastating act that could plunge America into the most heinous conflict since World War II.When Nash and Montero are taken prisoner aboard the stolen jet, they will have only one opportunity to execute a daring midair attempt to stop the attack. Success could cost them their own lives, but failure could cost millions of innocent lives.

Devil in a Blue Dress: Featuring an Original Easy Rawlins Short Story ($3.99 Kindle), by Walter Mosley [Simon and Schuster]; the companion audiobook is $4.49.

Book Description
Los Angeles, 1948: Ezekiel "Easy Rawlins" is a black war veteran just fired from his job. Now he's drinking in a friend's bar, wondering how he'll meet his mortgage.

That's when De Witt Albright , a quietly vicious white man in a white linen suit, walks in and offers Easy good money if he'll just do a little job for him: find Miss Daphne Monet, a blonde beauty known to frequent black jazz clubs.

It seems simple enough, but Easy soon discovers that Albright isn't the only one looking for the lovely Miss Monet - isn't the only one who's ready to kill anyone, including Easy, who might get in the way.

The Smart One ($4.99 Kindle), by Jennifer Close [Random House]

Book Description
With her best-selling debut, Girls in White Dresses (An “irresistible, pitch-perfect first novel” —Marie Claire), Jennifer Close captured friendship in those what-on-earth-am-I-going-to-do-with-my-life years of early adulthood. Now, with her sparkling new novel of parenthood and sibling rivalry, Close turns her gimlet eye to the only thing messier than friendship: family.

Weezy Coffey’s parents had always told her she was the smart one, while her sister was the pretty one. “Maureen will marry well,” their mother said, but instead it was Weezy who married well, to a kind man and good father. Weezy often wonders if she did this on purpose—thwarting expectations just to prove her parents wrong.

But now that Weezy’s own children are adults, they haven’t exactly been meeting her expectations either. Her oldest child, Martha, is thirty and living in her childhood bedroom after a spectacular career flameout. Martha now works at J.Crew, folding pants with whales embroidered on them and complaining bitterly about it. Weezy’s middle child, Claire, has broken up with her fiancé, canceled her wedding, and locked herself in her New York apartment—leaving Weezy to deal with the caterer and florist. And her youngest, Max, is dating a college classmate named Cleo, a girl so beautiful and confident she wears her swimsuit to family dinner, leaving other members of the Coffey household blushing and stammering into their plates.

As the Coffey children’s various missteps drive them back to their childhood home, Weezy suddenly finds her empty nest crowded and her children in full-scale regression. Martha is moping like a teenager, Claire is stumbling home drunk in the wee hours, and Max and Cleo are skulking around the basement, guarding a secret of their own. With radiant style and a generous spirit, The Smart One is a story about the ways in which we never really grow up, and the place where we return when things go drastically awry: home.

The Tudors: The Complete Story of England's Most Notorious Dynasty ($2.99 Kindle), by G.J. Meyer [Random House]

Book Description
BONUS: This edition contains a The Tudors discussion guide.

Acclaimed historian G. J. Meyer provides a fresh look at the fabled Tudor dynasty—and some of the most enigmatic figures ever to rule a country. In 1485, Henry Tudor, whose claim to the English throne was so weak as to be almost laughable, nevertheless sailed from France with a ragtag army to take the crown from the family that had ruled England for almost four centuries. Fifty years later, his son, Henry VIII, aimed to seize even greater powers—ultimately leaving behind a brutal legacy that would blight the lives of his children and the destiny of his country. Edward VI, a fervent believer in reforming the English church, died before realizing his dream. Mary I, the disgraced daughter of Catherine of Aragon, tried and failed to reestablish the Catholic Church and produce an heir, while Elizabeth I sacrificed all chance of personal happiness in order to survive.

The Tudors presents the sinners and saints, the tragedies and triumphs, the high dreams and dark crimes, of this enthralling era.

An Expert in Murder ($1.99 Kindle), the first novel in the Josephine Tey series by Nicola Upson [HarperCollins]; the companion audiobook is $3.99.

Book Description
March 1934. Revered mystery writer Josephine Tey is traveling from Scotland to London for the final week of her play Richard of Bordeaux, the surprise hit of the season, with pacifist themes that resonate in a world still haunted by war. But joy turns to horror when her arrival coincides with the murder of a young woman she had befriended on the train ride—and Tey is plunged into a mystery as puzzling as any in her own works.

Detective Inspector Archie Penrose is convinced that the killing is connected to the play, and that Tey herself is in danger of becoming a victim of her own success. In the aftermath of a second murder, the writer and the policeman must join together to stop a ruthless killer who will apparently stop at nothing.

The Black Company ($2.99 Kindle), the first novel of The Chronicles of The Black Company by Glen Cook [Macmillan], will get you started on a good series, but your best bang for the buck is to get Chronicles of the Black Company omnibus instead, which contains the next two novels as well, with a total price equal to either of the bonus novels, alone. That leaves The Silver Spike as the remaining novel in that series, but there is an omnibus you'll want instead of that one, as well: The Books of the South: Tales of the Black Company, for only $1.30 extra.

At the publisher's request, these titles are being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.

The Black Company (companion audiobook $3.99)

Some feel the Lady, newly risen from centuries in thrall, stands between humankind and evil. Some feel she is evil itself. The hardbitten men of the Black Company take their pay and do what they must, burying their doubts with their dead.

Until the prophesy: The White Rose has been reborn, somewhere, to embody good once more.

There must be a way for the Black Company to find her...

Chronicles of the Black Company

Darkness wars with darkness as the hard-bitten men of the Black Company take their pay and do what they must. They bury their doubts with their dead.

Then comes the prophecy: The White Rose has been reborn, somewhere, to embody good once more…

This omnibus edition comprises The Black Company, Shadows Linger, and The White Rose—the first three novels in Glen Cook's bestselling fantasy series.

The Books of the South: Tales of the Black Company

Marching south after the ghastly battle at the Tower of Charm, the Black Company is hounded by shadowy figures every inch of the way.

The game is on: the Company versus the Shadowmasters, deadly creatures that deal in darkness and sorrow.

When hope dies, there's still survival. And there's still the Black Company.

The Book of the South is the second omnibus of novels from one of the greatest fantasy epics of our age, Glen Cook’s Black Company series—collecting Shadow Games, Dreams of Steel, and The Silver Spike.

The Abundant Community ($2.99 Kindle), by John McKnight and Peter Block [Berrett-Koehler Publishers]

Book Description
We need our neighbors and community to stay healthy, produce jobs, raise our children, and care for those on the margin. Institutions and professional services have reached their limit of their ability to help us.

The consumer society tells us that we are insufficient and that we must purchase what we need from specialists and systems outside the community. We have become consumers and clients, not citizens and neighbors. John McKnight and Peter Block show that we have the capacity to find real and sustainable satisfaction right in our neighborhood and community.

This book reports on voluntary, self-organizing structures that focus on gifts and value hospitality, the welcoming of strangers. It shows how to reweave our social fabric, especially in our neighborhoods. In this way we collectively have enough to create a future that works for all.

About the Authors
For nearly three decades, John McKnight has conducted research on social service delivery systems, health policy, community organizations, neighborhood policy, and institutional racism. He currently directs research projects focused on asset-based neighborhood development and methods of community building by incorporating marginalized people. John serves on the Board of Directors of numerous community organizations including the Gamaliel Foundation and The National Training and Information Center. McKnight is a professor of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University.

Peter Block is an author, consultant. His work is about empowerment, stewardship, chosen accountability, and the reconciliation of community. He’s the author of Flawless Consulting, Stewardship, The Answer to How is Yes, and Community

Daily Deal - Hidden Heat (DF)

Hidden Heat ($5.50 $4.24 Kindle), the fourth novel in the Hauberk Protection series by Leah Braemel [Samhain Publishing], is today's Deal of the Day at at Diesel E-Books (it was the deal yesterday at EBook Eros, but sold out), where it's discounted to $1.10 (1 copies left).

Book Description
Be careful what you don’t wish for. Fate might snatch it away.

When handling Hauberk’s managers, efficiency is Sandy Hallquist’s watchword. In her personal life? Excitement all the way, baby. That’s why she escaped Minnesota—and her marriage-minded mother—for a job with one of the hottest bodyguard companies on the eastern seaboard. What more could she ask for than to be surrounded by all that alpha-male testosterone?

Invisibility is Troy’s stock in trade, the only way he can manage Hauberk’s international offices while answering the call of his other career: assassin. Nothing about him is real, not even his name.

In one moment of weakness, he allowed Sandy a glimpse behind his carefully crafted mask. The more he’s around her, the sharper his yearning for stability. A home. Love. Pity those are the last things she's looking for. And revealing that she’s the one true thing in his life could be the very words that drive her away.

At the first whisper of the “L” word, Sandy’s first instinct is to hit the brakes. By the time Sandy admits to herself that Troy is more than a passing fancy, though, his next mission could take the decision out of her hands.

Warning: This book contains sexcapades in secret clubs, voyeurism, a touch of bondage and risqué office shenanigans.

Get the book from Diesel; be sure to check the sales price, as the Deal of the Day often sells out.

Kindle Daily Deals 5/15

Amazon has price matched the gothic horror/thriller The Madman's Daughter ($1.99), by Megan Shepherd [HarperCollins], today's Nook Daily Find.

Today's Kindle Teen Daily Deal is Mira's Diary: Lost in Paris ($1.99), by Marissa Moss [Sourcebooks Jabberwocky].

Book Description
When Mira receives a cryptic postcard from her missing mother, she sets off with her father and brother to find her in Paris. Only Mira doesn't know she's looking in the wrong century.

With an innocent touch to a gargoyle sculpture on the roof of Notre Dame, Mira is whisked into the past. There she learns her mother isn't just avoiding the family, she's in serious trouble. Following her mother's clues, Mira travels through time to help change history and bring her mother home.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is The Demands ($2.99), by Mark Billingham [Hachette].

Book Description
The Crime
The customers in a London convenience store are taken captive. Among them is young mother, Detective Helen Weeks. She is told her life depends on the co-operation of one of her colleagues - detective Tom Thorne.

The Demand
Akhtar is desperate to know what really happened to his beloved son, who died a year before in prison. He is convinced the death was not an accident and forces the one man who knows more about the case than any other, Thorne, to re-investigate.

The Twist
What Thorne discovers will upend everything he thought he knew about the fate of those he's put away...but will it be enough to fulfill the wishes of a grieving and potentially violent father?

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Down in New Orleans ($1.99), a romantic suspense novel by national and New York Times bestselling author Heather Graham [Open Road]. I'd snap it up, if it weren't already in my library.

Book Description
When Ann infiltrates the dark corners of the Big Easy to clear her ex-husband’s name, what begins as an innocent investigation becomes a matter of life and death

Ann and Jon Marcel are a rare case; five years after their divorce, they’re good friends, and Ann has come to love Jon’s hometown of New Orleans. Until the day Jon staggers through her door covered in blood and mumbling, “I didn’t do it.”

Jon is charged with murdering a stripper, and in order to save him, Ann will have to dive into the sordid New Orleans underworld, looking for clues in erotic clubs and seamy jazz spots. And, if that weren’t enough, she must deal with the resolute detective bent on bringing her husband to justice—the eagle-eyed lieutenant who dogs her steps and surfaces in her dreams. But despite her wavering affections, Ann has bigger concerns as she becomes embroiled in a fight not only for Jon’s freedom, but also for her life.

This ebook features an illustrated biography of Heather Graham, including rare photos from the author’s personal collection.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Oz Reimagined: New Tales from the Emerald City and Beyond ($1.99), an anthology edited by John Joseph Adams and Douglas Cohen, illustrated by Galen Dara [47North], with the companion audiobook also $1.99. This one I am snapping up; I've read other anthologies and magazines edited by Adams, I've read several of the authors included and each individual story in the collection is selling for a dollar.

Book Description
FOREWORD BY GREGORY MAGUIRE, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF WICKED.

When L. Frank Baum introduced Dorothy and friends to the American public in 1900, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz became an instant, bestselling hit. Today the whimsical tale remains a cultural phenomenon that continues to spawn wildly popular books, movies, and musicals. Now, editors John Joseph Adams and Douglas Cohen have brought together leading fantasy writers such as Orson Scott Card and Seanan McGuire to create the ultimate anthology for Oz fans – and, really, any reader with an appetite for richly imagined worlds. Stories include:

• Frank Baum's son has the real experiences that his father later fictionalized in Orson Scott Card’s “Off to See the Emperor.”
• Seanan McGuire’s “Emeralds to Emeralds, Dust to Dust” finds Dorothy grown up, bitter, and still living in Oz. And she has a murder to solve – assuming Ozma will stop interfering with her life long enough to let her do her job.
• In “Blown Away,” Jane Yolen asks: What if Toto was dead and stuffed, Ozma was a circus freak, and everything you thought you knew as Oz was really right here in Kansas?
• "The Cobbler of Oz" by Jonathan Maberry explores a Winged Monkey with wings too small to let her fly. Her only chance to change that rests with the Silver Slippers.
• In Tad Williams’s futuristic “The Boy Detective of Oz," Orlando investigates the corrupt Oz simulation of the Otherland network.
• And more…

Some stories are dystopian…Some are dreamlike…All are undeniably Oz.

Includes stories by these authors:
Dale Bailey, Orson Scott Card, Rae Carson, David Farland, C.C. Finlay, Jeffrey Ford, Theodora Goss, Simon R. Green, Kat Howard, Ken Liu, Seanan McGuire, Jonathan Maberry, Rachel Swirsky, Robin Wasserman, Tad Williams, Jane Yolen

A Note On Suggested Reading Age: L. Frank Baum’s original Oz books were works of children's fiction--albeit ones that have been known and loved by "children of all ages" throughout their existence. Though many of the stories contained in this anthology are also suitable for the aforementioned children of all ages, Oz Reimagined is intended for ages 13 and up, and as such, some of the stories deal with mature themes, so parental guidance is suggested.

Nook Daily Find 5/15

The Madman's Daughter ($10.67 $1.99 Kindle, B&N), by Megan Shepherd [HarperCollins], is the Nook Daily Find. The price is bouncing at bit at B&N right now, though, so you might want to check back a bit later this morning and see if the price drop is sticking (I'm seeing $11.99 most of the time I refresh the page). Update: Now price matched on Kindle.

Book Description
Sixteen-year-old Juliet Moreau has built a life for herself in London—working as a maid, attending church on Sundays, and trying not to think about the scandal that ruined her life. After all, no one ever proved the rumors about her father's gruesome experiments. But when she learns he is alive and continuing his work on a remote tropical island, she is determined to find out if the accusations are true.

Accompanied by her father's handsome young assistant, Montgomery, and an enigmatic castaway, Edward—both of whom she is deeply drawn to—Juliet travels to the island, only to discover the depths of her father's madness: He has experimented on animals so that they resemble, speak, and behave as humans. And worse, one of the creatures has turned violent and is killing the island's inhabitants. Torn between horror and scientific curiosity, Juliet knows she must end her father's dangerous experiments and escape her jungle prison before it's too late. Yet as the island falls into chaos, she discovers the extent of her father's genius—and madness—in her own blood.

Inspired by H. G. Wells's classic The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Madman's Daughter is a dark and breathless Gothic thriller about the secrets we'll do anything to know and the truths we'll go to any lengths to protect.

UK Kindle Daily Deal 5/15

Britain Against America in the Naval War of 1812 (£1.09 UK), by Andrew Lambert [Faber and Faber], is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $10.05).

Book Description
In the summer of 1812 Britain stood alone, fighting for her very survival against a vast European Empire. Only the Royal Navy stood between Napoleon's legions and ultimate victory. In that dark hour America saw its chance to challenge British dominance: her troops invaded Canada and American frigates attacked British merchant shipping, the lifeblood of British defence.

War polarised America. The south and west wanted land, the north wanted peace and trade. But America had to choose between the oceans and the continent. Within weeks the land invasion had stalled, but American warships and privateers did rather better, and astonished the world by besting the Royal Navy in a series of battles.

Then in three titanic single ship actions the challenge was decisively met. British frigates closed with the Chesapeake, the Essex and the President, flagship of American naval ambition. Both sides found new heroes but none could equal Captain Philip Broke, champion of history's greatest frigate battle, when HMS Shannon captured the USS Chesapeake in thirteen blood-soaked minutes. Broke's victory secured British control of the Atlantic, and within a year Washington, D.C. had been taken and burnt by British troops.

Andrew Lambert, Laughton Professor of Naval History in the Department of War Studies at King's College London, brings all his mastery of the subject and narrative brilliance to throw new light on a war which until now has been much mythologised, little understood.

Bargain Book - The Hobbit

There are four editions of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit in the Kindle store and right now three of them are on sale for $3.32 apiece (no sales in other stores I checked). The fourth is a lavishly illustrated edition, that is "on sale" for $16.99 (marked down from it's $35 list price). The first two seem to be nearly the same (and the same as the edition I purchased from Fictionwise several years ago), other than the cover image, while the third is an enhanced edition that features both color illustrations (along with the originals) and embedded audio files of Tolkien reading several poems (and singing one song), for those on an iThing (the entire text is still readable on all Kindle devices and apps). All but the latter are also tied to the the companion audiobook, narrated by Rob Inglis, which I already had in my library (from a previous sale). I'm holding off on that illustrated edition (although it would be quite spectacular, especially to read-along with kids while the audiobook plays with immersion reading), but I am getting the Audio/Video Enhanced edition for the iPad, just for the included audio clips.

The Hobbit

A great modern classic and the prelude to THE LORD OF THE RINGS

Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely traveling any farther than his pantry or cellar. But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard Gandalf and a company of dwarves arrive on his doorstep one day to whisk him away on an adventure. They have launched a plot to raid the treasure hoard guarded by Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon. Bilbo reluctantly joins their quest, unaware that on his journey to the Lonely Mountain he will encounter both a magic ring and a frightening creature known as Gollum.

The Hobbit (Movie Tie-In)

J.R.R. Tolkien's classic prelude to The Lord of the Rings trilogy—now available in a movie tie-in edition....

Written for J.R.R. Tolkien's own children, The Hobbit has sold many millions of copies worldwide and established itself as a modern classic.

The Hobbit: 75th Anniversary Edition [Kindle Edition with Audio/Video]

This deluxe edition of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic prelude to his Lord of the Rings trilogy contains a short introduction by Christopher Tolkien, a reset text incorporating the most up-to-date corrections, and all of Tolkien’s own drawings and full-color illustrations, including the rare “Mirkwood” piece.

J.R.R. Tolkien's own description for the original edition: "If you care for journeys there and back, out of the comfortable Western world, over the edge of the Wild, and home again, and can take an interest in a humble hero (blessed with a little wisdom and a little courage and considerable good luck), here is a record of such a journey and such a traveler. The period is the ancient time between the age of Faerie and the dominion of men, when the famous forest of Mirkwood was still standing, and the mountains were full of danger. In following the path of this humble adventurer, you will learn by the way (as he did) -- if you do not already know all about these things -- much about trolls, goblins, dwarves, and elves, and get some glimpses into the history and politics of a neglected but important period. For Mr. Bilbo Baggins visited various notable persons; conversed with the dragon, Smaug the Magnificent; and was present, rather unwillingly, at the Battle of the Five Armies. This is all the more remarkable, since he was a hobbit. Hobbits have hitherto been passed over in history and legend, perhaps because they as a rule preferred comfort to excitement. But this account, based on his personal memoirs, of the one exciting year in the otherwise quiet life of Mr. Baggins will give you a fair idea of the estimable people now (it is said) becoming rather rare. They do not like noise."

The Hobbit (illustrated by Alan Lee)

This lavish gift edition of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic features cover art, illustrations, and watercolor paintings by the artist Alan Lee.

Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely traveling any farther than his pantry or cellar. But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard Gandalf and a company of dwarves arrive on his doorstep one day to whisk him away on an adventure. They have launched a plot to raid the treasure hoard guarded by Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon. Bilbo reluctantly joins their quest, unaware that on his journey to the Lonely Mountain he will encounter both a magic ring and a frightening creature known as Gollum.

Written for J.R.R. Tolkien's own children, The Hobbit has sold many millions of copies worldwide and established itself as a modern classic.

Diesel Daily Deal - Serious Play (DF)

Serious Play ($4.99 $3.82 Kindle), a novel by Bonnie Dee and Summer Devon [Carina Press/Harlequin], is today's Deal of the "Day" at Diesel E-Books, where it's discounted to $1.00 (9 copies left). If you pick it up at Amazon, the the companion audiobook is $2.99.

Book Description

Luke Bailey has dreams of building homes and putting down roots. But for a man with a rough past, finding any job isn't easy. When Mary Scott offers him a job—and a place to stay—mixing drinks and tapping beer at her theme bar, My Parents' Basement, Luke accepts. Customers flock to the cozy pub, designed to evoke memories of lost childhood, to meet and mingle and play games.

For Mary, her gorgeous new employee should be off-limits. She's his boss. And they're very different—something her interfering family constantly points out. But Mary's done playing the good girl. And Luke isn't the bad boy everyone thinks he is. Their attraction simmers until Mary seduces Luke into playing some deliciously adult games. Then a shocking betrayal threatens everything...

Get the book from Diesel; be sure to check the sales price, as the Deal of the Day often sells out.

Kindle Daily Deals 5/14

Today's Gold Box and Lightning Deals all day long are grocery items, with ThinkThin Gluten Free Protein Bars coming up at noon (they do contain soy protein, for those also avoiding soy).

Amazon's Android Free App of the Day is Cooking Dash Deluxe. This is one of five Dash Deluxe apps that are now in the Amazon Appstore (there are also corresponding free editions of each, to try out) and the only one of the group that also runs on non-Kindle Fire devices.

Speaking of Kindle Fires - if you have one registered to your account, then over the weekend, Amazon deposited $5.00 in Amazon Coins to your account (500 coins). You can't trade them on the open market and they don't work everywhere at Amazon, but these can be used to buy apps and games at Amazon and to buy in-content purchases for games. Although a coin is worth a penny, you can buy them at a discount in the Amazon Store (4% to 10% off, depending on quantity), then spend them in the Appstore on the web or directly from your Kindle Fire (2nd Gen or HD) or inside of games for in-app purchases (which should work on any device). You're current parental controls are used for this payment type, too, so you shouldn't have to do anything new. They do work a bit differently than a gift card, which is exhausted and then your CC payment is used for large purchases: to use coins, you have to have enough for the entire amount of a purchase. Which isn't much of a big deal, since most purchases are a dollar or two, but you may end up with a handful in your account and no real way to spend them (other than on tiny in-app purchases, if you find some that only take a few coins). Also, if there is any sales tax on the purchase you are attempting, which you just have to "know" based on the seller (Amazon never displays taxes on digital purchases, until you get an emailed receipt), then you have to have enough coins to cover that, as well. If you don't, then the purchase will fail and you'll get an email about it. The buy button is supposed to be greyed out in these cases, but apparently some have found that isn't reliably done (according to reviews). Another snag that I see is that coins are essentially prepaid gift cards into only your own account. I don't see (yet, anyway), any method to send them to someone else (so you can fund your kids' accounts, for example) or exchange them with others (so, no bitcoin types of exchanges), although I suspect an app that does exactly that is no doubt waiting to get approval in the Appstore. As a few have pointed out, there also doesn't seen to be any ability to get a refund on your balance, so if you switch from Android to iTunes, you won't be able to spend those coins directly (again, at least for now).

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is first two books in the inspirational and adrenaline filled Brainrush series by Richard Bard for $1.99 apiece, not only for the Kindle editions, but also for the corresponding audiobook companion editions. Nice ... I have the first from before it was picked up by Thomas & Mercer and have had the second on my wishlist, watching for a sale. It looks like the third in the series, Beyond Judgment, is now available to pre-order (and only $3.99).

Brainrush (companion audiobook)

Before he slid into the MRI machine, Jake Bronson was just an ordinary guy with terminal cancer. But when an earthquake hits during the procedure, Jake staggers from the wreckage a profoundly changed man, now endowed with uncanny mental abilities.

An ocean away, Luciano Battista wants a piece of Jake’s talent. Posing as a pioneering scientist, the terrorist leader has been conducting cerebral-implant experiments in a sinister quest to create a breed of super jihadist agents…and Jake’s altered brain may be the key to his success. But Jake refuses to play the pawn in an unholy war—and when an innocent woman and autistic child are taken hostage to force his cooperation, he embarks on a jihad of his own. Jake and his band of loyal friends are thrust into a deadly chase that leads from the canals of Venice through Monte Carlo and finally to an ancient cavern in the Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan—where Jake discovers that his newfound talents carry a hidden price that threatens the entire human race.

The Enemy of My Enemy (companion audiobook)

When a freak accident gave Jake Bronson near-superhuman mental powers and landed his loved ones in the crosshairs of an Islamic terrorist, the only way out was with guns blazing. But Jake was unable to put a stop to his nightmares or his murderous nemesis, Luciano Battista, in that ferocious showdown in the mountains of Afghanistan. Now the terror czar and his minions have brought the fight to American soil—along with the most terrifying bioweapon that has ever threatened the free world. They demand vengeance, and Jake’s family and friends are caught in the crossfire.

From California’s beaches and Mexico’s deserts to the depths of a raging underground river and the treacherous Venezuelan jungle, Jake and his unlikely alliance of combat veterans and gangsters wage a rolling war of wits, weapons, and indomitable will—to rescue those they love and to stop a madman’s bid for global conquest dead in its tracks.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is B as in Beauty ($1.99), by Alberto Ferreras (Hachette).

Book Description
Everyone in the world, it seems, is either prettier or thinner (or both) than Beauty Marie Zavala. And the only thing "B" resents more than her name is the way others judge her for the extra 40 pounds she can't lose. At least she has her career. Or did, until she overhears her boss criticizing her weight and devising a scheme to keep her from being promoted. Enter B's new tax accountant, a modern-day matchmaker determined to boost B's flagging self-esteem by introducing her to rich, successful men who will accept her for who she is. As B's confidence blossoms, so do her fantasies of revenge. But will B find true happiness or true disaster when she unwittingly falls for the one guy she shouldn't?

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is The Dwarves ($1.99), by Markus Heitz (Orbit/Hachette), is already on my TBR list; now you can add it to yours (and for less than I did).

Book Description
For countless millennia, the dwarves of the Fifthling Kingdom have defended the stone gateway into Girdlegard. Many and varied foes have hurled themselves against the portal and died attempting to breach it. No man or beast has ever succeeded. Until now. . .

Abandoned as a child, Tungdil the blacksmith labors contentedly in the land of Ionandar, the only dwarf in a kingdom of men. Although he does not want for friends, Tungdil is very much aware that he is alone - indeed, he has not so much as set eyes on another dwarf. But all that is about to change.

Sent out into the world to deliver a message and reacquaint himself with his people, the young foundling finds himself thrust into a battle for which he has not been trained. Not only his own safety, but the life of every man, woman and child in Girdlegard depends upon his ability to embrace his heritage. Although he has many unanswered questions, Tungdil is certain of one thing: no matter where he was raised, he is a true dwarf.

And no one has ever questioned the courage of the Dwarves.

Today's Kindle Teen Daily Deal is What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know ($0.99), by Sonya Sones (Simon and Schuster).

Book Description
A teen boy confronts the complications of love in this relatable free verse novel featuring a new cover and larger trim size.

Don’t get me wrong—my girlfriend’s amazing.

But the way things have been going lately,

I’m starting to believe that the only thing worse

than not getting what you want,

is getting it.

Picking up where What My Mother Doesn’t Know leaves off, this is the story of what happens next—told from the perspective of Murphy, Sophie’s new boyfriend. And even though Murphy’s thrilled to be with Sophie, the consequences of their relationship—and the temptations outside of it—force him to consider everything he knows about love. Told in free verse and brimming with authenticity, this novel provides unique insight into the mind of a young man.

Phoenix Flash Sale - Lilith (K)

Lilith: A Snake in the Grass, the first novel in The Four Lords of the Diamond series by Jack L. Chalker, is on sale, today only, for 99 cents in the Kindle store, in Phoenix Pick's first 24-hour Flash Sale. Like all of their books, it is DRM-free, so you can download and convert as needed.

Book Description
Four worlds that cannot be visited.
Four worlds that must be visited.

Aliens are spying on Earth from one of the four worlds that make up the Warden Diamond. But it is impossible to send agents to any of the four worlds because of unique microscopic symbionts that make it impossible for visitors to leave the Diamond.

Seeking a unique solution, each of the four worlds making up the Diamond is sent a person whose mind has been stripped of everything and who is now controlled by an agent of the Confederacy

Lilith is the first planet to be visited. Here, Cal Tremon, stripped of his own personality, must overcome incredible odds and survive not only the incredible perils of the foreign planet but his own controllers as well.

UK Kindle Daily Deal 5/14

Flat-Out Love (£0.99 UK), by Jessica Park, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $3.99 with the companion audiobook for $1.99).

Book Description
He was tall, at least six feet, with dirty blond hair that hung over his eyes. His T-shirt read Nietzsche Is My Homeboy.

So, that was Matt. Who Julie Seagle likes. A lot. But there is also Finn. Who she flat out loves.

Complicated? Awkward? Completely.

But really, how was this freshly-minted Boston transplant and newbie college freshman supposed to know that she would end up living with the family of an old friend of her mother's? This was all supposed to be temporary. Julie wasn't supposed to be important to the Watkins family, or to fall in love with one of the brothers. Especially the one she's never quite met. But what does that really matter? Finn gets her, like no one ever has before. They have connection.

But here's the thing about love, in all its twisty, bumpy permutations—it always throws you a few curves. And no one ever escapes unscathed.

New York Times best-selling author Jessica Park mines the territory of love’s growing pains with wit, sharp insights, and a discernible heat and heartbeat. Her previous novels include Relatively Famous, and she authored the e-shorts What the Kid Says (Parts 1 and 2) and Facebooking Rick Springfield.

Nook Daily Find 5/14

The Getaway ($4.74 Kindle, $1.99 B&N), by Jim Thompson [Hachette], is the Nook Daily Find.

Book Description
Doc McCoy is the most skilled criminal alive. But when for the first time in Doc's long criminal career, his shot doesn't hit the mark, everything begins to fall apart. And Doc begins to realize that the perfect bank robbery isn't complete without the perfect getaway to back it up.

THE GETAWAY is the classic story of a bank robbery gone horribly wrong, where the smallest mistakes have catastrophic consequences, and shifting loyalties lead to betrayals and chaos. The basis for the classic Steve McQueen film of the same name, as well as a 1994 remake with Alec Baldwin, Thompson's novel set the bar for every heist story that followed--but as Thompson's proved time and again, nobody's ever done it better than the master.

Diesel Daily Deal - The Prophet (E)

Secrets and Lies: He's a Bad Boy\He's Just a Cowboy ($7.99 $6.15 Kindle), an anthology by Lisa Jackson [Harlequin], is today's Deal of the "Day" at Diesel E-Books, where it's discounted to $1.60 (8 copies left).

Book Description

He's a bad boy

Famous criminal defense attorney Jackson Moore thought he had left his bad-boy past behind him—but his childhood sweetheart had different plans for him.

Rachelle Remont thought she could forget her tragic small-town history by writing about it in her nationally syndicated column. She hadn't counted on Jackson Moore's return, or on the way her blood ran hot at the sight of him. He was determined to discover the town's secrets with Rachelle—and in doing so, uncover some secrets of their own….

He's just a cowboy

For six agonizing years Heather Tremont Leonetti tried to make a lie of the breathless summer when rodeo rider Turner Brooks broke her innocence and branded her heart. But now only the truth could save her most precious, cherished memento.

Which meant she'd have to beg the help of the one man who could drive her to her knees—the proud, unforgiving loner she'd loved…the unforgettable cowboy who'd sired her son.

Get the book from Diesel; be sure to check the sales price, as the Deal of the Day often sells out.

Kindle Daily Deals 5/13

There is a new sale at Audible: Begin at the Beginning, with the first book in over 200 series now only $4.95 (or less, for some, if you already own the Kindle edition). Sale ends May 20, 2013.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Gone, Baby, Gone ($1.99), by Dennis Lehane [HarperCollins]. Be sure to check you library to see if you already have the Bonus Edition that was offered a few years ago.

Book Description
In Gone, Baby, Gone, the master of the new noir, New York Times bestselling author Dennis Lehane (Mystic River, Shutter Island), vividly captures the complex beauty and darkness of working-class Boston. A gripping, deeply evocative thriller about the devastating secrets surrounding a little girl lost, featuring the popular detective team of Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro, Gone, Baby, Gone was the basis for the critically acclaimed motion picture directed by Ben Affleck and starring Casey Affleck, Ed Harris, and Morgan Freeman.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Every Breath She Takes ($1.99), by Norah Wilson [Montlake Romance], with the companion audiobook also $1.99. Again, check your libraries - this was originally published as Lauren’s Eyes.

Book Description
Veterinarian Lauren Townsend has good reason for hiding her psychic ability. Not only did her “freakishness” earn her pariah status in the small town where she grew up, it cost her a fiancé and her faith in love. When Lauren foresees a murder—through the killer’s eyes—she traces the victim to a sprawling ranch, never guessing what waits for her…

Cal Taggart’s rugged ranch life doesn’t need any more complications. His stubborn determination cost him his marriage, and now may cost him his livelihood. But then beautiful Lauren enters his corral…with danger close behind. And Cal wants nothing more than to protect her. They can’t deny their intense attraction. Nor do they want to. What begins as a fling with no strings becomes a fight for survival—and for true love.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is The Well of Tears ($0.99), by Roberta Trahan [47North], with the companion audiobook only $1.99.

Book Description
More than five centuries after Camelot, a new king heralded by prophecy has appeared. As one of the last sorceresses of a dying order sworn to protect the new ruler at all costs, Alwen must answer a summons she thought she might never receive.

Bound by oath, Alwen returns to Fane Gramarye, the ancient bastion of magic standing against the rise of evil. For alongside the prophecy of the benevolent king, a darker foretelling envisions the land overrun by a demonic army and cast into ruin.

Alwen has barely set foot in her homeland when she realizes traitors lurk within the Stewardry, threatening to destroy it. To thwart the corruption and preserve her order, Alwen must draw upon power she never knew she possessed and prepare to sacrifice everything she holds dear—even herself. If she fails, the prophecy of peace will be banished, and darkness will rule.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is The Three Little Tamales ($1.99), by Eric A. Kimmel [Two Lions/an Amazon imprint].

Book Description
While the three little tamales cool off on a windowsill, a tortilla rolls by. "You’ll be eaten. You’d better run!" he tells them. And so the tamales jump out the window. The first runs to the prairie and builds a house of sagebrush. The second runs to a cornfield and builds a house of cornstalks. The third runs to the desrt and builds a house of cactus. Then who should come along but Señor Lobo, the Big Bad Wolf, who plans to blow their houses down!Valeria Docampo’s oil-and-pencil illustrations add zest and humor to this rollicking southwestern version of a popular tale.

Age Range: 6 - 8 years

This book features Kindle Text Pop-Up for reading text over vivid, full-color images when using Kindle Fire/HD or select Kindle Reading Apps (Kindle Cloud Reader, Kindle for iPad or Kindle for Android); unlike some other Text Popup books, this one won't work on any of the eInk Kindles.

Nook Daily Find 5/13

The Iron King ($4.50 Kindle, $1.99 B&N), the first novel in the Julie Kagawa's Iron Fey fantasy series [Harlequin Teen], is the Nook Daily Find. It's likely to be price matched on Kindle later this morning and the the companion audiobook at Audible is $2.99.

Book Description
Meghan Chase has a secret destiny--one she could never have imagined...

Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school...or at home.

When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.

But she could never have guessed the truth-- that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face...and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.

UK Kindle Daily Deal 5/13

Guilt By Association (£0.99 UK), the debut novel in the Rachel Knight series by Marcia Clark (the lead prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson trial), is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $2.99).

Book Description
When Deputy District Attorney Rachel Knight’s journey home is interrupted by screaming sirens, she decides to follow them.

But what she finds when she arrives at a sleazy LA motel shatters her world: her trusted colleague Jake lies dead beside the body of a teenage male prostitute.

The police say murder/suicide. Rachel’s gut says different.

Her search for proof will take her through the dark and tangled city, from its wealthy suburbs to its violent heart.

And a truth so dangerous it could kill her.

Rachel Knight returns in the novels Guilt by Degrees and Killer Ambition and the short stories If I’m Dead and Trouble In Paradise for more L.A. crime and court action!

Bargain Book Roundup

Most deals found on Amazon, but may be matched at B&N and/or Kobo.

The Nook Daily Deal from yesterday, The Gatekeepers #1: Raven's Gate ($1.99) is price matched on Amazon now. It should go over well with the middle-grade reading crowd and has a starred review from Booklist.

1,001 Best Grilling Recipes: Delicious, Easy-to-Make Recipes from Around the World ($5.99 Kindle, $1.99 B&N), by Rick Browne [Agate Surrey], is marked down in both stores (and may drop on Kindle tomorrow ... or it might go up on both).

Book Description
This newest addition to Surrey's 1,001 line of cookbooks is the definitive book on grilling everything from appetizers and side dishes, to lamb, beef, hamburgers, sausages, fish & shellfish, wild game, chicken, game birds, turkey, pork, and desserts. Also included are dozens of recipes for sauces, marinades, and rubs to use when cooking on a barbecue grill.

Author Rick Browne is one of the country's best-known authorities on grilling. The creator and host of the PBS TV series "Barbecue America," he is the author of seven cookbooks, most dealing with barbecue and grilling. In this new collection, he's created an encyclopedic collection of recipes drawn from cuisines around the world.

Browne begins with a brief, introductory primer on basic grilling techniques, but the real substance of this book is the dazzling array of recipes--all manner of meat and fish, plus numerous vegetarian options, from every corner of the globe, with a particular focus on North American and Asian traditions.

Never before have this many great grilling recipes been collected between two covers. If you love to grill--or know someone else who does--this is a must-have resource. It's the only grilling recipe book you'll ever need.

Half Way Home ($0.99 Kindle), by Hugh Howey, with the companion audiobook $1.99. It's self-published, just as his other books are, in ebook form, but look to pay a lot more when it releases in paper (just as Wool has done - he's sold millions in ebook format and won't let the publishers have anything but print rights). Howey is quickly earning his way to my "must buy" list (and it looks like I have several more of his titles to pick up).

Book Description
Five hundred of us were sent to colonize this planet. Only fifty or so survived.

We woke up fifteen years too early, we had only half our training, and they expected us to not only survive ... they expected us to conquer this place.

The problem is: it isn't safe here.

We aren't even safe from each other.

Bitter Legacy: A Matt Royal Mystery ($1.99 Kindle), by H. Terrell Griffin [Oceanview Publishing]

Book Description
After a week away, Matt Royals ready to get back to the Longboat Key good life good fishing, good food, good beer, and more good fishing. But Matt comes back to bad news: while he was away, a sniper tried to kill one of his best friends. Even worse, now that Matts back, someones trying to kill him. And whoever is trying to kill him is trying really hard.With no clue whos after him or why, Matt soon finds hes at the center of a mystery involving a lawyers murder, a tourist left for dead, a ruthless biker gang, a reclusive billionaire with nothing to lose, and an ancient document that could bring ruin to some of the most entrenched financial interests in Florida.Between solving the mystery and staying alive, Matts got his hands full. But hed better watch out or his hard-charging ways could get him sideways with the newest member of Longboat Keys police force, the undeniably attractive Jennifer Duncan.For Matt, its shaping up to be a really long week.

I first recommended Terms of Enlistment ($2.99 Kindle), by Marko Kloos, when it was self-published. This edition is from his brand-new publisher, 47North.

Book Description
The year is 2108, and the North American Commonwealth is bursting at the seams. For welfare rats like Andrew Grayson, there are only two ways out of the crime-ridden and filthy welfare tenements, where you're restricted to 2,000 calories of badly flavored soy every day:

You can hope to win the lottery and draw a ticket on a colony ship settling off-world, or you can join the service.

With the colony lottery a pipe-dream, Andrew chooses to enlist in the armed forces for a shot at real food, a retirement bonus, and maybe a ticket off Earth. But as he starts a career of supposed privilege, he soon learns that the good food and decent health care come at a steep price…and that the settled galaxy holds far greater dangers than military bureaucrats or the gangs that rule the slums.

The debut novel from Marko Kloos, Terms of Enlistment is a new addition to the great military sci-fi tradition of Robert Heinlein, Joe Haldeman, and John Scalzi.

Liquid Fear ($0.99 Kindle), by Scott Nicholson, is on sale from another of Amazon's imprints, Thomas & Mercer, and the companion audiobook is also $0.99.

Book Description
When Roland Doyle wakes up in an unfamiliar motel room with a strange man’s wallet in his pocket and a woman’s dead body in the bathroom, he fears the worst…and that’s before he finds the vial of pills labeled "take one every 4 hrs or else." Or else what? Ten years ago, Dr. Sebastian Briggs’s clinical drug trial for a cutting-edge fear-response drug went horribly wrong — or did it? It’s true that one trial participant died and five others were left with no memory of what happened to them. But now several interested parties, including a major pharmaceutical company and an ambitious U.S. senator, are willing to back Briggs’s continued research. All he has to do is recall his five surviving "volunteers," whose addiction to a mysterious drug has left them largely at his disposal. They will do anything necessary to keep the pills coming and to stave off the creeping phobias, intense sexual impulses, and all-consuming madness that lurk on the edges of their minds. It’s easy enough for the good doctor to lure the survivors back to the remote Monkey House, where the original trials took place. But when the pills finally run out…that’s when the real show begins.

Rosary Murders ($0.99 Kindle), the first in The Father Koesler Mysteries series by William Kienzle [Andrews McMeel Publishing], starts you off at a great price and currently there are 23 in the Kindle store at under $4 apiece (which means one must be missing, although I didn't search too hard to see which one it might be).

Book Description
The Rosary Murders was William X. Kienzle's first Father Koesler mystery, published in 1978. Twenty-three more books followed, creating a best-selling mystery series mostly set in Detroit and reflecting the personality of its hero, Father Robert Koesler, a diocesan priest with a penchant for sleuthing. The Rosary Murders was named one of the top twenty-five mysteries of the twentieth century in spring 2000 by the Chicago Sun-Times. It was also made into a movie, with Donald Sutherland in the role of Father Koesler.

In The Rosary Murders, Detroit priests and nuns are being methodically murdered; all are found with a plain black rosary entwined between their fingers as a calling card. From Ash Wednesday, when the murderer first struck, the police seem helpless to solve the strong of senseless murders. The weeks that follow become a nightmare for the crack homicide team headed by Lieutenant Walter Koznicki, until Father Koesler breaks the madmen's code.

Here is a story with tension, excitement, intelligence, and a rare wit and humor. Kienzle painstakingly leads you through every step in an intensive police investigation of heinous series of murders. Police procedure and Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper reporting are as much a part of the action as the crimes themselves.

With superb control of the novel's movement, Kienzle can tantalize at a tortoise's pace and torment with a breakneck hare's pace.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Justice Denied ($1.99), the eighteenth novel in the (excellent) J P Beaumont mystery series by J. A. Jance, is on sale again, for those that missed it as a Deal of the Day a few months back.

Book Description
The murder of an ex-drug dealer ex-con—gunned down on his mother's doorstep—seems just another turf war fatality. Why then has Seattle homicide investigator J.P. Beaumont been instructed to keep this assignment hush-hush? Meanwhile, Beau's lover and fellow cop, Mel Soames, is involved in her own confidential investigation. Registered sex offenders from all over Washington State are dying at an alarming rate—and not all due to natural causes.

A metropolis the size of Seattle holds its fair share of brutal crime, corruption, and dirty little secrets. But when the separate trails they're following begin to shockingly intertwine, Beau and Mel realize that they have stumbled onto something bigger and more frightening than they anticipated—a deadly conspiracy that's leading them to lofty places they should not enter . . . and may not be allowed to leave alive.

Ice Hunt ($4.49 Kindle, B&N, Kobo), by James Rollins [HarperCollins], joins several other of his novels currently on sale (two under two bucks).

Book Description
Carved into a moving island of ice twice the size of the United States, Ice Station Grendel has been abandoned for more than seventy years. The twisted brainchild of the finest minds of the former Soviet Union, it was designed to be inaccessible and virtually invisible. But an American undersea research vessel has inadvertently pulled too close--and something has been sighted moving inside the allegedly deserted facility, something whose survival defies every natural law. And now, as scientists, soldiers, intelligence operatives, and unsuspecting civilians are drawn into Grendel's lethal vortex, the most extreme measures possible will be undertaken to protect its dark mysteries--because the terrible truths locked behind submerged walls of ice and steel could end human life on Earth.

Two Debra Holland Novels for $1 Each (K)

Get your choice of two Debra Holland novels in the Montana Sky series for a dollar or grab them both, with any qualifying purchase. This is an especially good deal today, as there are several books on the list that are 99 cents or $1.99 today, as part of the Daily Deal Romance Sale (just sort the qualifying list by price). Which means you can pick up three new romances for as little as three bucks! The Amazon Editors selected Starry Montana Sky as one of their 50 Great American Love Story selections (actually, more than 50, but at least one per state is on the list).

You'll get an email from Amazon when you complete a qualifying purchase, with the credit automatically applied to your account (so wait until you see this to buy the two books below). This credit will expire on July 10, 2013, if not used, and is limited to those in the US. You can then check your emailed purchase confirmation and see that the credit was applied.

Wild Montana Sky (companion audiobook $1.99)

When her brother announces his marriage, Elizabeth Hamilton suddenly becomes unwanted and unwelcome in the only home she’s ever known. To escape the new mistress of the house, Elizabeth accepts the invitation of her best friend to journey to Montana.

The dirt streets and wooden storefronts of Sweetwater Springs and the hardships of ranch living are worlds away from the refinements of Gilded Age Boston, yet Elizabeth is filled with new hope—and buoyed by a wealthy banker’s attentions. Yet it’s cowboy Nick Sanders who slowly awakens her heart and helps her recognize her strengths. And when a deadly influenza epidemic strikes, Elizabeth will fight for those she loves—and the life she’s ready to claim.

A USA Today bestseller and winner of Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart Award, Wild Montana Sky is historical romance at its best—a warm, uplifting story of new love and second chances.

Starry Montana Sky (companion audiobook $1.99)

Since her husband’s death, Samantha Sawyers Rodriguez and her son have been little more than prisoners on her father-in-law’s estate in 1890s Argentina. Now, thanks to her late uncle, she has an inheritance—a Montana ranch that she plans to transform into a sanctuary for orphaned boys while raising her family’s miniature horses.

Not everyone in Sweetwater Springs, however, is happy about her arrival. Samantha’s neighbor, Wyatt Thompson, insists she has no idea what she’s taking on—with the ranch or with the neglected boys she’s adopted. Though she can’t deny her attraction to Wyatt, Samantha intends to succeed on her own terms. But when a string of fires turns the locals against her boys, she and Wyatt see all they have to lose—and gain—in this wild and beautiful country.

Sweet, heartfelt, and filled with adventure, Starry Montana Sky is an unforgettable follow-up to Debra Holland’s acclaimed USA Today bestselling romance Wild Montana Sky, filled with characters as bold and free as the land they love.

37 Kindle Books for $1 Each (AL)

This offer is set up via AmazonLocal and anyone (in the US) can participate.

Free Voucher to Purchase Select Kindle Books for $1 Each

Just click on Apply, then complete the purchase on the page after that. Yes, it now says "Apply" instead of "purchase" on these free offers, but nearly the same process: you must be in the US, log into your Amazon account, have a credit card on file, make a "purchase" at zero cost, then the promo code is automatically applied to your account (no waiting for an email and dealing with a promo code, but verify that it has progressed from Processing on the My Vouchers page before purchasing your books). Sign-up for this offer expires May 16, 2013 or when the number of vouchers set aside by Amazon have been exhausted.

Once applied to your account, you can shop from your Kindle or desktop, picking any of the 37 qualifying titles. You should also be able to gift any of the books to someone else (I have in the past); the full price shows all the way thru, but on the invoice summary, you will see the $1 promotional price (note that you'll still see the full price until the invoice finalizes, usually several hours after purchase; the promo credit will show in the lower half of the invoice and the final price charged to your card or gift balance will be $1/book). The total number of books you can get at this price is 37. The voucher will expire if not used toward qualifying Kindle book purchases from Amazon.com by 11:59 p.m. PST May 22, 2013.

Deal Details:

Load up your Kindle with new worlds with today's special offer from Amazon. Get a free voucher to purchase up to 37 select Kindle books from the Amazon Kindle Store for $1 each.

• Enjoy history and mystery with the Hangman’s Daughter series from New York Times best-selling author Oliver Pötzsch
• Discover the dark delights of the Dragonfury series
• Smile with the Simply Sarah series
• Explore other available series books and find your new favorite!

Kindle Daily Deals 5/12

The Kindle Big Deal is back, with >500 Kindle books at up to 85% off. Instead of allowing you to sort by price, this time, Amazon has set up categories on the page which you can click thru to browse the sale.

Moms - if you didn't get a bright shiny new Kindle Fire HD as a gift today, it's the last day to order one at $20 off.

Amazon's Android Free App of the Day is Jo Frost Rewards, which can be used to reinforce positive behaviors by rewarding children for completing their chores/tasks and for exhibiting respectable behavior (or, at least keeping track of the behavior).

Carina Press has 30% off your next order for Mother's day (regular price not sale price) using coupon code MOMDAY2013. Expires May 12th.

Amazon has price-matched the Nook Daily Deal: Avenged ($9.99 $2.99), the third in the Pacific Coast Justice series by Janice Cantore [Tyndale House].

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is up to 67% off on 30 top-rated Kindle romance novels, some as low as $0.99 each (none over $1.99). There are way too many for me to list, but browsing thru them, there appears to be a Romance Book for nearly every type of Mom (or Mom-to-be) that might be out there, from contemporary to historical to paranormal. Be sure to check page two, as well, to see all the choices.

As always, be sure to just do a quick check of your libraries (unless you are buying for your own Mom, to read on her Kindle), as some books seem to have new editions. I spotted Delilah Devlin's Shattered Souls on the sale, for example, and knew that I already had it. Checking the product page, though, didn't show the "you have purchased" banner at the top, so it's a different edition than mine (and this newer one is tied to the $1.99 companion audiobook, which would still be under $3 if I buy the novel again). I also discovered that the next novel in that series, Lost Souls, is available to pre-order (and, $3.99, I've added it to my queue to lock in the price).

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Seeing Shadows ($0.99), by S.H. Kolee.

Book Description
Caitlin Kile was living a normal college life full of parties and early morning classes. Living with her best friend and enjoying her senior year, Caitlin's life seemed idyllic. Until her neighbor's cousin, Simon Crewe, transferred to her school, unbalancing her tightly controlled life. Because control was one thing Caitlin desperately needed.

Simon was instantly attracted to Caitlin, but he couldn't seem to get past her guarded walls. Caitlin wasn't planning on competing with all the groupies clamoring for Simon's attention ever since he became the lead singer of a popular band. But despite Caitlin's refusal to show any interest in him, Simon couldn't seem to shake his attraction to her.

But Simon didn't know everything about Caitlin. He didn't know about the images of death that haunted her while she was awake. Or the gripping terrors that plagued her at night.

And Simon couldn't possibly know that those terrors were determined to destroy him.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is 2001: A Space Odyssey ($1.99), by Arthur C. Clarke, with the companion audiobook for only $0.99.

Book Description
The year is 2001, and cosmonauts uncover a mysterious monolith that has been buried on the Moon for at least three million years. To their astonishment, the monolith releases an equally mysterious pulse—a kind of signal—in the direction of Saturn after it is unearthed. Whether alarm or communication, the human race must know what the signal is—and who it was intended for.

The Discovery and its crew, assisted by the highly advanced HAL 9000 computer system, sets out to investigate. But as the crew draws closer to their rendezvous with a mysterious and ancient alien civilization, they realize that the greatest dangers they face come from within the spacecraft itself. HAL proves a dangerous traveling companion, and the crew must outwit him to survive.

This novel version of the famous Stanley Kubrick film 2001: A Space Odyssey was written by Clarke in conjunction with the movie’s production. It is meant to stand as a companion piece, and it offers a complementary narrative that’s loaded with compelling science fiction ideas.

Today's Kindle Teen Daily Deal is The Dark Is Rising ($0.99), by Susan Cooper [Simon and Schuster], a Newbery Honor Book and a Carnegie Medal Honor Book.

Book Description
On the Midwinter Day that is his eleventh birthday, Will Stanton discovers a special gift-- that he is the last of the Old Ones, immortals dedicated to keeping the world from domination by the forces of evil, the Dark. At once, he is plunged into a quest for the six magical Signs that will one day aid the Old Ones in the final battle between the Dark and the Light. And for the twelve days of Christmas, while the Dark is rising, life for Will is full of wonder, terror, and delight.

Nook Daily Find 5/12

Avenged ($9.99 $2.99 Kindle, B&N), the third in the Pacific Coast Justice series by Janice Cantore [Tyndale House], is the Nook Daily Find. Update: Now price matched on Kindle.

Book Description
When Officer Carly Edwards finds three young gangbangers shot execution style, she and her husband, Sergeant Nick Anderson, head of the gang unit, fear Las Playas may be on the verge of a gang war. The Las Playas PD is put on high alert as tensions escalate between rival gangs, especially after Carly confiscates weapons from a gang leader and learns they were stolen from a military base along with explosive devices.

But something isn’t adding up, and Carly suspects there might be more going on. As she prepares to testify at a major trial, Carly’s reputation is shredded by a reporter apparently trying to discredit her professionally. Facing pressure on all fronts, Carly must rely on faith and trust God in a deeper way during one of the biggest struggles of her career.

UK Kindle Daily Deal 5/12

The Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK is The First Four Novels in the Lovejoy Series by Jonathan Gash for £0.99 each (~76% off).

Every antique dealer is a bit of a detective, following clues to find the trophies that pay the rent. But Lovejoy finds himself playing the role time and again as he tracks down a pair of duelling pistols in The Judas Pair, stumbles across diaries that point to a fabled treasure in Gold from Gemini, goes in search of the Holy Grail in The Grail Tree and witnesses the death of one of his oldest friends in Spend Game.

The Judas Pair (Main/UK; US edition $7.89)

Every antique dealer is a bit of a detective, following clues to find the trophies that pay the rent, but when Lovejoy takes on the job of tracking down a pair of duelling pistols so rare that he's not even sure actually exist, he needs all the instincts of a detective to pick his way through an unsolved crime.

Along the way, he becomes convinced that the weapons do exist but that they have fallen into the hands of a vile murderer. Locating the ancient weapons seems like the least of his problems when Lovejoy then finds himself fighting for his life in a duel to the death!

Gold from Gemini (Main/UK; US edition $7.89)

Lovejoy discovers how the lure of gold brings out the worst kind of treasure seeker when, broke as usual and earning a crust as an unlikely babysitter, he stumbles across the diaries of a painter that appear to point to the whereabouts of a fabled hoard of Roman gold coins.

Lovejoy is tempted to dismiss the whole thing as a hoax, but vile threats and violent intimidation have a way of changing his mind. He sets out to unravel the clues in the diaries, with some particularly nasty characters dogging his every move.

The Grail Tree (Main/UK; US edition $7.89)

Lovejoy has heard of more nutters who have claimed to be in possession of the one, true Holy Grail than he has had hot dinners. He's not too impressed with the eccentric clergyman making the latest claim - especially when the good vicar turns out to be one of the finest forgers Lovejoy has ever met.

But when the vicar and his lady companion end up dead it becomes clear that someone else is after the old man's artefact. To solve the mystery and protect a precious piece of history, Lovejoy puts his life on the line and acquires a surprising new partner...

Spend Game (Main/UK; US edition $7.89)

When Lovejoy witnesses a car crash that turns out to be a murder - with one of his oldest antique-dealer friends the victim - he sets out on a trail of revenge that leaves him pondering several bewildering questions.

Why did his friend buy up a load of junk furniture? What did he want with an old doctor's bag? Why was his friend killed? Who was trying to kill Lovejoy and - most perplexing of all - what the hell is he doing potholing through underground tunnels dodging armed hit men?