Free Ebook: Burnt Shadows

Burnt Shadows ($24.66 Hardcover; $10.29 Paperback, April 28; not yet available on Kindle), by Kamila Shamsie, has been shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction 2009. The novel traces the "devastating legacy of the 20th century from Nagasaki to Guantanamo Bay through the experiences of two families – one from the West, one from the East." The cover at the left is the UK cover - I like it quite a bit more than the US cover (shown if you follow the above links to the Amazon site). As a promotion for the Orange Prize competition, Bloomsbury is offering a 24 Hour Free Promotional Download (PDF only). The download says it is for UK residents only, but it works worldwide. No doubt the iPhone download will only work in the UK. This free promotional download will be available until 12 noon BST 23 April 2009.

Edited to add: This PDF is one of those that is nearly impossible to convert or read on an ereader that natively supports PDF, due to it's formatting and watermarks. Plan on reading it on your computer. I've picked up an ASUS 1000HE Netbook for that and checking email when away from my desk; I'll include some picks and my impressions vs the Kindle soon.

B1G1F on Kindle: Mick Herron

Through April 27, 2009, buy Mick Herron's Smoke and Whispers ($9.99) and receive a free download of Down Cemetery Road (normally $9.99) at no additional charge. The way it works is that when you buy the first book, both will download to your Kindle and both will show up in the Manage Your Kindle page for your account (don't one-click both of the titles or you'll be charged for both). This is at least the third such promotion that Amazon has run. You can also read an interview with the author (so long as it is up, these have been known to disappear from the Amazon Kindle Blog, along with these special offers).

Synopsis (Smoke and Whispers)

When a body is hauled from the River Tyne, Sarah Tucker heads to Newcastle for a closer look. She identifies the dead woman as private detective Zoë Boehm, but putting a name to the corpse only raises further questions. Did Zoë kill herself, or did one of her old cases come back to haunt her? Why was she wearing a jacket a murderer had stolen years before? And what’s brought Sarah’s sparring partner, Gerard Inchon, to the same broken down hotel? Coincidence is an excuse that soon looks pretty unconvincing. Sarah can’t leave until she’s found the answers to her questions, however dangerous they might turn out to be.

Synopsis (Down Cemetery Road)

One quiet evening in Oxford a house near Sarah Tucker's suddenly explodes. The cause is later reported to be a gas leak, but when a child disappears in the aftermath, Sarah — a young married woman, bored and unhappy with her life — becomes obsessed with trying to find her. Very soon she's left wondering whether she has really ever known anybody or anything at all, as her attempts at investigation reveal that people long thought dead are still among the living, while the living are joining the dead. Her own life however, becomes distinctly less boring. What begins in this peaceful suburb comes to a compelling climax on a remote and unwelcoming Scottish island, as the hunt for the missing child takes Sarah out of her marriage and into a journey with a companion who himself is being hunted by murderous and apparently official forces. This acclaimed first novel sets a cracking pace with a satisfying denouement.

The Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings,by J.R.R. Tolkien (with credit given to Christopher Tolkien on the Kindle Edition), has arrived in ebook form. You can purchase the The Trilogy ($15.94) as a single volume or each book individually ($9.99 each):

The Fellowship of the Ring
The Two Towers
The Return of the King

You can also pick up The Hobbit ($7.99) and The Children of Hurin ($9.99), the earliest and latest works Tolkien published (Hurin, of course, was a posthumous publication and greatly edited by Christopher). All we need now is the History of Middle-Earth (5 volumes) and The History of The Lord of the Rings (4 volumes) and the Later Silmarillion (2 volumes), but we can wait (after all, it'll take a day or two to read thru what we have so far).

For those who don't have a Kindle (and those who do, that want a copy on their desktop), you can also get these at Fictionwise. Even better, thru April 26, they are giving a 100% micropay rebate on all the Tolkien titles, if paid for via credit card or paypal. That credit can be used on any purchases (but not in conjunction with high rebate offers) for any other books in the store. Although their secure Mobipocket titles won't work on Kindle, due to DRM, almost all the multi-format titles will (just be sure that mobi/prc is an option on the title; it is for most I've checked).

Free Ebook on Sony: The King of Lies

The King of Liesby John Hart ($6.99 Kindle) is free this morning in the Sony Bookstore. No sign yet of it doing the same at Amazon, but I'll keep an eye on it. In the meantime, pick it up to read on your PC or Sony Reader.

John Hart creates a literary thriller that is as suspenseful as it is poignant, a riveting murder mystery layered beneath the southern drawl of a humble North Carolina lawyer. When Work Pickens finds his father murdered, the investigation pushes a repressed family history to the surface and he sees his own carefully constructed façade begin to crack.

Work’s troubled sister, her combative girlfriend, his gold digging socialite wife, and an unrequited lifelong love join a cast of small town characters that create no shortage of drama in this extraordinary, fast-paced suspense novel.
Hart’s mastery of prose and plot belie his newcomer status as he explores the true heart of a man. An illuminating anatomy of a murder and the ripple effect it produces within a family and a community, The King of Lies is a stunning debut.

Kindle Bargain Ebook Roundup

Retirement Homes Are Murder by Mike Befeler ($3.99). After reading this one, you may have to make new arrangements for you last stop in retirement. My mother grabbed it after starting the sample, as she had to know how it turned out. That's a pretty good recommendation, since her TBR stack is nearly as high as mine, which is why she almost didn't even read the sample I sent to her Kindle (a power I try not to abuse).

Remembering nothing from the day before, crotchety octogenarian Paul Jacobson must become an amateur sleuth to clear himself as a murder suspect when he finds a dead body in the trash chute of a retirement home. As Paul’s snooping and short-term memory loss get him in trouble with the local police, his new friends and granddaughter Jennifer help him solve an expanding list of crimes. Paul finds romance as he struggles to escape a murderer intent on a repeat performance.

Patriot Acts by Don Pendleton ($3.60)

A political assassination in Los Angeles leads to a red alert when the gunman then declares war against Washington. Trained by a secret organization within the U.S. government, the sniper is relentless in his quest to make a better America--even if it means killing millions of innocent people along the way.

With the free world in jeopardy, Mack Bolan must stop the rogue agent before the man unleashes his plan. But it-s going to take more than weapons to win this battle. Armed with the same deadly skills as Bolan, the misguided killer could be the Executioner-s ultimate foe.

Available for the first time as a standalone ebook, the novella The Awakening, by CHRISTINE FEEHAN ($2.39), is the first book in the Leopard series. Previously available in the Fever: 2 in 1 volume ($9.99), along with the novel Wild Rain ($6.39). Unlike many combo volumes available, this one is cheaper if you buy the two ebooks separately, both at current discounts, as well as when considering the digital list prices.

Under the blazing heat of the Borneo sun, a beautiful naturalist's dream comes true - to live among the feral jungle creatures. But an untamed, irresistible beast of another sort forces her to explore her own wild side.

The Chocolate Gravy Queen by Memphis Layne ($3.19) is currently #19 in the Children's Performing Arts fiction category. The first three chapters are available to read online at the author's MySpace page.

My name is Memphis Autumn Layne and I live in Lickskillet, Alabama, on the corner of Moontown Road and Butter and Egg Lane. No joke. But don’t get the wrong idea; I’m not a backwoods hillbilly, even though I do come from a long line of rednecks and hicks. There is a big difference between a hillbilly and a redneck, you know.

Oh, and just to set the record straight right from the start; contrary to popular belief (i.e., the movie Sweet Home Alabama ) we don't eat bologna cake here - that's sick! I'd never even heard of it before that movie! We prefer cheeseburger pie or a fried Twinkie and, most importantly, chocolate gravy! Although that does remind me of the story my Momma told me about how my Uncle Jeremiah, when he was little, snuck some bologna into church, stood on the front pew and......OK, I'm chasing a rabbit now, as my grandpa likes to say. Back to the subject, which is me.

One thing you need to know – I am going to be a big country music star one day. I know this because my great-grandma Patty Lou said so when I was just a little girl and all the family knows that her visions are surprisingly accurate. Also because I have become an overnight news sensation. You are probably wondering how a young redneck nobody could have all the news channels begging for an interview and that is what I will let you in on a little later....

The Difference Between Life and Death: Outliving the Flu Pandemic of 2009 by Dennis Miner ($4.00) is more of a novella or long short story than a full novel, chronicling the steps taken by a small group that survives a flu pandemic thru a combination of luck and preparation (and nearly does not, when a later group joins up with them). It's a pretty quick read and nothing on the scope of S.M. Stirling's Dies the Fire or Change series (which has The Sword of the Lady coming out in September), but it is grounded in the real world.

This is a story of hope and survival. Self-reliance and traditional family values help us to stick together and outlive the flu pandemic crisis. In the process of overcoming this struggle, our family becomes stronger, as does American society. Throughout this life changing experience, there are elements of fear, death of a loved one, courage, family conflict, self preservation, life’s lessons, going back to the simple basics, and so much more.

Chasing the Demons [Chasing the Demons Series Book 1] by Anna Katherine Johnson $3.96 (the paperback is 14.99; Book #2, Demons' Revenge is not yet on the Kindle).

Chasing the Demons is based on a true story. Jenny married Michael Angel Fuentes and began twenty years of chaos and uncertainty with the unstable man. After two children, a nasty divorce and reconciliation, she agrees to move to Arizona to find peace in desert living. She cannot begin to foresee the nightmare they will soon be living.

Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala ($3.99; Paperback $11.69) has consistently high reviews and is currently marked down from the list price of $10.99.

The Times Are Urgent God Is on the Move Now Is the Moment to ... ask God to ignite his fire in your soul! Pastor Jim Cymbala believes that Jesus wants to renew his people--to call us back from spiritual dead ends, apathy, and lukewarm religion. Cymbala knows the difference firsthand. Thirty-five years ago his own church, the Brooklyn Tabernacle, was a struggling congregation of twenty. Then they began to pray ... God began to move ... street-hardened lives by the hundreds were changed by the love of Christ ... and today they are more than ten thousand strong.

The story of what happened to this broken-down church in one of America's toughest neighborhoods points the way to new spiritual vitality in the church and in your own life. Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire shows what the Holy Spirit can do when believers get serious about prayer and the gospel. As this compelling book reveals, God moves in life-changing ways when we set aside our own agendas, take him at his word, and listen for his voice.

Creationist Diet by Gary F. Zeolla ($2.36) isn't a tradtional diet book, but has a rather interesting premise, comparing foods from the bible to those that current research show increase or decrease many modern diseases. Of course, all of these are non-processed whole foods, as are all the other foods eaten by other cultures in the same era, some of which are discussed (provided, of course, they are mentioned in the Bible).

What did God give to human beings for food? What does the Bible teach about diet and nutrition? How do the Biblical teachings on foods compare to scientific research on nutrition and degenerative disease like heart disease, cancer, and stroke? Starting with God's decrees about foods at Creation, the Fall, and after the Flood, and gleaning nutrition information from the rest of the Bible, this book proposes four different possible Creationist Diets, presenting the pros and cons of each.