It seems that every month I find more bargains that will possibly fit into the blog. Today I'm going to group a large number of them into one post and the only thing they have in common is that they can be had for a dollar or less. I haven't purchased, let alone, read every one of these, so be sure to check out the samples first, but I try to remove any that have extremely badly edited/formatted samples from my lists. I seem to remember one or two saying that their price reductions were for a limited time, but with Amazon's delays in price changes that may mean a day or two, a week or the rest of next month. I'll keep my commentary to a minimum, so that the post doesn't go too long.
First up are
The Horns of September and
The White Lady Murders, by Wendy Potocki, each an even one dollar.
The Horns of SeptemberAll is not right in Shucktown. Just ask Chuck Beckett. He’s young, in love and readying his group to audition for Motown Records. He’s sure his will be the first interracial group signed by the emerging recording giant. He should be on top of the world, but he’s not. For despite living out his dreams, Chuck feels as if he’s headed for certain disaster. Repressed memories have begun to surface in the form of dark, paralyzing depressions. These debilitating episodes convince him of one thing – that he is soon about to die. Chuck tries his best to shake it off as so much teenage angst. He finds it increasingly difficult to do so after the good friend who warns him about “the devils in Shucktown,” winds up murdered. Her death is the catalyst that leads Chuck Beckett to step out of his comfort zone to confront cabals, demons, monsters knitted out of darkness and all the horrors that arise from the curse known as The Horns of September.The White Lady MurdersIn a Malibu beach house, David Lynx struggles with writing with his latest tour de force – a book on magic. It’s a subject he knows nothing about. In a desperate attempt to understand, he decides to perform an ancient ritual not realizing that he will unwittingly open a door for a forty-year-old unsolved murder spree to start all over again.
...At its core, The White Lady Murders offers an action-packed detective story replete with a hard-boiled, hard-nosed police officer named Robert Moran leading the charge. Moran is a veteran police officer who vividly remembers the original murders that occurred during The Summer of Blood. The string of vicious crimes terrorized the city and held its residents captive in the killer's steely grip. No one felt safe and now Moran desperately races to solve the mystery of who or what is behind the new wave of brutal killings to prevent The White Lady Murders from beginning again.
Next on the list is another pair of titles from Tommy Jonq,
Gemini Tiger: A Novel for the Unhooked and
Forty Days, each priced at
99 cents. The former is a humorous romance while the latter is a volume of poetry and short stories.
Gemini Tiger: A Novel for the UnhookedWhen a sexy single mom with Babydaddy Personality Disorder and a taste for exotic, untamed pool boys receives a DNA ultimatum from the Indiana Department of Public Aid, she decides to drown her troubles in the frigid green waters of Lake Michigan. She who laughs last . . .
A ravenously funny portrait of the Unhooked Generation . . .Forty Days
A collection of short stories, poems, and microfiction by the author of the novel, "Gemini Tiger." Includes "Ivy," the 2005 winner of the James Jones Literary Society Award for Short Fiction, and several hilarious "coming of age" stories set in southern Illinois during Ronald Reagan's Morning in America. The book is rounded out by several poems and other pieces previously published in literary journals and magazines.
Eleganta: A novel of Fairykind, by Denny Swartzlander, is aimed a the young adult age group (12+), but can be read at any age.
Enter the 9th century, a time of magic and mystery. On a hidden isle in the seas near England, a young fairy named Ethywyne Eleganta secretly gives birth to the first youngling in fourteen years. She and her child become the hunted prize of the wicked troll general Sunderin. Ethywyne must make the perilous journey across the Fairy Realms, to get her child to the Fairy Queen, the only one who can protect her from the shadow that seeks to destroy all of Fairykind.
Her experience takes her from a humble life of gardening and craft-making to the center of an adventure that grows to involve fickle goblins, giant ogres, magic fairy dust, thieving pixies, an enchanted hedge maze, and even Vikings of the Norse lands who happen upon the isle in their plundering voyages.
Shameless Shorts, by "Eighteen well known authors", is one you might want just for the cover alone. This is a collection of short stories (presumably 18 of them) by a group of authors who met on the Amazon Kindle forums. I recognize at least a few of the names (Dennis Batchelder, for example), but for
99 cents it looks like a great way to sample a number whose books I have not read.
Fruitbasket from Hell, by Jason Krumbine, is the first in his
Alex Cheradon Mysteries series. I didn't even get thru the sample before I went back and bought this one. The second in the series,
A is for Amnesia, B is for Bullet , is
$5.95 in the Kindle store (although it may go down a bit next month, it won't be to the dollar range, according to the author). However, you can get it for 99 cents
on Smashwords. While you are there, you might want to add
Heaven's Superhero: The Third Creation or
Explorers of the Unknown to your order -- all of these are 99 cents, at least for now (they are supposed to come down to 99 cents in the Kindle store, but it may be next week before it gets approved).
Nevada Raines has gone missing. Her billionaire father thinks she's dead. Her mother hopes she's alive. Alex Cheradon, the private investigator hired to find her, isn’t sure what’s going on. But he suspects it’s going to at least involve people wanting to kill him. He doesn’t know it’s also going to involve a demon from Hell. Neither are good for his long term health prospects. And you're just going to have to read the book to find what’s named Pookie. (Hint: It’s not a good thing.)
The "End of Days" Cycle: A Modern Look at the Ancient Prophecy, by Chris J, isn't a novel, but purports to be an in-depth look at both the prophecies of the christian Bible's Old Testament and the Mayan 2012 predictions.
Do you know what the prophets told us about the end of the world, or why they told us about it? They actually didn’t tell us about the “end of the world,” or even the “end of the world as we know it.” The world will change, just like they said it would, and those who know what to expect are going to be the ones who inherit a new generation of humanity. The prophets didn’t mention anything about a miraculous being that would save everyone who believed in miraculous beings. What they told us includes a leader of humanity, anointed by God. But he’s not going to whisk anyone away to the safety of Heaven during the destructive events. Instead, he’s going to suffer at the hands of humanity for being who he is, and then lead the way for those who want to survive.
Of course you knew that the world would be destroyed by fire. Everyone who was raised in a religious home knows that. But do you know what will cause that fire? Did you know that the prophets told us that pollution would be the cause? Can you think of any kind of pollutant that could cause the earth to burn? Could “global warming” be what the prophets were warning us about?
This book is about prophecy of the Old Testament. It includes the primary prophecies and how they are relevant today, even though they were written thousands of years ago and most are thought to have been fulfilled previously. Also included is the reasoning behind the birth of the religions we have today, and how they were predicted by the prophets. This book is not a religious book, because no particular religious beliefs are followed as many misunderstandings that have been made by various religions of our world are untangled.
Broken Bulbs, by Eddie Wright, is a stream-of-conciousness narrative of novella length.
Frank Fisher is nothing. He wants to be something. When a mysterious young woman named Bonnie offers assistance by injecting seeds of inspiration directly into his brain, Frank finds himself involved in a twisting mystery full of addiction, desperation and self-discovery. Broken Bulbs, a novella by Eddie Wright, tells the story of the lengths one young man will go in the pursuit of "somethingness."
Toe Popper, by Jonny Tangerine.
A twisted beach novel.
A terrorist plants landmines on the beaches of Southern California.
Major Joel Lane, a Special Forces adviser and landmine expert, is called-in from the wilderness of Cambodia to hunt him down.
Teamed with the beautiful female FBI agent assigned to the case, Lane battles his past demons, opium addiction, and a diabolical opponent who is only getting started.
... a thrilling ride along the giddy edge of entertainment and suspense.
Joshua Hale Fialkov & Noel Tuazon's
Tumor continues this month with
Chapter 4. This should be the half-way point on this graphic novel.
Frank Armstrong has an inoperable brain tumor that's killing him. In his final days, with his body, senses, and mind failing him, he's going to do the one thing that he's never been able to do before -- save the girl.
Chapter Four finds Frank and Evelyn on the run and seeking refuge from the storm they've both created. It's up to Frank to pull himself together and protect Evelyn from her father and the police who want her dead.
Along Came a Demon (Whisperings), by by Linda Welch, looks to be the start of a new series. Not in the series, she also has
Mindbender (
$2.50) and
Galen's Gate (Novels of the Systems) (
$2.00) in the Kindle store.
I'm told the dead are all around us. I wouldn't know about that, I see only the violently slain. They can be victims of hit-and-run, innocents caught in a cross-fire, the murdered. They whisper to me and they never, ever, forget the face of their killer. I've learned to live with my uncanny ability, in fact I've made a career out of it.
The departed aren't the only supernaturals I see. No, they're not vampires or werewolves or fae - those things don't exist. We live side by side with what some call the Otherworldy. That's too much of a mouthful for me, I call them demons. If you saw them as I do, you'd know why.
Right now I'm trying to track down a missing six year-old boy whose mother was murdered. Or maybe she wasn't. To further complicate the case, Clarion PD gave me a partner I'd rather shoot than work with.
I can't tell them he's a demon.
They'd think I'm crazy.
I'm Tiff Banks. Welcome to my world. 
Peculiar, MO is from the author of
Strange Times (
$5.99), Robert Williams. This one isn't a short story collection, but more of a sci-fi horror novel. If you missed
Strange Times while it's pricing was stuck at a buck on Kindle, you can still get it for 99 cents
on Smashwords.
Welcome to Peculiar, MO. For most, life is good in this idyllic Midwestern town, until a falling star brings an unearthly menace. Soon animals are found dying of a mysterious disease. At night, beasts begin to cry out in voices that sound almost like words, as they are drawn to a burned clearing to serve an alien will.
Local widow Kelly Ross, who is struggling to make ends meet after the death of her husband, sends her young son into the forest on an errand, where he makes a frightening discovery.
Spencer Dale, the town's mechanic, whose past contains a painful secret, begins to experience strange dreams and visions, as he relives memories that are not his own.
Nine-year-old Rachel, a child of nature, becomes linked to an unspeakable crime that took place more than eighty years in the past, while a military operation moving inexorably towards the meteor's impact site makes its presence, and its plans, known.
All their lives are linked together as an alien life cycle reaches its terrifying climax. 
Fresh Kills, by Bill Loehfelm, actually stretches the boundaries of today's titles, as it costs
$1.29, not quite under a buck. I first heard about this book when it was a paper-only issue, then watched it on Amazon as it was priced in the $10 range. It hit $1.63 last week and fell to $1.29 just a couple of days ago.
In Fresh Kills, the murder of John Sanders, Sr. on a New York street corner reunites his estranged and abused children, John, Jr. and Julia. While Julia struggles to keep things together on the home front, Junior, unhinged by his father's death, searches for the killer across the bleak, haunted landscape of his Staten Island hometown. Complicating Junior's pursuit are two police detectives: one, a former childhood friend; the other, a veteran cop who might have his own reasons to wish John, Sr. dead. Junior's emotional state crumbles under the pressure coming at him from every side. Bedding his high school sweetheart doesn't exactly simplify the situation. When the opportunity for revenge presents itself, Junior must decide whether he will continue the chain of violence that has nearly destroyed his life, or give in to the possibility of a new beginning. With emotional intensity, crackling dialogue and a heartfelt sense of place and character, Fresh Kills delivers unexpected and profound insights that speak to the soul of its struggling hero, and heralds a breakthrough voice in fiction.
Aaron Shepard of Shepard Publications thinks that children's ebooks are being priced too high and has decided to offer his books on Kindle at a penny apiece. He has started with four books in the Storybooks series and promises to add more if these do well. What you give up, though, are any illustrations from the paper versions of the book. For some stories, I suspect this won't make a difference, although it would not work for books for toddlers. Each of these books has a specific theme, are generally written for ages 4-9 and range in size from 900 to 1500 words. (I'm all for long novels, but not children's bedtime stories!)
in the Kindle store, I discovered that I had already bought a couple of books from them. This is the same publisher that has Skeeter: A Cat Tale and Pacific Avenue, by Anne L. Watson and Timothy Tolliver and the Bully Basher, by Aaron Shepard, all for a penny apiece in the Kindle store and previously mentioned in my blog. I'm only part way thru Skeeter, but it is a laugh-out-loud read (at least, if you have ever been owned by a cat). In addition to these, I discovered four more titles they've released recently, all children's books, it appears, of around 50 pages:
