Today's Deals

Today's free Android App is It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown and it looks like it should be a good one for anyone with kids (or who grew up during or after the 70's and still watches for the Great Pumpkin!).

For those with little ones, Outback Steakhouse is giving away dinner for the kids (with adult entrees) tonight, plus if you find the "surprise" entry in the drink menu, you get a certificate for a free steak dinner, on a return trip, if you show it to the waiter!

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is supposed to be All Cry Chaos ($1.99), the first title in Leonard Rosen's Henri Poincaré series. but the price hasn't dropped. Definitely worth a call to customer support to assist in buying it (or getting them to jostle the pricing computers), since it's regular price is $11.99. For those who prefer audio, the companion audiobook on this one is only $4.99. Update: Wow, that was fast - I reported the issue to Amazon via email and they fixed it while I finished writing this post. The price is now corrected to $1.99!

Book Description
All Cry Chaos, a debut thriller by the immensely gifted Leonard Rosen, is a masterful and gripping tale that literally reaches for the heavens.

The action begins when mathematician James Fenster is assassinated on the eve of a long-scheduled speech at a World Trade Organization meeting. The hit is as elegant as it is bizarre. Fenster's Amsterdam hotel room is incinerated, yet the rest of the building remains intact. The murder trail leads veteran Interpol agent Henri Poincaré on a high- stakes, world-crossing quest for answers.

Together with his chain-smoking, bon vivant colleague Serge Laurent, Poincaré pursues a long list of suspects: the Peruvian leader of the Indigenous Liberation Front, Rapture-crazed militants, a hedge fund director, Fenster's elusive ex-fiancée, and a graduate student in mathematics. Poincaré begins to make progress in America, but there is a prodigious hatred trained on him—some unfinished business from a terrifying former genocide case—and he is called back to Europe to face the unfathomable. Stripped down and in despair, tested like Job, he realizes the two cases might be connected—and he might be the link.

This first installment in the Henri Poincaré series marries a sharp, smart mystery to deep religious themes that will keep both agnostics and believers turning pages until the shattering, revelatory end. Anyone who enjoys the work of John Le Carré, Scott Turow, Dan Brown, and Stieg Larsson will relish Rosen's story telling and his resourceful, haunted protagonist. Others will appreciate his dazzling prose. Still others, the way he bends the thriller form in unconventional ways toward a higher cause, in the vein of Henning Mankell in The Man From Beijing. In short, All Cry Chaos promises to become a critical success that garners a broad readership throughout the nation and across the globe.

Granta 117: Horror (Granta: The Magazine of New Writing) ($2.08 / £1.29 UK), by John Freeman, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $1.24!).

Book Description
The Horror issue features original cover artwork by Jake and Dinos Chapman and a line-up of contributors that includes some of the greatest names in contemporary fiction.Stephen King tells the story of a retired judge with a deadly secret. Don DeLillo imagines a moviegoer-turned-stalker and Paul Auster writes of his mother's death. Rajesh Parameswaran dips into the mind of a tiger who escapes from a zoo and terrorizes a neighbourhood. Will Self writes of his blood disease and Daniel Alarcon explores the phenomenon of staged, high-camp blood baths. Mark Doty ruminates on a close encounter between Walt Whitman and Bram Stoker. CONTRIBUTORS: Daniel Alarcon, Paul Auster, Tom Bamforth, Roberto Bolano, Don DeLillo, Mark Doty, Sarah Hall, Stephen King, Kanitta Meechubot (artist), Julie Ostuka, D.A. Powell (poem), Rajesh Parameswaran, Santiago Roncagliolo, Will Self, Joy Williams.

Those Who Hunt the Night ($2.99 Kindle, B&N), the first title in the James Asher series by Barbara Hambly (and also published under the title Immortal Blood), is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle. An Open Road reprint edition, I would have grabbed this one, if I hadn't already bought it last year.

Book Description
The vampires had been living in London since the time of Elizabeth I, but now they were being ruthlessly murdered by someone who ripped their coffins open for the light of day to burn them to ashes. No vampire could endure the daylight to destroy the murderer. They had to turn to a mortal human for aid.

Thus it was that Professor James Asher, one-time spy, returned home to find his young wife in a strange coma and Simon Ysidro, oldest of the London vampires, waiting for him. Ysidro, although polite, left no doubt of his power to locate his spell on the young woman, wherever she might flee. Asher must agree to find the destroyer of the vampires for them.

But if he found the killer, what must happen to them? What would inevitably be the fate of any mortal human who learned the identities and locations of the vampires? The answer was all too obvious. Whether he succeeded or failed, it seemed that Professor James Asher was doomed!

Someone is killing the vampires of London and Professor James Asher has to find the killer. With his wife a hostage, what would happen if he actually found the killer? Would his fate be doomed by knowing the locations and identities of the vampires? This is a mystery, a history, a fantasy, and a fantastic vampire novel for readers to sink their teeth into.

Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase to Catch Lincoln's Killer ($9.78 Kindle, $2.99 B&N), by James L. Swanson, is the Nook Daily Find: Election 2012.

Book Description
The murder of Abraham Lincoln set off the greatest manhunt in American history. From April 14 to April 26, 1865, the assassin, John Wilkes Booth, led Union cavalry and detectives on a wild twelve-day chase through the streets of Washington, D.C., across the swamps of Maryland, and into the forests of Virginia, while the nation, still reeling from the just-ended Civil War, watched in horror and sadness.

James L. Swanson's Manhunt is a fascinating tale of murder, intrigue, and betrayal. A gripping hour-by-hour account told through the eyes of the hunted and the hunters, this is history as you've never read it before.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is The Ghost of Crutchfield ($1.99), by Mary Downing Hahn.

Book Description
When twelve-year-old Florence boards the crowded horse-drawn coach in London, she looks forward to a new life with her great uncle and aunt at Crutchfield Hall, an old manor house in the English countryside. Anything will be better, she thinks, than the grim London orphanage where she has lived since her parents' death.

But Florence doesn't expect the ghost of her cousin Sophia, who haunts the cavernous rooms and dimly lit hallways of Crutchfield and concocts a plan to use Florence to help her achieve her murderous goals. Will Florence be able to convince the others in the household of the imminent danger and stop Sophia before it's too late?

Grade Level: 4 and up

Today's Deals

Over at Audible, they have Nora Robert's novels on a 3-for-2 Sale, thru the end of the month. If you need extra credits, you should be able to buy some at a discount on the Extra Credits page.

It's also the final week for the Shock-tober Sale, with over 150 audiobooks at $6.95 or less. This week's theme is Ghosts, joining the Werewolves, Zombies and Vampires already on sale; the categories are pretty loosely defined, so you'll find some Urban Fantasy in each week and I spotted The Phantom of the Opera in this week's list. As usual, the sales are only for those with some type of subscription and the extra credit page won't let you see it unless you have 3 fewer credits than you are allowed to carry over for the month (which varies by subscription type).

If you're in the market for a new wireless mouse, the Microsoft 3500, which comes in a huge range of colors and designs, is on sale for 33%-50% off.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is The Pleasure of My Company ($1.99), by Steve Martin. The companion audiobook is $7.95 and narrated by Martin, himself which should be a treat for his fans.

Book Description
From the bestselling author of Shopgirl comes the tender story of a troubled man who finds love, and life, in the most unexpected place.

Daniel resides in his Santa Monica apartment, living much of his life as a bystander: He watches from his window as the world goes by, and his only relationships seem to be with people who barely know he exists. He passes the time idly filling out contest applications, counting ceiling tiles, and estimating the wattage of light bulbs.

It is through Daniel's growing attachment to Clarissa, and to Teddy, that he finally gains the courage to begin to engage the world outside, and in doing so, he discovers love, and life, in the most surprising places.

Filled with his trademark humor, tenderness, and out and out hilarious wordplay, The Pleasure of My Company is a tour de force sure to delight all of Steve Martin's fans.

The Ritual ($1.59 / £0.99 UK), by Adam Nevill, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $9.99).

Book Description
And on the third day things did not get better. The rain fell hard and cold, the white sun never broke through the low grey cloud, and they were lost. But it was the dead thing they found hanging from a tree that changed the trip beyond recognition. When four old University friends set off into the Scandinavian wilderness of the Arctic Circle, they aim to briefly escape the problems of their lives and reconnect with one another. But when Luke, the only man still single and living a precarious existence, finds he has little left in common with his well-heeled friends, tensions rise. With limited fitness and experience between them, a shortcut meant to ease their hike turns into a nightmare scenario that could cost them their lives. Lost, hungry, and surrounded by forest untouched for millennia, Luke figures things couldn’t possibly get any worse. But then they stumble across an old habitation. Ancient artefacts decorate the walls and there are bones scattered upon the dry floors. The residue of old rites and pagan sacrifice for something that still exists in the forest. Something responsible for the bestial presence that follows their every step. And as the four friends stagger in the direction of salvation, they learn that death doesn’t come easy among these ancient trees . . .

Aris Returns: A Vampire Love Story ($1.99 Kindle, B&N), by Devin Morgan, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle.

Book Description
Psychologist Sarah Hagan thought she had her life under control. She pulled herself together after a painful (and unexpected) divorce. She’s currently dating a successful but neglectful attorney—a relationship that is adequate, if not totally satisfying. She has a few good friends, lives in a beautiful condo in the heart of Chicago, and loves her work as a therapist. From the outside, it looks like her life is almost perfect.

It only takes one patient -- a handsome younger man named Carlos who is on parole for car theft -- to put her well-ordered life into a tailspin. As she regresses him with hypnotherapy, she discovers an unusual presence. Is this some elaborate alter ego that Carlos has created or is something much stranger going on? In Sarah’s attempt to help Carlos deal with his issues of anger and a troubled past, she is captivated by the persona she uncovers through hypnosis – Aris. Aris reveals that he is a vampire whose story begins in the time of Alexander the Great. His retelling of his lives, involvement and apparent demise in the court of Henry VIII keep her spellbound and hungry for more.

On top of grappling with a phantom vampire, Sarah begins to have the most disturbing (and sensual) dreams. They awake the emotion, passion and vulnerability that she thought she had buried for good. The dreams both terrify and excite her as she struggles to make sense out of her world turned upside down. Sarah genuinely cares about Carlos as a patient and wants to help him find his way to a better life, but he has brought chaos, confusion and danger into her neatly buttoned-up reality. And if that’s not enough to deal with, she is inexplicably drawn to Aris in a way she can’t begin to rationalize. Can Sarah possibly love this vampire “ghost” or will he destroy everything she treasures?

Obama ($1.99 Kindle, B&N), by David Mendell, is the Nook Daily Find: Election 2012, price matched on Kindle, where the companion audiobook is $4.95.

Book Description
Barack Obama is arguably the most dynamic political figure to grace the American stage since John F. Kennedy. His meteoric rise from promise to power has stunned even the cynics and inspired a legion of devout followers. For anyone who wants to know more about the man who would be president, David Mendell's Obama is essential reading. Mendell, who has covered Obama for the Chicago Tribune since the beginning of Obama's campaign for the Senate, had far-reaching access to the senator, the details of which he shares in this compelling biography. Positioning Obama as the savior of a fumbling Democratic party, Mendell shows how Obama conquered Illinois politics and paved the way brick by brick for a galvanizing, historic presidential run. With exclusive contributions by family members and advisers, and details on Obama's voting record, this is a complete, complex, and revealing portrait, a must read for anyone interested in American politics in general and Senator Barack Obama in particular.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Three Halloween Picture Books for $1.99 each. The first two are Kindle Fire or Kindle App only, but the last one works on any Kindle device.

By the Light of the Halloween Moon, by Caroline Stutson and Kevin Hawkes (Illustrator)

In this “catchy, lilting cumulative tale with glorious comical/scary illustrations” (Kirkus Reviews), a little girl’s toe taps a tune as her legs dangle from a footbridge that has all sorts of creatures hidden underneath. There are cats and witches, bats and ghosts. With lots of repetition, a rhythmic, bouncy text, and imaginative illustrations, this Halloween title is sure to tickle your bones—your funny bones, that is! And for the first time in over a decade, this Halloween gem is back in print.

We're Going on a Ghost Hunt, by Susan Pearson and S. D. Schindler (Illustrator)

Susan Pearson has written her own unique version of the popular song, “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt,” introducing four children who go out at night in search of a ghost. After squish-squash-squooshing through a swamp, rustle-rustle-rat-a-tattling through a cornfield, and overcoming all kinds of obstacles on their journey, they come face to face with a ghost in a graveyard. Then—RUN! RUN! RUN!—they race back to the safety of their warm, cozy house. S.D. Schindler’s spirited illustrations bring warmth and humor to this lively rhyming read-aloud.

Maddie's Monster Dad, by Scott Gibala-Broxholm

Maddie loves monsters. She loves watching monster movies, eating monster cereal, and drawing monster pictures. She also loves doing things with her dad. But lately her dad has been very busy with work, so Maddie decides to use her Build-a-Beast kit to create a Monster Dad that is never too busy to play. It turns out there are some things that monsters can't do, and maybe a Monster Dad isn't as special as the real thing. The illustrations in gouache and pencil contain clever, fun details that children (and adults) will love.

Get an MP3 Album for $5 (KSO)

This offer is only for those with a Kindle with Special Offers (including any that opts in to Special Offers, but not the Kindle Fire with Special Offers):

Get a select music album for $5

To take advantage of this offer:

1. First, turn on your Kindle with Special Offers, click Menu, then View Special Offers.
2. Find the offer: Get a select music album for $5. Click on it, then on the link to Email Me This Offer. You must claim your gift code by Midnight PT, November 4, 2012.
3. You will get an email from Amazon with your promotional code, right away.
4. Once you have the promotion code (and have selected your album; see below), click this link, then on the button labeled Enter Your Code, at any time up to the expiration date of 11:59 p.m. (PT) November 11, 2012.
5. Enter your code and follow the directions.
6. Choose any MP3 album under $10 and you'll only be charged $5
(up to the expiration date of Midnight, Nov 11).

You'll have a promotion code on your account that will apply to the FIRST album you buy after that (even if it usually costs less than $5). You should save the code and not enter it until you are ready to buy an album (I find this also helps me remember if I've used a code - when I go to apply it, if it isn't accepted, I know I've used that offer).

This promo can't be combined with any others, but you can shop from your Kindle Fire Music App after you've entered the code (although I greatly prefer doing so from my desktop -- in fact, if you buy it as a gift and send it to yourself, you'll see that the promo has been applied when you get the the final confirmation page). I had a lot of problems with the last MP3 promo that Amazon had (the $3 album on the Kindle Fire) and it was because I already had some MP3 credit on my account (from Coinstar). As a result, the fixed-price album promo combined with that credit (which it isn't supposed to do) and I was overcharged for the album (using nearly $8 in credit for a "$3 album"). So, first make sure you use up any MP3 credits (don't worry about a gift card balance; that won't cause an issue), then enter your promo code and buy your $5 album.

Today's Deals

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Against His Will ($1.99), by Trish Jensen (Bell Bridge Books).

Book Description
They tried to resist each other, but it was impossible. Soon their passions were unleashed, and their self-control went to the dogs . . .FBI agent Jake Donnelly is not the kind of man who names a dog “Muffin.” Especially not a jowly bulldog. But now Jake’s Aunt Sophie has left him her beloved Muffin, along with a sizable inheritance that has some strings attached. Jake and Muffin have to attend a two-week therapy course designed to work out any bonding issues they may have.Enter Leanne Crosby, a pet shrink and owner of a luxury pet spa complete with private counseling sessions, a doggie dating service, and plenty of quirky advice on proper pet parenting.When the gorgeous and brilliant Dr. Crosby sets out to help Jake and Muffin become soulmates, it soon becomes obvious that she and Jake are falling in puppy love.

The Small Hand ($1.59 / £0.99 UK), by Susan Hill, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $5.72).

Book Description
Returning home from a visit to a client late one summer's evening, antiquarian bookseller Adam Snow takes a wrong turning and stumbles across the derelict old White House. Compelled by curiosity, he approaches the door, and, standing before the entrance feels the unmistakeable sensation of a small hand creeping into his own, 'as if a child had taken hold of it'. Intrigued by the encounter, he determines to learn more, and discovers that the owner's grandson had drowned tragically many years before. At first unperturbed by the odd experience, Snow begins to be plagued by haunting dreams, panic attacks, and more frequent visits from the small hand which become increasingly threatening and sinister...

Barefoot in the Sand ($5.99 $1.99 Kindle, B&N), the first title in Roxanne St. Claire's Barefoot Bay series, is the Nook Daily Find; this is an Agency priced book, so should be price matched on Kindle later today. now priced matched on Kindle.

Book Description
When all you hold dear is taken away . . .

When a hurricane roars through Lacey Armstrong's home on the coast of Barefoot Bay, she decides all that remains in the rubble is opportunity. A new hotel is just what Mimosa Key needs, and Lacey and her teenage daughter are due for a fresh start. And nothing, especially not a hot, younger architect, is going to distract Lacey from finally making her dreams a reality.

A second chance is the only thing you have left.

Love has already cost Clay Walker everything. And if he's going to have any chance of picking up the pieces of his life, he needs the job as Lacey Armstrong's architect. What's not in the plans is falling for the headstrong beauty. Her vision of the future is more appealing than anything he could have ever drafted for himself. Will Clay's designs on Lacey's heart be more than she can handle, or will she trust him to build something that will last forever?

The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution ($12.99 Kindle, $2.99 B&N), by David O. Stewart, is the Nook Daily Find: Election 2012. This is also an Agency/Publisher priced book, so watch for a price match on Kindle later today.

Book Description
The successful creation of the Constitution is a suspense story. The Summer of 1787 takes us into the sweltering room in which delegates struggled for four months to produce the flawed but enduring document that would define the nation -- then and now.

George Washington presided, James Madison kept the notes, Benjamin Franklin offered wisdom and humor at crucial times. The Summer of 1787 traces the struggles within the Philadelphia Convention as the delegates hammered out the charter for the world's first constitutional democracy. Relying on the words of the delegates themselves to explore the Convention's sharp conflicts and hard bargaining, David O. Stewart lays out the passions and contradictions of the often painful process of writing the Constitution.

It was a desperate balancing act. Revolutionary principles required that the people have power, but could the people be trusted? Would a stronger central government leave room for the states? Would the small states accept a Congress in which seats were alloted according to population rather than to each sovereign state? And what of slavery? The supercharged debates over America's original sin led to the most creative and most disappointing political deals of the Convention.

The room was crowded with colorful and passionate characters, some known -- Alexander Hamilton, Gouverneur Morris, Edmund Randolph -- and others largely forgotten. At different points during that sultry summer, more than half of the delegates threatened to walk out, and some actually did, but Washington's quiet leadership and the delegates' inspired compromises held the Convention together.

In a country continually arguing over the document's original intent, it is fascinating to watch these powerful characters struggle toward consensus -- often reluctantly -- to write a flawed but living and breathing document that could evolve with the nation.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Rise of the Wolf ($2.99), by Curtis Jobling.

Book Description
A thrilling new series for Ranger's Apprentice fans!

Imagine a world ruled by Werelords--men and women who can shift at will into bears, lions, and serpents. When Drew suddenly discovers he's not only a werewolf but the long-lost heir to the murdered Wolf King's throne, he must use his wits and newfound powers to survive in a land suddenly full of enemies. Drew's the only one who can unite the kingdom in a massive uprising against its tyrant ruler, Leopold the Lion. But the king is hot on Drew's tail and won't rest until he's got the rebel wolf's head.

Grade Level: 5 and up

Today's Deals

For those with a Kindle Fire, several games are on sale for 99 cents in the Kindle Appstore, including VeggieTales: The League of Incredible Vegetables for kids (reg. $3), Router, a circuit puzzle game and a dozen Magic Puzzles (an electronic version of jigsaw puzzles), with themes ranging from kittens to Christmas.

If you are using your Fire or other Android device to listen to music, you might want to pick up iSyncr for PC or for Mac while it is half-price; it lets you sync your iTunes library easily (including via WiFi; DRM-free only, of course), use smart playlists and sync any Amazon MP3 purchases back to iTunes.

Additional formats on free books:

• Vegan Baking Classics (K/N)

Today is the last day to take advantage of this KSO deal:

• $30 Off Amazon Denim

Today's Kindle Daily Deal and Nook Daily Find is Blackberry Winter ($2.99 Kindle, B&N; $8.99 companion audiobook), by Sarah Jio.

Book Description
From acclaimed novelist Sarah Jio, a new “mystery-slash-love story [that] will have you racing to the end”

Seattle, 1933. Vera Ray kisses her three-year-old son, Daniel, goodnight and reluctantly leaves for work. She hates the nightshift, but it’s the only way she can earn enough to keep destitution at bay. In the morning—even though it’s the second of May—a heavy snow is falling. Vera rushes to wake Daniel, but his bed is empty. His teddy bear lies outside in the snow.

Seattle, present day. On the second of May, Seattle Times reporter, Claire Hanson, awakens to another late-season snowstorm. Assigned to cover this “blackberry winter” and its predecessor decades earlier, Claire learns of Daniel’s unsolved abduction and vows to unearth the truth—only to discover that she and Vera are linked in unexpected ways.

The Colonel's Mistake ($1.59 / £0.99 UK), by Dan Mayland, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $4.99/KLL Eligible). You can also get the companion audiobook for this one very inexpensively ($1.99 US/$2.29 UK).

Book Description
Mark Sava, former CIA station chief of Azerbaijan, lives a quiet life as a professor at Western University in the city of Baku. But his peace is shattered by both the assassination of a high-level American during an international oil conference and the arrest of CIA operations officer Daria Buckingham for the crime.

Sava knows the Iranian American Buckingham well—he personally trained her—and doesn’t believe she had anything to do with the murder, so he visits a CIA control center to discuss the situation with the new station chief. When no one answers the outside intercom, Sava overrides the security code and stumbles upon the grisliest scene of his career. Now, he can’t help but wonder if he really knows Buckingham as well as he thought…

Determined to find out, Sava soon finds himself and a partner caught in the middle of the new Great Game—a deadly intelligence war over oil that has Iran, China, and the United States clawing at each other’s throats. Meanwhile, Colonel Henry Amato, assistant to the US national security advisor, is keeping a close watch on the situation from Washington. His stake in the Great Game is high—and personal.

From the shadows of the world’s most volatile region to the highest levels of Washington politics, The Colonel’s Mistake takes readers on an unforgettable ride where the good, the bad, and the brutal play a deadly chess game of global espionage.

The Portable Patriot: Documents, Speeches, and Sermons That Compose the American Soul ($9.99 Kindle, $2.99 B&N), by Joel Miller and Kristen Parrish, is the Nook Daily Find: Election 2012.

Book Description
What does it mean to think, believe, and act like an American?

The soul of America is far more than a concept—it is a people. Even the most sacred principles mean very little unless lived out passionately by an informed citizenry. In The Portable Patriot you’ll find a carefully assembled sampling of American history’s most formative words, written by the people who made that extraordinary history. Speeches and sermons, essays and extracts, poems and proclamations illumine such values as independence, virtue, humility, bravery, thrift, prayer, enterprise, liberty, and reliance on God. While peering back to the cradle of America’s national identity, The Portable Patriot also points a way forward, compelling us to heed poet John Dickinson’s plea to “rouse your bold hearts at fair Liberty’s call.”

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Coraline 10th Anniversary Edition ($1.99), by Neil Gaiman.

Book Description
"Coraline discovered the door a little while after they moved into the house. . . ."

When Coraline steps through a door to find another house strangely similar to her own (only better), things seem marvelous.

But there's another mother there, and another father, and they want her to stay and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go.

Coraline will have to fight with all her wit and courage if she is to save herself and return to her ordinary life.

Celebrating ten years of Neil Gaiman's first modern classic for young readers, this edition is enriched with a brand-new foreword from the author, a reader's guide, and more.