Kindle Daily Deals 4/30

Amazon's Android Free App of the Day is Pdf to Speech, which should be handy for listening to books you have in that format on your Kindle Fire.

Today is the last day to take borrow a book this month from the Kindle Lending Library, for those on Amazon Prime, and the last day of this month's $3.99 or Less Sale (although I expect a new batch of books tomorrow).

Today's Kindle Teen Daily Deal is Above World ($1.99), by Jenn Reese [Candlewick], with the companion audiobook for $3.99.

Book Description
A suspenseful sci-fi escapade plucks two children out of the ocean for a thrilling adventure. Thirteen-year-old Aluna has lived her entire life under the ocean with the Coral Kampii in the City of Shifting Tides. But after centuries spent hidden from the Above World, her colony's survival is at risk. The Kampii's breathing necklaces are failing, but the elders are unwilling to venture above water to seek answers. Only headstrong Aluna and her friend Hoku are stubborn and bold enough to face the terrors of land to search for way to save their people. But can Aluna's fierce determination and fighting skills and Hoku's tech-savvy keep them safe? Set in a world where overcrowding has led humans to adapt - growing tails to live under the ocean or wings to live on mountains - here is a ride through a future where greed and cruelty have gone unchecked, but the loyalty of friends remains true.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Archie Meets Nero Wolfe ($1.99), a prequel novel to Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe Mysteries by Robert Goldsborough [Open Road], who fans know continued the series after Stout.

Book Description
To become part of the Nero Wolfe legend, Archie Goodwin must prove his worth

Archie Goodwin comes to New York City hoping for a bit of excitement. In his third week working as a night watchman, he stops two burglars in their tracks—with a pair of hot lead slugs. Dismissed from his job for being “trigger-happy,” he parlays his newfound notoriety into a job as a detective’s assistant, helping honest sleuth Del Bascom solve cases like the Morningside Piano Heist, the Rive Gauche Art Gallery Swindle, and the Sumner-Hayes Burglary. But it’s the kidnapping of Tommie Williamson, the son of a New York hotel magnate, that introduces Goodwin to the man who will change his life.

Young Tommie has gone missing, and only one detective is built for the job: Nero Wolfe, the heavyset genius of West Thirty-Fifth Street. Together they will form one of the most unlikely crime fighting duos in history—but first Goodwin must find Tommie Williamson, and prove to Wolfe that he deserves a place by his side.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Rebellious Desire ($0.99), by Julie Garwood [Pocket/Simon and Schuster].

Book Description
Of all the dukes in England, Jered Marcus Benton, the Duke of Bradford, was the wealthiest, most handsome -- and most arrogant. And of all London's ladies, he wanted the tender obedience of only one -- Caroline Richmond.

She was a ravishing beauty from Boston, with a mysterious past and a fiery spirit. Drawn to the powerful duke, undeterred by his presumptuous airs, Caroline was determined to win his lasting love. But Bradford would bend to no woman -- until a deadly intrigue drew them enticingly close. Now, united against a common enemy, they would discover the power of the magnificent attraction that brought them together...a desire born in danger, but destined to flame into love!

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Extinction Point ($0.99), by Paul Antony Jones [47North], with the the companion audiobook for $1.99. I listened to the sample and the narrator is quite good and under $3 for the two is a steal.

The author's publicist provided me a copy for review and I've finished it, but had not yet completed my review. But, for now, take this short version under advisement: buy this book!

OK, there are a few nits to pick, but overall the story is good and the dialog flows (unlike some books in this genre that I've read). It isn't your typical zombie apocalypse story (not at all) and there is more introspection and attention to details (but not overwhelming lists of survival supplies or weapons models). Emily is a typical New Yorker, with little food in her apartment, no driving skills and a 100% faith and dependency on the power grid, at the start. She is on her own in NYC after the red rain falls and is no superhero, although a bit too accident prone for what her character seemed before the rain; we get more prose on how it feels to be alone, along with what seems to be more practical survival behavior (find food, find transportation, get out of town) than you'll see in the average zombie book (break into gun store, load on up unlimited ammo and shoot anything that moves) and it's pretty well done.

Yes, this is the first in a new series (isn't everything, these days?), but the good news is that you won't have to wait as long as I have for the second, as it is now available for pre-order: Exodus (and it's only $2.99! I love Amazon's imprint pricing).

Book Description
First comes the red rain: a strange, scarlet downpour from a cloudless sky that spreads across cities, nations, and the entire globe. In a matter of panicked hours, every living thing on earth succumbs to swift, bloody death. Yet Emily Baxter, a young newspaper reporter, is mysteriously spared—and now she’s all alone.

But watching the happy life she built for herself in New York City slip away in the wake of a monstrous, inexplicable plague is just the beginning of Emily’s waking nightmare. The world isn’t ending; it’s only changing. And the race that once ruled the earth has now become raw material for use by a new form of life never before seen…on this planet.

With only wits, weapons, and a bicycle, Emily must undertake a grueling journey across a country that’s turning increasingly alien. For though she fears she’s been left to inherit the earth, the truth is far more terrifying than a lifetime of solitude.

UK Kindle Daily Deal 4/30

The Summer Son (£0.99 UK), by Craig Lancaster [AmazonEncore], is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $4.99).

Book Description
He owed a lot of people, but I was the only one left to collect. I told myself that I didn’t care about him, only about what he owed me, whatever that was.

I even tried to believe it.

When Mitch Quillen’s life begins to unravel, he fears there is no escape. His marriage and his career are both failing, and his relationship with his father has been a disaster for decades. Approaching forty, Mitch doesn’t want to become a middle-aged statistic. When his estranged father, Jim, suddenly calls, Mitch’s wife urges him to respond. Ready for a change, Mitch heads to Montana and a showdown that will alter the course of his life. Amid a backdrop of rugged peaks and valleys, the story unfolds: a violent episode that triggered the rift, thirty years of miscommunication, and the possibility of misplaced blame. In Craig Lancaster’s powerful novel, The Summer Son, readers are invited into a family where conflict and secrets prevail, and where hope for healing and redemption is possible.

Nook Daily Find 4/30

Afghanistan Revealed ($9.99 Kindle, $2.99 B&N), by Ahmed Rashid, Jules Stewart, Yossef Bodansky, Greg Mill, et al, is the Nook Daily Find.

Book Description
Afghanistan Revealed offers the reader an incisive view into a country that has held the world’s attention for more than a decade. Hardly a day goes by without Afghanistan making news in the media – but behind the headlines, what do we really know about this complex and enigmatic country, its people, its culture and most importantly, its future? This ebook takes us beyond the media focus on politics and war into the lives of the Afghan people, and the forces that have shaped their individual and collective history.

A range of distinguished specialists shed light on Afghanistan, from the earliest Aryan migrations and the emergence of Islam, through the country's role as a key Central Asian trade centre, the Anglo-Afghan wars and the Soviet invasion, to the emergence of a post-Taliban state. We are reminded of how the Afghans have suffered in centuries of violent conflict and have stubbornly resisted all efforts to invade and dominate their land. We are presented with the tasks Afghanistan faces after the 2014 withdrawal of NATO-led combat troops, specifically the need to rebuild the country, create jobs, provide education, tap into its huge economic potential, and provide political and social harmony.

Readable and accessible, Afghanistan Revealed is essential background for anyone wishing to understand why peace and stability in the region have been so elusive. It is also an indispensable tool for foreign and Afghan policymakers who play a role in determining Afghanistan's future.

Diesel Daily Deal - Darkest Knight (E)

Darkest Knight ($10.99 $8.49 Kindle), a Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy novel by Karen Duvall [Luna], is today's Deal of the "Day" at Diesel E-Books, where it's discounted to $2.20 (9 copies left).

Book Description

"Betray your sisters or your lover. You choose."

After the warrior she loves saved her from a murderous gargoyle, Chalice watched helplessly as Aydin turned into a gargoyle himself. Now, free from the curse that enslaved her, Chalice pledges to join her sister knights in The Order of the Hatchet—and do whatever it takes to regain Aydin's humanity…and his love. What she encounters within their hallowed sanctuary is pure intrigue.

Someone—or something—is murdering her sisters in their sleep, provoking fear and suspicion among the order. Meanwhile, Aydin, unable to stay away, starts haunting Chalice's dreams, urging her onward. Ultimately, Chalice will be faced with an agonizing choice—one that will tear away at her newfound identity and force her to choose between duty and desire….

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

Kindle Daily Deals 4/29

There is a great $5 Magazine Sale now going on. In addition to Eating Well, it's been expanded to 74 total titles, from Parenting to Popular Photography and including Popular Science and Cycle World, two that we read quite often. At this price, if you usually pick up one or two issues at the newsstand, you can now get the entire year in your mailbox for less. I signed up for one magazine and my first delivery date puts it squarely into the Father's Day season, so it looks like the sale is a good fit for setting up your dad with some new reading material, as well.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is The Watchman ($1.99), the first novel in the Joe Pike series by Robert Crais [Simon and Schuster], with the companion audiobook for $3.95.

Book Description
The city was hers for a single hour, just the one magic hour, only hers.

Larkin Conner Barkley lives like the City of Angels is hers for the taking. Young and staggeringly rich, she speeds through the city during its loneliest hours, blowing through red after red in her Aston Martin as if running for her life. Until out of nowhere a car appears, and with it the metal-on-metal explosion of a terrible accident. Dazed, Larkin attempts to help the other victims. And finds herself the sole witness in a secret federal investigation.

For maybe the first time in her life, Larkin wants to do the right thing. But by agreeing to cooperate with the authorities, she becomes the target for a relentless team of killers. And when the U.S. Marshals and the finest security money can buy can't protect her, Larkin's wealthy family turns to the one man money can't buy -- Joe Pike.

Pike lives a world away from the palaces of Beverly Hills. He's an ex-cop, ex-Marine, ex-mercenary who owes a bad man a favor, and that favor is to keep Larkin alive. The one upside of the job is reuniting with Bud Flynn, Pike's LAPD training officer, and a man Pike reveres as a father. The downside is Larkin Barkley, who is the uncontrollable cover girl for self-destruction -- and as deeply alone as Pike.

Pike commits himself to protecting the girl, but when they immediately come under fire, he realizes someone is selling them out. In defiance of Bud and the authorities, Pike drops off the grid with the girl and follows his own rules of survival: strike fast, hit hard, hunt down the hunters. With the help of private investigator Elvis Cole, Pike uncovers a web of lies and betrayals, and the stunning revelation that even the cops are not who they seem. As the body count rises, Pike's biggest threat might come from the girl herself, a lost soul in the City of Angels, determined to destroy herself unless Joe Pike can teach her the value of life...and love.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Intimate Deception ($1.99),the first novel in the Intimate series by Laura Landon [Montlake Romance], with the companion audiobook also $1.99.

Book Description
When Lady Grace Warren’s father sells her in marriage to the depraved Lord Fentington, she knows only the most drastic action will save her from a life of misery. In Victorian England, a woman possesses only one item of value: her virtue. Without it, Fentington will not want her—nor will any other man. But at least she will be free. Now she must find a man with whom to pass the fateful night, a man who will ask no questions, make no other demands. Because for a woman preparing to risk everything, no ordinary man will do…

After losing two wives in childbirth, Vincent Germaine, Duke of Raeburn, vows never to marry again. Racked with guilt over the lives lost in his quest for an heir, he is careful now to take his pleasure only with London’s most discreet courtesans. Yet when he learns that a passionate encounter with a bewitching stranger may have put yet another life at risk, Vincent sets out to find the unsuspecting girl—and discovers a woman of incomparable courage, beauty, and strength. But can two strangers brought together by desperation find true love against all odds?

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Stranger ($1.99), a stand-alone novel by Simon Clark [47North]. You can get a second title by Clark, The Tower (horror), free by signing up for the Kindle Daily emails (which you can then unsubscribe to after getting the promo code; after all, that email doesn't tell you about deals like this!).

Book Description
The small town of Sullivan has barricaded itself against the outside world. It is one of the last enclaves of civilization and the residents are determined that their town remain free from the strange and terrifying plague that is sweeping the land—a plague that transforms ordinary people into murderous, bloodthirsty madmen. But the transformation is only the beginning. With the shocking realization that mankind is evolving into something different, something horrifying, the struggle for survival becomes a battle to save humanity.

Today's Kindle Teens Daily Deal is The Unquiet ($2.99), a Teen/YA novel by Jeannine Garsee [Bloomsbury USA Childrens].

Book Description
Over the summer, Rinn stopped taking her bi-polar meds and blames herself and the voices she heard for her grandmother's tragic death. To get a new start, Rinn and her mother are moving back to her mom's small hometown and Rinn has promised to never miss a pill again.

The fresh start is just what Rinn needs. She falls in with the popular girls at her new school and she falls for very cute "farmer boy" Nate.

But River Hills High School has a secret.

The ghost of Annaliese, a girl who died when Rinn's mother was a student there, haunts a hallway the teens call The Tunnel. Rinn's not sure she believes it, but slowly Annaliese seems to be punishing those who enter the tunnel alone. A chorus soloist loses her voice, a star cheerleader falls off the pyramid, and then it gets worse-worse as in death.

Rinn still doesn't know if Annaliese is real, and there's only one way to find out. Rinn needs to ditch her bi-polar meds again and see what the voices are really trying to say....