Free/Bargain Suspense/Mystery/Thriller November 2012

[koland]

Originally Posted by NightBird

I meant it was weird it had no indents - from a major publisher, HarperCollins. Bah.

ETA: I'm reading this one now, Puppets by Daniel Hecht for $1.99. Really good book, good writing, grabs you from the start, but the formatting issues are terrible. Words run together or split up in weird ways. It took me a minute to figure out that "as allow-faced jerk" was supposed to be "a sallow-faced jerk." "someone else would be Anthe second floor." Okayyyy. These are every few pages. Really ruining it. Publisher is Bloomsbury USA. I have some of their other books, and I hope they're not all like that.

That's typical of some PDF-to-mobi conversion tools. I see it all the time in review copies, since many of the publisher email the PDFs to a Kindle account and force conversion.

Since the book is out of print, I suspect it is self-pubbed, with the paper publisher added by the author into DTP.

I wish Amazon would flag all KDP entries, rather than allow anything to be entered into the publisher field. I would expect something actually published by Bloomsbury to have been checked a bit more closely.

[NightBird]

Originally Posted by koland

That's typical of some PDF-to-mobi conversion tools. I see it all the time in review copies, since many of the publisher email the PDFs to a Kindle account and force conversion.

Since the book is out of print, I suspect it is self-pubbed, with the paper publisher added by the author into DTP.

I wish Amazon would flag all KDP entries, rather than allow anything to be entered into the publisher field. I would expect something actually published by Bloomsbury to have been checked a bit more closely.

Ah interesting, Karen, thanks. I will be checking some of my other Bloomsbury books to see how they are. I hope you're right!

[NightBird]

Free from Accent Press - a short story by Katherine John from her Trevor Joseph Detective series. I don't know where in the series this fits in.

The Corpse's Tale

A short, fast-paced murder mystery from the Welsh Queen of Crime - Katherine John.

Dai Morgan has the body of a man and the mind of a child. He lived with his mother in the Mid Wales village of Llan, next door to bright, beautiful 19 year old Anna Harris. The vicar found Anna's naked, battered body in the churchyard one morning. The police discovered Anna's bloodstained earring in Dai's pocket. The judge gave Dai life.

After ten years in gaol Dai appealed against his sentence and was freed. Sergeants Trevor Joseph and Peter Collins are sent to Llan to reopen the case. But the villagers refuse to believe Dai innocent.

The Llan police do not make mistakes or allow murderers to walk free.

Do they?

[NightBird]

Political thriller - A Thousand Years of Darkness by Charles Sasser is free again from Deadly Niche Press.

From the author of previous military and action adventure novels like THE 100TH KILL, DETACHMENT DELTA series and THE RETURN comes Charles W. Sasser's latest speculative political action-adventure thriller ripped from today's headlines and based on actual current events. Police Detective James Nail is wounded and his daughter murdered in an attack that also kills "right-wing" TV personality Jerry Baer. As Nail and Baer's producer, Sharon Lowenthal, team up to track down the shooters, they discover a conspiracy that leads to an international cartel of "One Worlders" and may implicate the President of the United States. Falsely accused of terrorism, they must keep one step ahead of Homeland Security to stay alive, bring down the traitors, and save the nation.

[caleb72]

Aren't you sick of reading this?

...ripped from today's headlines...

It's a clause that probably worked pretty well once or twice. But now....

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by caleb72

Aren't you sick of reading this?



It's a clause that probably worked pretty well once or twice. But now....

It's shows a reliance upon the use of cliches, and may carry over into the novel.



Don

[NightBird]

Originally Posted by caleb72

Aren't you sick of reading this?



It's a clause that probably worked pretty well once or twice. But now....

Yes, among many other lines that just make me do this .

[NightBird]

Gone by Mo Hayder has dropped again. It dropped to $3.99 in May, went back up, and now is $3.60.

Jack Caffery and Flea Marley continue to share the spotlight, with their partnership developing into a sort of Lincoln Rhyme/Amelia Sachs relationship (with more sexual tension and as often as not working at cross-purposes). It picks up six months after the conclusion of Skin, with Flea’s team in departmental crosshairs, their bonuses at risk and her leadership in question. She is still covering up the death of Misty Kitson for her brother (Caffery witnessed her disposing of the body, and is keeping his distance), and this backstory is filled in as you go along.

The main plot is about child abduction—a carjacker wearing a Santa Claus mask who steals the car of a vicar’s wife, with her 11 year old daughter in the backseat, from a parking lot. Caffery is called in to investigate and is confident the car was the target and the girl will be returned, until Flea reminds him of two other open cases with similar MO, both with young girls in the cars. Then creepy taunting letters start arriving, presumably from the perpetrator. Caffery consults with the Walking Man, the eccentric homeless billionaire whose daughter was abducted and murdered (with whom Caffery has a special bond because his brother suffered the same fate) who warns him that “this one is cleverer than anyone you’ve ever dealt with.”

The Education of a Pulp Writer: 10 Crime Short Stories by David Cranmer from BTAP is free.

The characters in The Education of a Pulp Writer: 10 Crime Short Stories feature people living on the dark fringe of society. An old woman tired of her husband’s lack of ambition is rather uninterested in his disappearance. A magician learns too late how far his unfaithful wife will go to be with her new lover. A dementia patient seeking refuge in a fallout bunker holds off the police to protect his beloved, long-gone wife. These and seven more thrilling tales originally appeared in top publications like Out of the Gutter, A Twist of Noir, Pulp Ink, and Needle: A Magazine of Noir.

Pandora's Temple by Jon Land is the latest in his Blaine McCracken series that I posted about earlier. Just came out this week and is reduced to $2.99. Two of the others in the series have gone back up to their regular price, so grab these if you are interested.

What if Pandora’s Box were real? Blaine McCracken finds himself facing this very question—and the greatest threat to mankind—in his long-awaited return to the page

Rogue special-operations agent McCracken has never been shy about answering the call, and this time it comes in the aftermath of a deepwater oil rig disaster that claims the life of a onetime member of his commando unit. The remnants of the rig and its missing crew lead him to the inescapable conclusion that one of the most mysterious and deadly forces in the universe is to blame: dark matter, both a limitless source of potential energy and an unimaginably destructive weapon.

Joining forces again with his trusty sidekick Johnny Wareagle, McCracken races to stop two deadly enemies who want the dark matter at all costs. A powerful energy magnate and the leader of a Japanese doomsday cult both seek the ultimate prize for their own nefarious reasons, and McCracken and Wareagle’s mission to defeat them takes the duo on a nonstop journey across the world and thousands of years into the past where the truth lies in the ancient Pandora’s Temple, built to safeguard the world’s most powerful weapon.

McCracken’s only hope to save the world is to find the mythical temple. Along the way, he and Wareagle find themselves up against Mexican drug gangs, killer robots, an army of professional assassins, and a legendary sea monster. The hero of nine previous bestselling thrillers, McCracken is used to the odds being stacked against him, but this time the stakes have never been higher.

Free - Somewhat Damaged by David Rogers from Wild Wolf Publishing.

I carry on. I see each day through.
I go to work, I come home.
I sit and drink alone.
I never rest.
I do what has to be done.
I keep him trapped in the basement.
I lose myself a little more each day.

A disturbing descent into madness, fuelled by an all-consuming quest for revenge.

[NightBird]

Unlikely Killer by Ricki Thomas is another Wild Wolf Publishing freebie.

“Takes you on a journey into the darkest recesses of the human mind.”

“Brilliant, fast paced...a book that gets you hooked from the first page.”

Usually a serial killer will have a modus operandi that can lead to their capture. This one is breaking all the rules.

It takes a journalist's keen eye to grasp the terrifying truth. This killer is recreating infamous murders from history. Despite researching historical murders in an attempt to catch the killer in the act, the police are repeatedly outwitted. With the Jack the Ripper murders next on the agenda, a bloodbath seems inevitable.

With the clock ticking and the killer becoming increasingly frenzied, a detective and criminal psychologist join forces to stop this unlikely killer.

[Synamon]

The Kindle Daily Deal for Black Friday has 25 of the most popular back for $1.99. Here's the link for 5 that are Mystery/Thriller.

[NightBird]

Beat to a Pulp: Round 2 is free.

Smoke 'em if you got 'em, then set your jaw and steel your stance, 'cause BEAT to a PULP: Round Two is here! It's all meat, no filler in this red-raw-and-oozing collection of twenty-nine tales of pure pulp action. You'll find aliens, gangsters, drifters, mountain men, private dicks, gun molls, loners, misfits, drunks, thugs, booze-hounds, and more, all brawling in the pages of Round Two. And that's just for starters.

Seething with left-hooks, uppercuts, kidney shots, and gut-punches aplenty, this powerhouse compilation doles out the genres, from hardboiled crime, western, and noir to sci-fi, fantasy, literary, horror, and more.

Round Two covers all-new ground with offerings from a gang of tried-and-true heavyweights and inspired up-and-comers, all savvy purveyors of pulp at the top of their game. Haymakers include a Hemingway pastiche by famed mystery author Bill Pronzini, a stunning Chandler homage by Hard Case Crime kingpin Charles Ardai, a post-war tale with a twist from James Reasoner, a zombie-horror nightmare by Bill Crider, and even more blows to the temple from such hotshots as Glenn Gray, Patricia Abbott, the legendary Vin Packer, and more, more, more!

Feel up to it? Then climb back in the ring. BEAT to a PULP: Round Two is ready to rumble.

[NightBird]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

Unbelievable. I just downloaded this from B&N, and it has NO INDENTS WHATSOEVER.

I then decided to download it to my computer and ran it through calibre.

Now, no problems.





Don

Interesting that I actually bought this last year from Kobo and just looked at it. It doesn't have any of the indent/line spacing problems. Hmm.

[NightBird]

Free psychological thriller from Accent Press - Hidden Depths by Ally Rose.

A fast-paced psychological thriller that explores the explosive consequences of child abuse.

On New Year's Eve, 2004, a woman awakens from a coma. She has been unconscious for 12 years since being viciously attacked by a lake. Nobody knows who or why she was assaulted but as the plot unravels it transpires the events of that night are linked to things that happened before the fall of the Berlin Wall.

In East Germany in the spring of 1989, 14-year-old Felix Waltz had escaped from a life of abuse at the notorious Stasi youth prison, Torgau. He found a safe haven and went into hiding, leaving a tormented past behind. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and German reunification, Felix had the chance to live a normal life with his uncle and aunt - until one of Torgau’s abusive wardens turned up, threatening his new-found security and happiness. Felix turned vigilante to confront his past, resorting to murder, and his crimes remain hidden for 12 years.

In 2005, Hanne Drais, a criminal psychologist working within a Berlin police team, is one of those involved in reopening the case of Felix’s victims. Hanne discovers the truth behind the lies and finds her destiny with Felix is interwoven with the past, their paths indelibly linked and fated again to collide.

The law of the land versus the law of revenge? The answer is often subjective and unclear, but it is never an easy choice....

[badgoodDeb]

"Viciously attacked by a lake" -- I didn't know lakes were all that vicious.

(Sorry, I know what it meant. It just seemed funny to me!)

[NightBird]

Lol - I thought that was funny, too. Hope it's not an example of the writing.