Free (Kindle KDP) Blood & Sand by Rosemary Sutcliff [Napoleonic Ottoman Adventure]

[ATDrake]

So it turns out that the 3rd selected (non-repeat) ebook for today was actually a stealth repeat from the Flying Spaghetti Monster only knows when.

And therefore I will indulge myself by posting this marvelous backlist treat, which certainly deserves its own thread, IMHO.

Blood and Sand by Rosemary Sutcliff (Wikipedia, ISFDB), of whom if you are an historical fiction-reading anglophone from the Commonwealth and have not already heard, well then there's just no helping you, is her 1989 Hodder & Stoughton-published Napoleonic Wars-era historical biographical adventure novel based on the amazing true story of a captured Scottish soldier who rose to become the governor of an Islamic holy city (Wikipedia) in the Ottoman Empire.

This is brought to us free via the KDP Select exclusivity program, for anywhere up to the next 5 days, courtesy of re-publisher Endeavour Press @ Amazon main, UK, AU, CA, DE, ES, FR, IT, and anywhere else they've set up shop.

Description
Egypt 1807.

Thomas Keith of the 78th Highlanders has been thrown in battle against the Turks.

He is far away from Scotland in the harsh desert.

Defeated and lying wounded and imprisoned in a village headman’s house, he is just one of a handful of survivors. And he awaits his fate with dread.

Little does he know that Ahmed Ahga, a feared and powerful Ottoman general wants Thomas for his private guard.

With little choice in the matter, Thomas agrees, without realising that it is the start of an extraordinary series of adventures that will lead him to new friends, a new way of life and eventually see him rise to become Emir of the holy Islamic city of Medina.

Based on a true story, Rosemary Sutcliff’s magical and enthralling historical novel brings to life all the mystery savagery and the beauty of the Arab world.

Might as well mention a few more KDP backlist freebies while I'm at it (mostly repeats from years back):

The Night of Knives by Canadian Arthur Ellis Award-winner (this is our major mystery/crime prize, akin to the Edgar Awards) Jon Evans (Wikipedia), originally Hodder & Stoughton 2007. ETA: Ooh, actually a FeedBooks freebie and the author has put up more.

A Witness Above, 1st in Frank Pavlicek PI mystery series by Andy Straka (Wikipedia) (says he is Anthony, Agatha nominee, Shamus winner), originally Signet 2001. Actually free via Smashwords and therefore probably price-matched in many other stores.

City Wars by Dennis Palumbo (ISFDB), near-future urban dystopia action thriller originally from Bantam 1979

The Hunt (aka 27) by William Diehl (Wikipedia), WWII espionage action thriller, originally Ballantine 1991

Chasing the Wind by Robert Elmer, 5th in Christian YA historical adventure thriller series set in WWII occupied Denmark, originally Bethany House 1996

Agent Provocateur by Faith Bleasdale, chick-lit love-triangle revenge comedy, originally Hodder & Stoughton 2004

Heart of the Home by Gwen Kirkwood, a contemporary Scottish romantic drama, originally Severn House 2011

Happy reading if you spotted anything you think you might like*.

* Especially if researched historical novels based upon a true story involving the intersection of two major world cultures during a time of great global upheaval and the personal effects thereof upon the people who get swept up in it by a master author make you clap your hands like a demented baby fur seal in glee†.

† Well okay, maybe that's just me.

[Froide]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

The Night of Knives by Canadian Arthur Ellis Award-winner (this is our major mystery/crime prize, akin to the Edgar Awards) Jon Evans (Wikipedia), originally Hodder & Stoughton 2007. ETA: Ooh, actually a FeedBooks freebie and the author has put up more.

As the blurb above indicates, Night of Knives is but one of several Jon Evans freebies accessible at FeedBooks. I've listed below, in chronological order, that book's description, along with the titles and descriptions of Evans' other freebies posted at Feedbooks listed here:

Dark Places (2004)
An acclaimed, award-winning thriller, published and translated around the world, now freely available on Feedbooks.
Paul Wood is a modern vagabond, a man who chooses to leave the comforts of San Francisco to...

Blood Price (2005) Sequel to the award-winning Dark Places. Paul Wood was just a tourist in Sarajevo. Then an unexpected encounter made him a desperate woman's only hope of escape. Now, to get her to safety, he must find...

Invisible Armies (2006)
In a world where security cameras prove what you have done and databases define who you are, the few who know how to manipulate the technology can play God. They can change the future; they can alter the past....

The Night of Knives (2007)
Veronica Kelly came to Africa to start her life over. Still reeling from her divorce, she is grateful when a handsome stranger invites her to join a tour to visit gorillas in Uganda's wild Impenetrable Forest — a trip that goes desperately wrong when their group is captured by brutal gunmen.

This is no random kidnapping: her abduction is only the first move in a deadly strategic game. Now she must embark on a wild journey across Africa, to unveil a malignant conspiracy before it consumes entire nations — and thousands of lives...

Beasts Of New York (Published Version) (2011)
A violent, epic, action-packed urban quest full of very eccentric, often hilarious, extremely dangerous characters who also happen to be animals — the wildlife of New York City, to be exact.

Beasts of New York (Revised, Unedited Version)(2011)
A revised version of the book (also freely available on Feedbooks, as Beasts of New York 2.0), which won a 2011 ForeWord Book Of The Year Award and has been published by the prestigious literary press The Porcupine's Quill.
92,506 words

Swarm (2012)
James Kowalski is having a bad week. First he found out his genius girlfriend Sophie has been hiding something important from him. Now the US government wants her to investigate a drug cartel's new weapon: unmanned...

Also, Volume 1 of Jon Evans' graphic novel, The Coder (2011) can be read online at Engineering.com.

[Dr. Drib]

Thanks!

I got them all, but I have no idea whether he's worth reading (for my tastes, that is).