Free/Bargain Mystery/Suspense/Thriller Ebooks January 2013

[NightBird]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

I somehow misread the Parker title as 99 cents, when - as noted - it was free.

I now picked it up.

Thank you!




Don

Yeah, I figured that. I think I worded the sentence awkwardly.

[NightBird]

Laurence Shames' humorous mafia Key West Series books are $2.51 each, reduced from $2.99. Also at Kobo for $2.99 each, with 40% off coupon vouchercodes40 $1.79 each. These were originally published by Random House.

Series
Key West
1. Florida Straits (1992)
2. Scavenger Reef (1994)
3. Sunburn (1995)
4. Tropical Depression (1996)
5. Virgin Heat (1997)
6. Mangrove Squeeze (1998)
7. Welcome to Paradise (1999)
8. The Naked Detective (2000)

Fantastic Fiction

Nice summary of the series and all the books here:

Who is Laurence Shames?

[BelleZora]

Thanks, Nightbird. I read all the Shames books back when I was on a Florida caper kick - along with everything by Carl Hiaasen, Tim Dorsey, and Edna Buchanan. I recently reread Sunburn and Tropical Depression when I was in the mood for familiar comfort reading. They are all entertaining romps.

Now I'll have to pick up the other six in ebook format.

[koland]

Originally Posted by NightBird

Where Serpents Lie by T. Jefferson Parker, $.99 a couple of weeks ago, now free.

Red Light (Merci Rayborn Novels) by T. Jefferson Parker

now free http://www.amazon.com/Light-Merci-Ra.../dp/B009ON4AV49HC5ODU/[/url]

[NightBird]

Originally Posted by BelleZora

Thanks, Nightbird. I read all the Shames books back when I was on a Florida caper kick - along with everything by Carl Hiaasen, Tim Dorsey, and Edna Buchanan. I recently reread Sunburn and Tropical Depression when I was in the mood for familiar comfort reading. They are all entertaining romps.

Now I'll have to pick up the other six in ebook format.

Oh great, Belle. Thanks. I just got the first to see how I like them.

Originally Posted by koland

Red Light (Merci Rayborn Novels) by T. Jefferson Parker

now free http://www.amazon.com/Light-Merci-Ra.../dp/B009ON4AV49HC5ODU/[/url]

Thanks, Karen!

[BelleZora]

Just started picking up the Shames books from Kobo. Virgin Heat downloaded as a zip file instead of an epub. No epub in zip file. Can't side load it. Never had this happen before. Did an on-line chat with Kobo which wasn't helpful.

Is my best option just to convert to epub in Calibre?

Edit: all books except Florida Straits and Scavenger Reef downloaded as Zip files from Kobo (I already own Sunburn and Tropical Depression), but they converted beautifully in Calibre. Kobo wanted to give me my money back for Virgin Heat when I contacted them before trying the Calibre fix, but I told them to forget it - I wanted to keep the zip file. A few minutes later my credit card company fraud division called because Kobo tried to send several charges for .01, no doubt as a prerequisite for an unwanted refund (I used a gift card).

Love Kobo, but I'm making a note never to contact the help desk.

[NightBird]

Originally Posted by BelleZora

Just started picking up the Shames books from Kobo. Virgin Heat downloaded as a zip file instead of an epub. No epub in zip file. Can't side load it. Never had this happen before. Did an on-line chat with Kobo which wasn't helpful.

Is my best option just to convert to epub in Calibre?

Edit: all books except Florida Straits and Scavenger Reef downloaded as Zip files from Kobo (I already own Sunburn and Tropical Depression), but they converted beautifully in Calibre. Kobo wanted to give me my money back for Virgin Heat when I contacted them before trying the Calibre fix, but I told them to forget it - I wanted to keep the zip file. A few minutes later my credit card company fraud division called because Kobo tried to send several charges for .01, no doubt as a prerequisite for an unwanted refund (I used a gift card).

Love Kobo, but I'm making a note never to contact the help desk.

Good to know about the zip files. I've never had that happen either.

As far as the 1 cent charges, those were for your purchases. Even though you are using a gift card they still (probably automatically) check your credit card every time you make a purchase. The way around this is to just not leave a credit card on file with them (just delete the card every time after you buy a gift card).

[DebbyS]

I've gotten Zipped files right here on this site (where the public domain books are offered after they are carefully prepared and uploaded by thoughtful members). I download the ones under "Epub". Zipped. Inside, no epub files. I let Calibre look at the zipped files anyhow and it magically sorts things out and gives me epubs of the files in the zipped version So it might work for you, too, with the Kobo books.

[melmac]

Originally Posted by BelleZora

Just started picking up the Shames books from Kobo. Virgin Heat downloaded as a zip file instead of an epub. No epub in zip file. Can't side load it. Never had this happen before. Did an on-line chat with Kobo which wasn't helpful.

Is my best option just to convert to epub in Calibre?

Edit: all books except Florida Straits and Scavenger Reef downloaded as Zip files from Kobo (I already own Sunburn and Tropical Depression), but they converted beautifully in Calibre. Kobo wanted to give me my money back for Virgin Heat when I contacted them before trying the Calibre fix, but I told them to forget it - I wanted to keep the zip file. A few minutes later my credit card company fraud division called because Kobo tried to send several charges for .01, no doubt as a prerequisite for an unwanted refund (I used a gift card).

Love Kobo, but I'm making a note never to contact the help desk.

My rought understanding is that an epub is esentially just a zip file in disguise from memory when it happened to me I just renamed the file from book.zip to book.epub and it worked no probs although it was a while ago I'm pretty sure thats how I fixed it

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by BelleZora

Just started picking up the Shames books from Kobo. Virgin Heat downloaded as a zip file instead of an epub. No epub in zip file. Can't side load it. Never had this happen before. Did an on-line chat with Kobo which wasn't helpful.

Is my best option just to convert to epub in Calibre?

Edit: all books except Florida Straits and Scavenger Reef downloaded as Zip files from Kobo (I already own Sunburn and Tropical Depression), but they converted beautifully in Calibre. Kobo wanted to give me my money back for Virgin Heat when I contacted them before trying the Calibre fix, but I told them to forget it - I wanted to keep the zip file. A few minutes later my credit card company fraud division called because Kobo tried to send several charges for .01, no doubt as a prerequisite for an unwanted refund (I used a gift card).

Love Kobo, but I'm making a note never to contact the help desk.

Either just change the file extension from .zip to .epub or you could drag the zip into Calibre and it should "convert" to ePub. All an epub is is a zip file with a certain file structure inside.

[BelleZora]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Either just change the file extension from .zip to .epub or you could drag the zip into Calibre and it should "convert" to ePub. All an epub is is a zip file with a certain file structure inside.

There was no file extension in this case and adding '.epub' didn't change anything. I vaguely remember that working somewhere in the past, but it's never happened with Kobo. I did open and convert them in Calibre and they were fine.

MR is a treasure trove of information. Thanks, AnemicOak and NightBird!

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by BelleZora

There was no file extension in this case and adding '.epub' didn't change anything. I vaguely remember that working somewhere in the past, but it's never happened with Kobo. I did open and convert them in Calibre and they were fine.

MR is a treasure trove of information. Thanks, AnemicOak and NightBird!

If there is no extension then you must not have your OS set to show extensions so you'd need to do that first. Glad Calibre worked things out for you.

[BelleZora]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

If there is no extension then you must not have your OS set to show extensions so you'd need to do that first. Glad Calibre worked things out for you.

Bit embarrassed because I should have known that. Changed OS to show extensions, changed from .zip to .epub...and voila! Worked like magic.

[NightBird]

Crime fiction price reduction from Penguin: The Devil Doesn't Want Me by Eric Beetner for $3.99. Sony Kobo B&N

A hit man with a crisis of conscience faces his biggest challenge yet: protecting an innocent victim against deadly forces during a desperate run for the coast in Eric Beetner's thrilling novel.

For the last seventeen years, Lars has been on a job for a prominent East Coast crime family. His task: kill Mitch the Snitch. Mitch is living in witness protection and has eluded Lars for almost two decades. But changes are afoot in the family back east, and a young gun named Trent has been sent to replace the aging gun for hire.

With his old boss gone, Lars realizes he has lost the desire to kill his long-time target. When things come to a head with Trent, Lars must go on the run with Mitch's teenage daughter Shaine, trying to stay one step ahead of angry and vengeful mobsters as well as his own dark past.

With Trent, FBI agents, and even more hired muscle on their trail, Lars and his new sidekick must stay one step ahead of their pursuers by any means necessary, creating a cross country trail of wreckage and mayhem from Albuquerque to L.A.

[BelleZora]

Free today from Amazon: The Fires of the Gods (Sugawara Akitada Mysteries #7) by I.J. Parker UK

Publishers Weekly says the book comes after the The Masuda Affair (free last month), but the author's Wikipedia page lists the book between The Convict's Sword and The Masuda Affair.

Japan, in the eleventh century. Sugawara Akitada, senior secretary in the Ministry of Justice, is having a bad couple of days. A series of fires is devastating the capital city of Heian-Kyo (much later to be known as Kyoto). On the personal and professional front, some nasty, behind-the-scenes political machinations cause Akitada to be demoted to junior secretary, and an incompetent crawler to be installed in his place. Then, after Akitada goes to the home of the man who orchestrated his demotion, the man is murdered, and, wouldn't you know it, Akitada is accused of the crime. He knows he has the ability to prove his innocence, but he's wading into very dangerous waters, and there's a good chance he might not emerged unscathed. This is another sharply written, imaginative entry in the Akitada series. Parker, like Laura Joh Rowland, author of the Sano Ichiro series (set some 700 years later), is adept at blending historical fact and fiction and at giving the reader an education in Japanese history and culture without making a big deal about it. --Booklist, March 1, 2011