Strange, is this book theft?

haertig · 10-29-2019, 12:40 AM

I found a book on Amazon for free, looked up the author, and all their books were free. OK, good deal. The author is Charlie Wolfe, and an example book is Mission Alchemist. I thought, why not add these to my collection since they're free? I noticed that the numbering of the books in the series was weird (numbers skipped, published in odd order, etc.)

So I thought I'd look at Goodreads to see if I could find the correct series order so I could put the books into Caliber in a reasonable sequence. As I was clicking around on Goodreads, I found a different author, Charles Z. David, who appears to have written the same books, but with slightly different titles (e.g., The Dreadful Alchemist vs. Mission Alchemist). Amazon's main site lists the books by Charlie Wolfe but not by Charles Z. David. I also noticed that the editor of some of the books was listed as Glenda Sacks Jaffe - the same editor did the books by the two different authors.

Not that any of this really makes a difference, but it did intrigue me when I saw this. I'm guessing that either (1) the author has a multiple personality disorder, or (2) one author stole the books from the other author and published them as if he wrote them himself. Any other ideas about what could be going on here? Seems a little fishy. I can't say I've ever run into something like this before. I stumbled into these books when I saw them listed for free on http://ereaderiq.com

From Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/sho....Charlie_Wolfe

https://www.goodreads.com/author/sho...harles_Z_David

pdurrant · 10-29-2019, 04:11 AM

I suspect that Charles Z. David and Charlie Wolfe are one and the same person.

crich70 · 10-29-2019, 04:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I suspect that Charles Z. David and Charlie Wolfe are one and the same person.

Certainly he wouldn't be the first author to have a pen name. Even Stephen King has done that.

Edit: I just looked the author up and their books are around $3.99/piece though they are free from "Kindle Unlimited." Perhaps the OP misread that part of the post and thought the books were all free to purchase. It's not hard to do that.

haertig · 10-29-2019, 11:45 AM

I have been fooled in the past between "free", and "Kindle Unlimited". However, these books were indeed free. At least they all were yesterday (I haven't checked today however). I know, because I purchased them.

Dr. Drib · 10-30-2019, 08:47 AM

Here's what one reviewer on Amazon writes:

"Israeli author ‘Charlie Wolfe’ has as much mystery about his moniker as he does in his fine novels. We learn that ‘Charles Z. David’ is the pen name of a renowned nuclear scientist working for the Israeli Atomic Energy Commission and has written four scientific books, many articles in scientific journals, and has participated in international scientific conferences. His background certainly enhances his mystery thrillers!"

And here is what the author himself writes:

"Charlie Wolfe is the pen-name of a renowned nuclear scientist. Charlie had an exceptionally interesting scientific career working for the Israeli Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC). He is the author or co-author of four scientific books and of over 100 articles in scientific journals and has participated in numerous international scientific conferences. Charlie has also fought for his country, as commander of an armored personnel carrier, in three wars.

"Charlie Wolfe is married to the same woman, since 1976, and they have three sons and six grandchildren (and still counting). They all live in Israel. "

10-29-2019, 12:40 AM	#1
haertig Wizard Posts: 1,738 Karma: 26006874 Join Date: Sep 2017 Device: PW3, Fire HD8 Gen7, Moto G7, Sansa Clip v2, Ruizu X26	Strange, is this book theft? I found a book on Amazon for free, looked up the author, and all their books were free. OK, good deal. The author is Charlie Wolfe, and an example book is Mission Alchemist. I thought, why not add these to my collection since they're free? I noticed that the numbering of the books in the series was weird (numbers skipped, published in odd order, etc.) So I thought I'd look at Goodreads to see if I could find the correct series order so I could put the books into Caliber in a reasonable sequence. As I was clicking around on Goodreads, I found a different author, Charles Z. David, who appears to have written the same books, but with slightly different titles (e.g., The Dreadful Alchemist vs. Mission Alchemist). Amazon's main site lists the books by Charlie Wolfe but not by Charles Z. David. I also noticed that the editor of some of the books was listed as Glenda Sacks Jaffe - the same editor did the books by the two different authors. Not that any of this really makes a difference, but it did intrigue me when I saw this. I'm guessing that either (1) the author has a multiple personality disorder, or (2) one author stole the books from the other author and published them as if he wrote them himself. Any other ideas about what could be going on here? Seems a little fishy. I can't say I've ever run into something like this before. I stumbled into these books when I saw them listed for free on http://ereaderiq.com From Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/sho....Charlie_Wolfe https://www.goodreads.com/author/sho...harles_Z_David

10-29-2019, 11:45 AM	#4
haertig Wizard Posts: 1,738 Karma: 26006874 Join Date: Sep 2017 Device: PW3, Fire HD8 Gen7, Moto G7, Sansa Clip v2, Ruizu X26	I have been fooled in the past between "free", and "Kindle Unlimited". However, these books were indeed free. At least they all were yesterday (I haven't checked today however). I know, because I purchased them. Attached Thumbnails

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10-29-2019, 04:11 AM	#2
pdurrant The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠 Posts: 71,506 Karma: 306214458 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Norfolk, England Device: Kindle Voyage	I suspect that Charles Z. David and Charlie Wolfe are one and the same person.

10-30-2019, 08:47 AM	#5
Dr. Drib Grand Sorcerer Posts: 44,743 Karma: 55645321 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Peru Device: Kindle: Oasis 3, Voyage WiFi; Kobo: Libra 2, Aura One	Here's what one reviewer on Amazon writes: "Israeli author ‘Charlie Wolfe’ has as much mystery about his moniker as he does in his fine novels. We learn that ‘Charles Z. David’ is the pen name of a renowned nuclear scientist working for the Israeli Atomic Energy Commission and has written four scientific books, many articles in scientific journals, and has participated in international scientific conferences. His background certainly enhances his mystery thrillers!" And here is what the author himself writes: "Charlie Wolfe is the pen-name of a renowned nuclear scientist. Charlie had an exceptionally interesting scientific career working for the Israeli Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC). He is the author or co-author of four scientific books and of over 100 articles in scientific journals and has participated in numerous international scientific conferences. Charlie has also fought for his country, as commander of an armored personnel carrier, in three wars. "Charlie Wolfe is married to the same woman, since 1976, and they have three sons and six grandchildren (and still counting). They all live in Israel. "

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