With hundreds of new books turning up free each day now in the Kindle Store, it can be tough to hone in on books that you will actually want to read. And most of the new free books will be free for just a day or two at a time, so we are working hard to make sure that you do not miss the ones you want!
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Naked, with Glasses
by Alexandria Constantinova Szeman
(award-winning short story colection by the author of The Kommandant’s Mistress, Only with the Heart, & Mastering Point of View)Szeman began writing short stories at 12. A voracious reader who’d wanted to be an author since the age of 6, she promptly began designing covers for her stories, stapling them into book format, and trying to sell them for the unbelievably incredible bargain-basement price of only 25¢. Though there were no buyers for these limited edition stories — now, unfortunately, all lost — Szeman was not discouraged. She began passing them out to anyone who’d accept them. Sort of like a street-vendor hawking a show in New York.The same dark humor, morally ambiguous subject matter, and sophisticated treatment found in her novels and poetry collections are present in her stories.Quirky characters abound. “BusMan,” in the story of the same name, re-invents himself as a superhero after an unexpectedly frightening incident on his daily route.Vincent, “Hunchback of the Midwest” and member of a traveling freak-show, regales his audience with tales of conquests over beautiful women, all the while longing for the one beauty he fears he will never possess.
Thirty years after the end of the violently protested 1960-70’s “conflict,” the Vietnam War comes to a small town’s Convenience Store in the surprisingly affecting and disturbing “VC in the USA.”
Biblical characters populate many of the tales. Wandering in the Wilderness after escaping Pharaoh’s enslavement in Egypt, the Hebrews begin to doubt their leaders, Moses and Aaron, as well as God Himself, in “Rebellion in the Promised Land.”
Jesus, his followers, and the Romans who occupied Judaea during Jesus’ lifetime frequently appear, involved in encounters not mentioned in biblical stories. “Passion Play” recounts Judas’ and Mary Magdalene’s attraction to and avoidance of each other, as they struggle with their mutual love for Jesus.
Sleepless and agitated, Roman Prefect Pontius Pilate is plagued by nightmares, doubts, and crumbling self-confidence after his unsettling encounter with Jesus in “Slaying the Dragon.”
As in Szeman’s other work, the universal themes of family, love, loss, loyalty, and betrayal are visited in this collection as well. The narrator of “Me and Mom and JFK,” now a grown man, recalls his childhood, when he competed with President Kennedy, before and after his assassination, for his own mother’s love.
The spunky, unforgettable narrator of “St. Jerome Emiliani Comes to the Church Picnic” is reluctantly thrust into adulthood by a staggering “initiation.”
Equally mournful and outraged, the mother of a suspected serial killer makes the rounds of TV talk-shows in “Midwestern Madonna and Child,” trying to explain why she’s not to blame for whatever crimes her son’s accused of, despite the media’s incessant questions and insinuations.
Edgy, memorable, and engagingly written, these award-winning stories display another aspect of Szeman’s talent — that for short fiction. Filled with distinct voices, unique characters, surprising plot-twists, and successful experimental writing innovations (such as “Sorry, Wrong Number, Redux,” which is entirely in dialogue), this prize-winning collection secures the author’s reputation in this genre as well, adding to the accolades she has already garnered for her critically acclaimed and award-winning novels, poetry, and non-fiction.
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Some Are Sicker Than Others
by Andrew Seaward
The lives of two hopeless addicts converge unexpectedly following an accidental and horrific death.
Monty Miller, a self-destructive, codependent alcoholic, is wracked by an obsession to punish himself for a crime he didn’t commit.
After his fiancé, Vicky, is killed in a hit-and-run accident, Monty embarks on a suicidal mission to drink himself to death. But his family intervenes and has him committed to Sanctuary, a rehabilitation facility high in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. There he meets Dave Bell, a former all-American track star turned crack addict, and the driver responsible for Vicky’s death. Can Monty forgive Dave for his unspeakable atrocity and finally find the courage to forgive himself? Or will he follow his addiction to its inevitable conclusion, using self-pity and blame as excuses to give up on life?
Based on the author’s own personal experience with substance abuse and codependence, SOME ARE SICKER THAN OTHERS, transcends the clichés of the typical recovery story by exploring the ambiguities and deep personal conflicts of addiction, love, and recovery.
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The Axeman’s Jazz (The Skip Langdon Series)
by Julie Smith
The second book in the Skip Langdon mystery series by Edgar Award-winning author Julie Smith.
“Gritty and Witty … Langdon is a splendid female heroine … The Axeman’s Jazz is a mesmerizing story.” -People
It’s a steamy August in New Orleans and a murderer has borrowed the name of the Axeman, a serial killer who roamed the city in 1919. The modern-day Axeman has strangled a young woman and stabbed an elderly man, beside whose body a teddy bear is found. The letter “A” is scrawled near both corpses in lipstick and in blood. Both victims, it develops, were members of 12-point recovery programs modeled on Alcoholics Anonymous; the killer may be using the groups’ anonymity as a shield.
A most appealing heroine, social-misfit Skip Langdon, is now a homicide detective assigned to the Axeman team. Risking her life, Skip must get close to suspects, among them beautiful but ditzy Di, a New Era devotee; the very angry Alex, “a walking testosterone bomb” who writes self-help books; Sonny Gerard, a stressed-out second-year medical student; and Missy, Sonny’s overmothering girlfriend. As Skip threads her fascinated way from one self-help group to another, she finds she has more in common with the twelve-steppers than just the murder. And she knows what they do not: that among their anonymous numbers is a deadly murderous, and dangerously attractive — psychopath….
“With an acute ear for New Orleans speech and a sharp eye for the city’s social stratification, Smith keeps the reader’s heart palpitating to the end of this mystery of unusual depth.” -Publishers Weekly
“The Axeman’s Jazz is the kind of book that leaves you torn between running out and devouring all the other mysteries in the series, or spacing them out as periodic special treats. Julie Smith garnered great attention, including an Edgar for Best First Mystery, with her initial entry in this series, the 1990 publication of New Orleans Mourning featuring police detective Skip Langdon … in New Orleans, of course. The Axeman’s Jazz is the second of the series and even better than the first.” -BookLoons Reviews
If you like Laura Lippman, Sue Grafton, Linda Barnes, Nevada Barr, and Marcia Muller, Julie Smith’s your new best friend.
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Dangerous Attractions
by Gwyneth Atlee, Colleen Thompson
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The Making of Legend (Cerebral Network)
by Richard Barrs
In the year 3747, a scientist performed a dangerous experiment on his son. It’s now 3773; political corruption, betrayal and deception are rife, and the son, General Andrew Biman, is now a man.
Andrew is a darling of the populace and a favorite of the monarchy. When the queen invites him to join the inter-planetary Congress, Andrew lets fly his plans to re-instate a republic, setting in motion a legislative firestorm. He is soon framed for murder, branded a traitor and on the run.
Stealing a prototype warship, Andrew flees his home city, rescues a sarcastic princess from pirates and ignites a civil war – alienating his few allies in the process with his crushing arrogance. While he clashes with the princess, his envious first mate, and a promiscuous navigator, enemies amass their forces. Vulnerable, Andrew strikes deep into the heart of enemy territory with a fool’s hope…until he discovers his father’s experiment, implanted within him a lifetime ago.
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Sunset (Pact Arcanum)
by Arshad Ahsanuddin
Los Angeles, 2040. The terrorist Medusa and her followers threaten to destroy the metropolis with a nuclear bomb. One individual, the vampire Nicholas Jameson, comes forward to oppose them. As Nick takes on the terrorists, the fragile peace between the races hangs perilously in the balance as the supernatural peoples are exposed.
Arshad Ahsanuddin is a hematopathologist. The irony of a physician who specializes in blood disease writing a series of vampire novels is not lost upon him.
For more details about Arshad, check out the author’s website at pactarcanum.com.
Search on “Pact Arcanum” to find all the books in the series.
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Legend of the Elementals, Book 1: Reintroduction
by Kyle Timmermeyer
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Strategic Stock Trading: Master Personal Finance Using Wallstreetwindow Stock Investing Strategies With Stock Market Technical Analysis
by Michael Swanson
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Below the Surface (Xenonian Origins)
by Catrina Taylor
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