FREE/BARGAIN - Mystery, Suspense, Thriller - 2014

[Dr. Drib]

Picked up both 'Blood Sacrifice' and 'Crooked Man'.

Thank you!

[ATDrake]

Bargain @ $2.99 for today only (Dec 24th) according to the newsletter from Open Road Media (couponable @ Kobo, price matched in all the standard Canada & US stores, may or may not also be discounted elsewhere, etc.):

The Nicholas Linnear Novels: The Ninja, The Miko, & White Ninja by Eric Van Lustbader (ISFDB, SYKM, Wikipedia), an omnibus of #1-3 in his Nicholas Linnear series of martial arts action adventure crime suspense thrillers starring a half-Chinese, half-British crime fighter, which were apparently New York Times bestsellers in the 80s and 90s. These may have sfnal elements, as apparently Kobo files them under the Open Road Sci-Fi & Fantasy imprint, though that may perhaps be a misfile, although Van Lustbader does write fantasy as well and ISFDB considers #4-5 in the series sfnal enough to include in their database (apparently there's some Japanese mysticism involved?).

As it turns out, this 1-day sale is to celebrate the author's birthday today , and it's a considerable savings over the $7 CAD regular price of the individual novels, should you happen to be interested.

The New York Times–bestselling series in one volume

Born to a British army officer and a Chinese refugee, Nicholas Linnear grows up in Japan, where he falls in love with the nation’s culture, its history, and its deadliest martial arts.

In The Ninja, Linnear quits his job abruptly when he feels himself yearning for the life he led in Japan. Searching for direction, he meets a striking beauty named Justine and is beginning to fall in love when something chilling draws him back into his past: the corpse of a coworker, murdered by a Japanese throwing star. There is a ninja loose in New York City, and as the body count rises, it becomes clear that people close to Linnear are being targeted. Only he has the skill to stop a twisted killer with a personal vendetta.

In The Miko, Linnear vows revenge after his best friend dies under suspicious circumstances. But although he may look American, a childhood spent in the dojos of Japan taught Linnear that vengeance must never be hurried. He takes a job for the billionaire industrialist who ordered the murder, planning to befriend his target during a trip to Tokyo. But even for a modern-day ninja, there is such thing as too close for comfort.

In White Ninja, a sadist haunts the back alleys and sex clubs of Tokyo, picking up women, horrifically mutilating them, and leaving behind a calling card written in blood: This could be your wife. He kills fearlessly, certain the police will never catch him. The only man who might stop this fiend is Nicholas Linnear, one of the country’s leading practitioners of ninjutsu.

[Fbone]

Whiskey Sour by JA Konrath is free at Amazon today.

http://smile.amazon.com/Whiskey-Sour...s=whiskey+sour

[ATDrake]

Free from the author via KDP Select @ Amazon:

Golden Eagles by Australian novelist Robert Mitchell, a globe-trotting treasure hunt thriller originally out from Queensland-based small publisher Boolarong Press in 1992.

Are the iron chests, chests filled with Golden Eagles – gold coins issued by the United States of America in the 1930’s and coveted the world over for their rarity – still on board the USS President Coolidge as she lies in her watery grave off the island of Espiritu Santo in Vanuatu? Or were they removed soon after she sank in October 1942?

Three people set sail from Townville, Australia, to seek those eagles out, to dive, to cut and force their way deep into the bowels of that once mighty passenger liner, but are they alone?

Their yacht, the Belle, is tracked to the island by others determined to hijack the coins, regardless of the cost.

The Coolidge lay quiet beneath the waves, and at peace.

But that peace would never again be the same.

Free from the author via KDP Select @ Amazon:

Hetman: Hard Kill by Alex Shaw, a short story in the Aidan Snow SAS thriller series which is published by Endeavour Press from which we've gotten a few of the novels previously free.

An explosive SAS short story following Aidan Snow during his early days with the Regiment.

Northern Ireland, November 1994. Seconded to ‘the Det’ - a Covert Intelligence & Security Unit, SAS troopers Aidan Snow and Paddy Fox must stop a breakaway terrorist cell from destroying the IRA ceasefire and stalling the Northern Ireland peace process.

Free again from the author via KDP Select @ Amazon:

Cloudburst by Ryne Douglas Pearson (SYKM), 1st in his Art Jefferson series of political action adventure thrillers starring the eponymous FBI agent, this one originally out from HarperCollins' William Morrow imprint in 1993.

In Los Angeles, the president is killed in a brazen terrorist suicide attack. Halfway across the globe, an American airliner is hijacked by another group of Middle Eastern extremists and forced to make a brief stop in Libya. Events that are first seen as unconnected soon are proven to be part of an interconnected plan to strike at the heart of the United States.

On opposite coasts, FBI Agent Art Jefferson and National Security Adviser Bud DiContino race to manage situations as they spiral toward disaster. With the hijacked airliner racing toward the United States, its cargo hold filled with what intelligence analysts believe is a nuclear weapon, the only hope for the passengers' lives comes in the form of an audacious rescue plan to be executed by the highly secretive Delta Force.

From its pulse-pounding opening to its action-packed climax, Cloudburst grabs you and will not let go. Ranging from the violent assassination of the President on the streets of Los Angeles to covert action against terrorist havens in North Africa, from the halls of power in Washington to a highjacked airliner racing toward the heart of the United States, Cloudburst takes the reader on a riveting journey as FBI agents and elite counterterrorist units fight a desperate battle to save millions of innocents, and bring those responsible to justice.

[pdurrant]

UK Special: Dissolution by C. J. Sansom, just £1.49.

It is 1537, a time of revolution that sees the greatest changes in England since 1066. Henry VIII has proclaimed himself Supreme Head of the Church. The country is waking up to savage new laws, rigged trials and the greatest network of informers ever seen. And under the orders of Thomas Cromwell, a team of commissioners is sent throughout the country to investigate the monasteries. There can only be one outcome: dissolution.

But on the Sussex coast, at the monastery of Scarnsea, events have spiralled out of control. Cromwell's Commissioner, Robin Singleton, has been found dead, his head severed from his body. His horrific murder is accompanied by equally sinister acts of sacrilege.

Matthew Shardlake, lawyer and long-time supporter of Reform, has been sent by Cromwell to uncover the truth behind the dark happenings at Scarnsea.

An excellent historical mystery, self-contained but also the start of a series.

[Acataloger]

Thanks for this, pdurrant! $10.99 as an ebook in the US, but available as a pbook at the public library!

[Laurablue]

Dissolution by C.J. Sansom is free in Canada at Amazon.ca and also at Kobo.ca A few other books in the series are priced at $2.99 on Amazon.ca

Although the U.S. edition of Dissolution is eligible for Audible WfV discount pricing, unfortunately the Canadian version is not (I've run into this before with a Hachette book).

[ATDrake]

^ Dissolution is being price-matched to a particular promotion that started last week and thus free @ iTunes (available to Canadians, but not elsewhere, since it's out from Random House's Vintage Canada imprint). that Google Play will start matching and then we can get the entire set of Canadian retailers.

#2-5 in the series are also $2.99 each in Canada from multiple stores (and advertised in Kobo Canada's Boxing Week sale and on iTunes' Bestsellers Under $4.99, also). I hope they do well enough that RH Canada starts doing the freebie/promo price drops on some of their other series as well.

X-link to the General/Literary Fiction megathread since Warren Adler's (Wikipedia) Fiona Fitzgerald political mystery series has had a few volumes previously offered free and if you got those, you might want to try the rest, and is also being adapted to TV again, and he has some thrillers as well:

Bargain @ $1.99-$2.99 in the US as a time-limited holiday sale from Warren Adler (regularly $9.99), his backlist reprint novels, many originally published from the 70s-90s, couponable @ Kobo and can be found in the usual US retailers as well, if you have a preference.

[ATDrake]

Free from the author via KDP Select @ Amazon:

The Judgment by TV tie-in writer Lee Goldberg (SYKM, Wikipedia), a revised and retitled edition of the 1st in his The Jury series of action/adventure thrillers co-written with Lewis Purdue (SYKM) under the joint pseudonym of Ian Ludlow and the original title of .357: Vigilante, out from Kensington's Pinnacle imprint in 1985, which is a rather complicated provenance to have.

This is AN ALL-NEW EDITION, completely revised and reformatted for 2011...

JUDGMENT is the classic action/adventure novel that was a runaway paperback sensation in the 1980s...and that skyrocked the career of Lee Goldberg, best-selling author of THE WALK, the MR. MONK novels, and THE DEAD MAN...

This is the ultimate JUDGMENT...as it was originally meant to be.

Brett Macklin was a freewheeling son of sunny California, a collector of vintage cars and a connoisseur of beautiful women. But when his father is murdered by a street gang, Macklin becomes something else--a deadly weapon against crime, a relentless vigilante who won't stop until he's wiped out the killers who have turned Los Angeles into a war zone.

[GA Russell]

Tonight I have gone to Amazon US, and typed into the Kindle Store place "free kindle books hardboiled mystery" and this is what was returned:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_st_re...rt=review-rank

I believe the moderators will start new threads on Jan. 1, so I suppose that I should post this link again then.

[sufue]

32 books in the Saint series by Leslie Charteris are on sale at Amazon US for $1.99 as part of the "Build Your Kindle Library with Books for $1.99 Each" sale. These appear to be down from $3.99, which is given as the "digital list price" and which is also the price of the books in the series which aren't on sale.

Save on select Kindle books up to 65% off starting December 25, 2014 and through January 25, 2015. Browse the full selection to build your Kindle library with romances, mystery & thrillers, science fiction & fantasy and more.

I'm not going to list all 32 - the link is here, and you can take a look:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=...ris&sort=price

Like GA Russell above, I'll repost this in the new thread in the New Year, since it's good for most of January as well.

[sufue]

Tony Dunbar and Julie Smith both regularly cycle their titles through US Kindle countdown and KDP select programs.

Right now Crime Czar by Dunbar and Crescent City Connection by Smith are both US Kindle Countdown deals:

Crime Czar at $0.99 for about 1 1/2 more days, before going up to $2.99...
link: http://www.amazon.com/Crime-Czar-Har.../dp/B00GCR75YE
blurb:

Spoiler:

The FIFTH funny, offbeat, and surprising legal thriller in the Tubby Dubonnet series.

“Take one cup of Raymond Chandler, one cup of Tennessee Williams, add a quart of salty humor, and you will get something resembling Dunbar’s crazy mixture of crime and offbeat comedy.” -The Baltimore Sun

CORRUPTION, MURDER, AND A REALLY GREAT PO’BOY…

A New Orleans lawyer who'd rather eat, drink, and swap stories than get caught in court, Tubby Dubonnet can't forget the last words that escaped an old friend's lips, and he can't get out of the way of a political campaign that's turning rough. Obsessed with the idea that a shadowy crime boss may be pulling the strings that have cost good people their lives, Tubby is entering into a test of courage with the most violent men in New Orleans. And if that weren't dangerous enough, he’s just picked up the worst ally he could ever find: a beautiful prostitute gunning for revenge.

A funny-hard-boiled mystery with as many laughs as chills.

“Dunbar has an excellent ear for dialogue … His stylish take on Big Easy lowlife is reminiscent of the best of Donald Westlake and Elmore Leonard.” -Booklist

“Dunbar revels in the raffish charm and humor of his famously rambunctious city.” -The New York Times Book Review

“…Subtly wry humor, stylish writing, and authentic New Orleans flavor…” -The New Orleans Times-Picayune

Crescent City Connection is a $1.99 for about 2 1/2 more days before going to $2.99...
link: http://www.amazon.com/Crescent-City-.../dp/B008DBK6QG
blurb:

Spoiler:

Crescent City Connection (formerly Crescent City Kill) is the SEVENTH book in the Edgar Award-winning Skip Langdon series by Julie Smith.

"Sizzles with action, making this the most memorable of the Skip Langdon series." -The Monterey Herald

"...characteristically Smith, full of surprises." -The Santa Barbara News-Press

SPICY SUSPENSE, DELICIOUS SURPRISES, AND GRITTY REALISM IN A POWERFUL TALE OF JUSTICE GONE AWRY…

Sure, New Orleans is known for corruption, but suddenly the good guys get a break—an honest police chief. And then someone guns him down. When a terrifying organization called The Jury takes out the cop-killer, Detective Skip Langdon’s on the case. But no one cares! After all, the guy was a cop-killer.

Skip cares really a lot—because she suspects The Jury’s the brainchild of her old nemesis, self-described preacher Errol Jacomine. And because other lives are at stake—those of Jacomine's granddaughter Lovelace and his younger son Isaac. Eager to add Lovelace to his maniacal fold, Jacomine has Lovelace kidnapped, but she escapes and flees to the bohemian home of her Uncle Isaac, an artist and true eccentric known as The White Monk. Isaac’s taken a vow of silence, but uncle and niece manage to communicate and form a bond that could save both their lives. And Langdon comes up with a plan so clever even the FBI can’t shout her down.

"A superbly written piece of drama, even by Smith's high standards ... plenty of subplots to keep things moving...(and) a wonderful description of the city's bizarre Easter parades" -The State (Columbia, SC)

“Serious suspense… Smith’s colorful characterizations and the showdown with Jacomine make this an excellent addition to the series.” -Publishers Weekly

“If it’s gritty realism you’re craving, gently simmered with spicy suspense and marvelously memorable characters, Smith is the perfect New Orleans tour guide.” —The Clarion-Ledger

For fans of twisty, psychologically astute, heavily atmospheric stories by authors like Nevada Barr, Laura Lippmann, Ace Atkins, and Randy Wayne White.

Smith also has two other titles at $0.99, not quite sure why or what sale these might be part of, but most of hers are normally $2.99, and these haven't been mentioned by anyone for a while, so I thought I'd list them as well:

Tourist Trap by Julie Smith
link: http://www.amazon.com/Tourist-Trap-R.../dp/B008YONBE6
blurb:

Spoiler:

The THIRD book in Edgar-winner Julie Smith's Rebecca Schwartz series.

"Warmth, wit and local color in a fast-moving story ... Smith's best work so far." -Kirkus

So what’s a nice Jewish girl doing at an Easter sunrise service?

Lawyer Rebecca Schwartz would pick the one with the body nailed to the landmark cross! Coincidence? Not so much. She's there because her boy friend's covering the service for the San Francisco Chronicle. The body's there because someone's making a statement he doesn't want the press to miss.

Next: mass shellfish poisoning at Pier 39. A very different kind of serial killer is operating here—one who seems to have a grudge against the whole city.

And this is a very different kind of serial killer tale—a funny one. (If your don't count the murders, or course.) Rebecca's warm and witty, never takes herself too seriously, and on one occasion offers closing testimony with green hair. A highly embarrassing moment, but the bright chartreuse is all in the service of making her case.

No way does she believe her client would nail somebody—especially to a cross. And the things she has to do to prove it are hilarious and often unorthodox, yet always professional. Sometimes hyper-professional--the average lawyer simply can’t be bothered spraying herself with Thunderbird to fit in with her witnesses!

A wild ride through Baghdad by the Bay…and a great courtroom drama.

New Orleans Mourning by Julie Smith
link: http://www.amazon.com/New-Orleans-Mo.../dp/B007W97WJY
blurb:

Spoiler:

Winner of the 1991 Edgar Allan Poe Award for best novel and the FIRST mystery in the highly acclaimed Skip Langdon series, New Orleans Mourning falls deliciously between the psychological suspense of Laura Lippman and the delicate drama of Tennessee Williams.

"Murder at the Mardi Gras and the flavor of New Orleans ... Old secrets are highlighted in this wonderful story that is as filled with topical information as it is with a great story about murder and history. Smith writes with authority about her city." -Ocala Star Banner

"Smith is a gifted writer." –Washington Post Book World

It's Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and civic leader and socialite Chauncy St. Amant has been crowned Rex, King of Carnival. But his day of glory comes to an abrupt and bloody end when a parade-goer dressed as Dolly Parton guns him down. Is the killer his aimless, promiscuous daughter Marcelle? Homosexual, mistreated son Henry? Helpless, alcoholic wife Bitty? Or some unknown player? Turns out the king had enemies...

Enter resourceful heroine Skip Langdon, a rookie police officer and former debutante turned cynic of the Uptown crowd. Scouring the streets for clues, interviewing revelers and street people with names like Jo Jo, Hinky, and Cookie, and using her white glove contacts, the post-deb rebel cop encounters a tangled web of brooding clues and ancient secrets that could mean danger for her—and doom for the St. Amants.

Langdon, with her weight worries, insecurities, and yet overall toughness has long been a favorite of those who like their female sleuths bold, smart, and refreshingly human.

“Smith finds secrets and potential in nearly all corners of New Orleans.” –NPR

"Julie Smith writes like jazz should sound—cool, complex, and penetrating right to the heart.” -Val McDermid, best-selling author of the Tony Hill series

"Though her plot careens with as many twists and turns as a car chase through the French Quarter, it is Smith's rotating focus on the complex viewpoints of her fully formed characters that gives her sixth novel its psychological and emotional depth ... [A] rich, tightly structured narrative." -Publishers Weekly

Fans of Ace Atkins, Tana French, Sue Grafton, and Marcia Muller will love Skip Langdon’s pluck and charm.

If you want to be patient, many of these will probably cycle through KDP Select and be free, but these aren't bad sale prices either...

[sadievan]

Originally Posted by Fbone

Whiskey Sour by JA Konrath is free at Amazon today.

http://smile.amazon.com/Whiskey-Sour...s=whiskey+sour

Still free.

[sufue]

Several books in the Jack Daniels series by JA Konrath are US Kindle Countdown deals at $0.99 for about 3 1/2 more days before going up to $3.99.

Bloody Mary, #2 in series
link: http://www.amazon.com/Bloody-Mary-Th.../dp/B00BB62RZI
blurb:

Spoiler:

Start with a tough but vulnerable Chicago cop. Add a hyperactive cat, an ailing mother, a jealous boyfriend, a high-maintenance ex-husband, and a partner in the throes of a mid-life crisis.

Stir in a psychopath littering the city with body parts. Mix with equal parts humor and suspense, and enjoy Bloody Mary--the second novel in the funny, frightening world of Lieutenant Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels.

Join Jack as she struggles to repair her train wreck of a personal life while tracking down and convicting one of the scariest serial killers in recent memory--a killer for whom getting caught is only the beginning...

Rusty Nail, #3 in series
link: http://www.amazon.com/Rusty-Nail-Thr.../dp/B00BBE4E5Q
blurb:

Spoiler:

Lt. Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels of the Chicago Police Department is back, and once again she's up to her Armani in murder.

Someone is sending Jack snuff videos. The victims are people she knows, and they share a common trait — each was involved in one of Jack's previous cases. With her stalwart partner hospitalized and unable to help, Jack follows a trail of death throughout the Midwest, on a collision course with the smartest and deadliest adversary she's ever known.

During the chase, Jack jeopardizes her career, her love life, and her closest friends. She also comes to a startling realization — serial killers have families, and blood runs thick.

Rusty Nail features more of the laugh-out-loud humor and crazy characters that saturated Whiskey Sour and Bloody Mary, without sacrificing the nail-biting thrills. This is Jack Daniels's third, and most exciting, adventure yet.

Fuzzy Navel, #5 in series
link: http://www.amazon.com/Fuzzy-Navel-Th.../dp/B00BB2E9E4
blurb:

Spoiler:

Things are going well for Lieutenant Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels of the Chicago Police Department. She has solved some of the city's toughest and most high-profile homicides. Her personal life is finally in order. Her friends and family are safe and happy. And she just got a call that eased her mind like nothing else could: Alex Kork, one of the most dangerous criminals Jack ever arrested, killed herself while in jail.

But things sour quickly when a group of vigilantes on a murderous spree decide to take down a cop and the people she cares about ... and they turn downright awful when Jack discovers that Kork may not be dead after all.

Trapped in her house with a psycho and everyone she cares about, and unable to leave because she's surrounded by snipers, the next eight hours will be the worst of Jack's life. And that's saying something.

Fuzzy Navel is Jack's fifth adventure, perfect for readers who like their mysteries with a shot of humor.

Shot of Tequila, #7
link: http://www.amazon.com/Shot-Tequila-J.../dp/B00267T4H0
blurb:

Spoiler:

A GUTSY ROBBERY
Several million bucks, stolen from the mob...

A PERFECT FRAME
All caught on video, with no chance of redemption...

A RED HOT RECIPE FOR RAMPAGING REVENGE
Now one man must face the entire Chicago Outfit, a group of hardened Mafia enforcers, a psychotic bookie, the most dangerous hitman on earth, and Detective Jacqueline Daniels...

His name is Tequila. And he likes those odds.

SHOT OF TEQUILA by JA Konrath

This ebook also features an exclusive sneak-peak--three full chapters--of INSIDE OUT, the latest thriller by NYT bestselling author Barry Eisler.

The first in the series, Whiskey Sour, is also (still) free right now, per this post upthread: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho....php?p=3010674

And information on the author is also available on this post upthread: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho....php?p=2950016

[Victoria]

A number of Elizabeth Peter's Amelia Peabody & Vicky Bliss mysteries are on for $2.63. It seems that there are 2 publishers - one that lists the books for $9-$11 and a second for $2.63.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss...s%2Cnull%2C261