General Update and Freebies from Nicholson and Others

I usually like to do an end-of-year top-ten reads list, but since most of my reading this years was for copyediting and proofreading I think I'm going to skip any sort of lists. Don't get me wrong. There were a number of good books that I read, but I just don't feel right putting them on any sort of best-of list. I will, however, try to do some sort of wrap-up and look forward, but it may not be until the new year when I post it.

There is one thing I want to make sure you Kindle owners are aware of. Right now there are a ton of freebies being offered to Kindle owners. In fact, my favorite author is offering a number of free e-books through Amazon. I remember when I first discovered Scott Nicholson. Somehow I happened upon a copy of The Red Church a few years back. I thoroughly enjoyed Nicholson's writing and wanted to read more. The only problem was that I had to hunt down his books online because most of them were out-of-print. I ended up getting all of his print titles after some work. Now fast-forward to the Kindle age, and he's giving away e-copies of his books. Talk about easy. Here's a link to all of the books he's giving away: http://hauntedcomputer.blogspot.com/.

Another freebie is from author Brenda Wallace. Brenda's a great person and talented new author. Her debut novel, Brilliant Prey, is currently free at Amazon for a limited time. Grab it while you can! Click here to go the the Amazon page.

If you own a Kindle, make sure you're checking out book clubs and freebie sites to get the latest information about available free books. It seems as though Santa's bag burst open after Christmas! Some authors that have had freebies or currently have promotions running include J. A. Konrath, Blake Crouch, J. R. Rain, and Aiden James.

If I don't talk to you before the new year, happy new year!

New Release from Author Andrew E. Kaufman

Yesterday marked the release date for Andrew E. Kaufman's new book, The Lion, the Lamb, the Hunted. Kaufman's first book, While the Savage Sleeps, was a runaway success. The expectations are high for his newest release. Here's a brief synopsis:

She only stepped outside for a minute...

But a minute was all it took to turn Jean Kingsley's world upside down—a minute she'd regret for the rest of her life. 
 

 


Stepping into her worst nightmare
 


Because when she returned, she found an open bedroom window and her three-year-old son, Nathan, gone. The boy would never be seen again. 
 




A nightmare that only got worse.




A tip leads detectives to the killer, a repeat sex offender, and inside his apartment, a gruesome discovery. A slam-dunk trial sends him off to death row, then several years later, to the electric chair. 
 





Case closed. Justice served...or was it?

Now, more than thirty years later, Patrick Bannister unwittingly stumbles across evidence among his dead mother's belongings. It paints his mother as the killer and her brother, a wealthy and powerful senator, as the one pulling the strings.


What really happened to Nathan Kingsley?
 


There's a hole in the case a mile wide, and Patrick is determined to close it. But what he doesn't know is that the closer he moves toward the truth, the more he's putting his life on the line, that he’s become the hunted. Someone's hiding a dark secret and will stop at nothing to keep it that way.

The clock is ticking, the walls are closing, and the stakes are getting higher as he races to find a killer—one who's hot on his trail. One who's out for his blood.




Make sure to grab your copy during the holiday season!

Andrew E. Kaufman is a freelance writer and author living in Southern California, along with his six Labrador Retrievers, three horses, and a very bossy Jack Russell Terrier (who, incidentally, thinks she owns the place). His new novel, While the Savage Sleeps, a forensic paranormal mystery, takes place in the fictitious town of Faith, New Mexico.

KING DEATH by Paul Finch

When I found out the setting of the latest chapbook from Spectral Press, I was a bit excited. Okay, I was a lot excited. I absolutely love stories set in medieval times. Throw in the Black Death, and I couldn’t wait to feast my eyes on King Death by Paul Finch.

From the back cover of the book:

In 1348, England is stricken by the Black Death. The worst pandemic in human history has reached the kingdom of the warlike Edward III, a monarch who in battle against human adversaries cannot imagine defeat.

Two thirds of his subjects now perish. Woods become wild again, farmland goes to rack and ruin, villages, towns and castles are left empty, inhabited only by ghosts.

Little wonder that fear of the supernatural reaches an all-time high. Little wonder stories ignite about witches and demons spreading the plague, about ‘King Death’, an awesome harbinger of doom from whom there is no protection.

Cynical opportunist Rodric doesn’t believe any of these. With reckless indifference, he sets out to enrich himself.…

I was totally enthralled by this story. The setting is spot-on, making me feel as though I was standing in plague-stricken England. Rodric’s character is an interesting look at how greed and opportunism take advantage of perilous situations. However, even though it appears the world has changed to his advantage, Rodric is about to find out what it means to come face-to-face with King Death.

I’m beginning to feel like a broken record, but this is yet another gem from Spectral Press. It is hard to believe that a start-up publisher can put out so many consecutive thought-provoking stories, but somehow Spectral Press has done so. After reading the amazing works that have been put out in its first year of existence, I can’t wait to see what the future holds for Spectral Press, a truly unique and welcomed publisher of well-told stories.