October #WhispersyncDeal roundup: Neal Stephenson's Anathem, Joe Hill's NOS4A2, Robin McKinley, Genevieve Valentine, Richard Kadrey, Christopher Golden, Umberto Eco, Alice Hoffman, and more
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October #WhispersyncDeal roundup: Neal Stephenson's Anathem, Joe Hill's NOS4A2, Robin McKinley, Genevieve Valentine, Richard Kadrey, Christopher Golden, Umberto Eco, Alice Hoffman, and more
Posted on 2015-10-30 at 16:14 by Sam
There are hundreds of Whispersync deals this month, and now it’s coming to a close here’s what you are literally about to miss out on.
First up, from the monthly Kindle Books for $3.99 or Less
Anathem by Neal Stephenson (Author),
NOS4A2 by Joe Hill (Author) and Kate Mulgrew (Narrator) for $1.99+$3.99 — Yes, that Kate Mulgrew, known for her roles as Captain Janeway from Star Trek: Voyager and as “Red” from Orange is the New Black. “Victoria McQueen has an uncanny knack for finding things: a misplaced bracelet, a missing photograph, answers to unanswerable questions. When she rides her bicycle over the rickety old covered bridge in the woods near her house, she always emerges in the places she needs to be. Vic doesn’t tell anyone about her unusual ability, because she knows no one will believe her. She has trouble understanding it herself. Charles Talent Manx has a gift of his own. He likes to take children for rides in his 1938 Rolls-Royce Wraith with the vanity plate NOS4A2. In the Wraith, he and his innocent guests can slip out of the everyday world and onto hidden roads that lead to an astonishing playground of amusements he calls Christmasland. Mile by mile, the journey across the highway of Charlie’s twisted imagination transforms his precious passengers, leaving them as terrifying and unstoppable as their benefactor. And then comes the day when Vic goes looking for trouble…and finds her way, inevitably, to Charlie.”
Persona by Genevieve Valentine (Author) and
Sunshine by Robin McKinley (Author), Laural Merlington (Narrator) for $1.99+$3.49 — Winner of the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature: “Although it had been mostly deserted since the Voodoo Wars, there hadn’t been any trouble out at the lake for years. Rae Seddon, nicknamed Sunshine, head baker at her family’s busy and popular café in downtown New Arcadia, needed a place to get away from all the noise and confusion—of the clientele and her family. Just for a few hours. Just to be able to hear herself think. … She never heard them coming. Of course, you don’t when they’re vampires.” Additionally, McKinley’s “Beauty and the Beast” retelling Rose Daughter is available this month for $1.99+$2.99.
Six Heirs: The Secret of Ji, The Orphans’ Promise (The Secret of Ji Book 2), and Shadow of the Ancients (Secret of Ji Book 3) by Pierre Grimbert (Author), Matt ross and Eric Lamb (Translators), and Michael Page (Narrator) for $1.99+$1.99 each — I’ve mentioned this best-selling and prize-winning (and distinctly) French epic fantasy many times, along with Page’s incomparable narration. Well, it’s on sale again! “The Known World is a sprawling realm ruled by mortals, protected by gods, and plied by magicians and warriors, merchants and beggars, royals and scoundrels. In Kaul, the Council of Mothers upholds the great Ancestress; Odrel, the god of Sadness, unites the suffering of the Upper Kingdoms; and everywhere the lethal minions of Zuïa, the cold-blooded judiciary goddess, do her fearsome bidding. But for all the Known World’s wonders and terrors, what has endured most powerfully is the legacy of Ji. Emissaries from every nation - the grand Goranese Empire; desolate, frozen Arkary; cosmopolitan Lorelia; and beyond - followed an enigmatic summons. Some never returned; others were never the same. Blessed and burdened with a staggering secret, the survivors passed their newfound knowledge down through the generations. But now the last of their heirs - and the surpassing wisdom they possess - face a deadly threat. The time has come to fight for ultimate enlightenment…or fall to infinite darkness.”
Snowblind by Christopher Golden (Author), Peter Berkrot (Narrator) for $2.99+$3.99 — “Police detective Joe Keenan has never been the same since that night, when he failed to save the life of a young boy…and the boy’s father vanished in the storm only feet away. And all the way on the other side of the country, Miri Ristani receives a phone call…from a man who died 12 years ago. As old ghosts trickle back, this new storm will prove to be even more terrifying than the last.”
Killing Pretty: A Sandman Slim Novel by James Stark has met his share of demons and angels, on Earth and beyond. Now he’s come face to face with the one entity few care to meet: Death. Someone has tried to kill Death - ripping the heart right out of him - or rather the body he’s inhabiting. Death needs Sandman Slim’s help: He believes anyone who can beat Lucifer and the old gods at their own game is the only one who can solve his murder.
Positive: A Novel by David Wellington (Author), Nick Podehl (Narrator) for $1.99+$3.99 — “The tattooed plus sign on Finnegan’s hand marks him as a Positive. At any time the zombie virus could explode in his body, turning him from a rational human into a ravenous monster. His only chance of a normal life is to survive the last two years of the potential incubation period. If he reaches his 21st birthday without an incident, he’ll be cleared. Until then Finn must go to a special facility for positives, segregated from society to keep the healthy population safe. But when the military caravan transporting him is attacked, Finn becomes separated. To make it to safety, he must embark on a perilous cross-country journey across an America transformed - a dark and dangerous land populated with heroes, villains, madmen, and hordes of zombies. And though the zombies are everywhere, Finn discovers that the real danger may be his fellow humans.”
Repeat by Neal Pollack, read by Jeff Cummings for $1.99+$1.99 — “Through strange metaphysical circumstances, failed screenwriter Brad Cohen finds himself caught in an infinite time loop, forced to relive the first forty years of his life again and again. Each “repeat,” Brad wakes up in the womb on what was supposed to be his fortieth birthday, with full knowledge of what’s come before. In various timelines, he becomes a successful political pundit, a game-show champion, a playboy, and a master manipulator of the stock market, but none of them seems to lead him out of his predicament. As he realizes he wants to break out of the loop and find the love of his life - the one he hadn’t appreciated the first time around - Brad tries, fails, and tries again to escape the eternal cycle of birth and rebirth. Repeat answers the question: If you could live half your life over, would you do things differently? Be careful what you wish for! Repeating is enough to drive a dude crazy.”
Teen: City of Savages by Lee Kelly, read by It’s been nearly two decades since the Red Allies first attacked New York, and Manhattan is now a prisoner-of-war camp ruled by Rolladin and her brutal, impulsive warlords. For Skyler Miller, Manhattan is a cage that keeps her from the world beyond the city’s borders. But for Sky’s younger sister, Phee, the POW camp is a dangerous playground of possibility—and the only home she’d ever want. When Sky and Phee discover their mom’s hidden journal from the war’s outbreak, they both realize there’s more to Manhattan—and their mother—than either of them ever imagined. And after a group of strangers arrives at the annual POW census, the girls begin to uncover the island’s long-kept secrets. The strangers hail from England, a country supposedly destroyed by the Red Allies, and Rolladin’s lies about Manhattan’s captivity begin to unravel.
Teen: Timebound (The Chronos Files Book 1), Time’s Edge (The Chronos Files Book 2), and Time’s Mirror: A CHRONOS Files Novella (2.5) (The CHRONOS Files) by Rysa Walker, read by Kate Rudd for $1.99+$1.99 each — The 2013 Winner of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award - Grand Prize and Young Adult Fiction Winner. “When Kate Pierce-Keller’s grandmother gives her a strange blue medallion and speaks of time travel, sixteen-year-old Kate assumes the old woman is delusional. But it all becomes horrifyingly real when a murder in the past destroys the foundation of Kate’s present-day life. Suddenly, that medallion is the only thing protecting Kate from blinking out of existence. Kate learns that the 1893 killing is part of something much more sinister, and her genetic ability to time travel makes Kate the only one who can fix the future. Risking everything, she travels back in time to the Chicago World’s Fair to try to prevent the murder and the chain of events that follows. Changing the timeline comes with a personal cost - if Kate succeeds, the boy she loves will have no memory of her existence. And regardless of her motives, does Kate have the right to manipulate the fate of the entire world?” Another novella, Time’s Echo: A CHRONOS Files Novella (1.5) (The Chronos Files), is $0.99+$1.99.
Teen: Insignia by S.J. Kincaid, read by Lincoln Hoppe for $1.99+$1.99 — “More than anything, Tom Raines wants to be important, though his shadowy life is anything but that. For years, Tom’s drifted from casino to casino with his unlucky gambler of a dad, gaming for their survival. Keeping a roof over their heads depends on a careful combination of skill, luck, con artistry, and staying invisible. Then one day, Tom stops being invisible. Someone’s been watching his virtual-reality prowess, and he’s offered the incredible - a place at the Pentagonal Spire, an elite military academy. There, Tom’s instincts for combat will be put to the test and if he passes, he’ll become a member of the Intrasolar Forces, helping to lead his country to victory in World War III. Finally, he’ll be someone important: a superhuman war machine with the tech skills that every virtual-reality warrior dreams of. Life at the Spire holds everything that Tom’s always wanted - friends, the possibility of a girlfriend, and a life where his every action matters - but what will it cost him?”
Teen: A Thousand Pieces of You (Firebird Book 1) by Cloud Atlas meets Orphan Black in this epic dimension-bending trilogy by New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray about a girl who must chase her father’s killer through multiple dimensions.”
Kids: TodHunter Moon, Book One: PathFinder by A
Fiction: The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, translated by William Weaver, read by for $1.99+$3.99 — “A masterful gothic thriller set against the turbulence of medieval Italy. The year is 1327. Franciscans in a wealthy Italian abbey are suspected of heresy, and Brother William of Baskerville arrives to investigate. But his delicate mission is suddenly overshadowed by seven bizarre deaths that take place in seven days and nights of apocalyptic terror.”
Fiction: The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco, translated by Richard Dixon, read by George Guidall for $2.99+$3.99 — “Nineteenth-century Europe—from Turin to Prague to Paris—abounds with the ghastly and the mysterious. Jesuits plot against Freemasons. Italian republicans strangle priests with their own intestines. French criminals plan bombings by day and celebrate Black Masses at night. Every nation has its own secret service, perpetrating forgeries, plots, and massacres. Conspiracies rule history. From the unification of Italy to the Paris Commune to the Dreyfus Affair to The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, Europe is in tumult and everyone needs a scapegoat. But what if, behind all of these conspiracies, both real and imagined, lay one lone man?”
Fiction: Into That Forest by
Fiction: How to Start a Fire by From a New York Times best-selling author comes a story of unexpected friendship - three women thrown together in college who grow to adulthood united and divided by secrets, lies, and a single night that shaped all of them. When UC Santa Cruz roommates Anna and Kate find passed-out Georgianna Leoni on a lawn one night, they wheel her to their dorm in a shopping cart. Twenty years later they gather around a campfire on the lawn of a New England mansion. What happens in between - the web of wild adventures, unspoken jealousies, and sudden tragedies that alter the courses of their lives - is charted with sharp wit and aching sadness in this meticulously constructed novel.
Fiction: Fortune’s Daughter: A Novel by Alice Hoffman, read by Carrington McDuffie for $1.99+$2.99 — “This fierce and beautiful story charts the histories of two women: Rae, young, unmarried, and far from home, awaits the birth of her first child. Lila, a fortune-teller with no interest in the future, lost her own daughter more than a quarter of a century earlier in New York. When these two women meet in Southern California, it’s earthquake weather - the time when unexpected things happen. Immediately, their lives and fortunes become intertwined, as Rae tries to break away from the man she has been with since high school and Lila reaches into the past to search for the child she lost. This contemporary world is set against a series of Russian folktales told by an old woman who lives at the edge of Manhattan, in a place so well hidden it can only be found once in a lifetime.”
Fiction: Adé: A Love Story by Janina Edwards for $1.99+$1.99 — “In this stunning debut novel, Rebecca Walker turns her attention to the power of love and the limitations of the human heart. When Farida, a sophisticated college student, falls in love with Adé, a young Swahili man living on an idyllic island off the coast of Kenya, the two plan to marry and envision a simple life together - free of worldly possessions and concerns. But when Farida contracts malaria and finds herself caught in the middle of a civil war, reality crashes in around them. The lovers’ solitude is interrupted by a world in the throes of massive upheaval that threatens to tear them apart, along with all they cherish.”
Historical fiction: Come the Morning (Graham Clan Book 1) by Heather Graham, read by Sandra Burr for $1.99+$3.49 — “In the days when Scotland lay under siege - from the Vikings who sailed from the north and the Norman English who came from the south - King David sought to unite his people into one nation. For this, he needed loyal warriors. Waryk de Graham soon proved the greatest of these fighters, and was knighted Lord Lion. But his honored position came with a price: a wife chosen for him by the king - a reluctant Viking bride.”
Suspense: Hello, Darkness by Sandra Brown, read by Victor Slezak for $2.99+$3.99 — “Since moving to Austin to ease the pain of tragic mistakes, Paris Gibson has led a life of virtual isolation, coming alive only at night when she hosts her popular radio show. Then one listener - who identifies himself as “Valentino” - tells Paris that the girl he loves jilted him because of Paris’s on-air advice. He intends to exact revenge by killing the girl and then coming after Paris.”
Mystery: Ripper (P.S.) by for $1.99+$3.99 — “Isabel Allende—the New York Times bestselling author whose books, including Maya’s Notebook, Island Beneath the Sea, and Zorro, have sold more than 57 million copies around the world—demonstrates her remarkable literary versatility with Ripper, an atmospheric, fast-paced mystery involving a brilliant teenage sleuth who must unmask a serial killer in San Francisco.”
Non-Fiction: The War of Art by
Non-Fiction: An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States (ReVisioning American History) by for $2.99+$2.99 — “Today in the United States, there are more than 500 federally recognized Indigenous nations comprising nearly three million people, descendants of the 15 million Native people who once inhabited this land. The centuries-long genocidal program of the US settler-colonial regimen has largely been omitted from history. Dunbar-Ortiz adroitly challenges the founding myth of the United States and shows how policy against the Indigenous peoples was colonialist and designed to seize the territories of the original inhabitants, displacing or eliminating them. And as Dunbar-Ortiz reveals, this policy was praised in popular culture, through writers like James Fenimore Cooper and Walt Whitman, and in the highest offices of government and the military. Spanning more than 400 years, this classic bottom-up peoples’ history radically reframes US history and explodes the silences that have haunted our national narrative.”
Hyde by
AND: There’s such a big list of titles that I’ve highlighted in previous sales but do warrant at least a quick mention: Oliver Potzsch’s The Hangman’s Daughter (A Hangman’s Daughter Tale Book 1) and the rest of the series, Nicholas Sanborn Smith’s Extinction Horizon (The Extinction Cycle Book 1) and the rest of the series, Troy Denning’s Last Light (HALO), Evan Currie’s SEAL Team 13 (SEAL Team 13 series), Nick Webb’s Constitution: Book 1 of The Legacy Fleet Trilogy, B.V. Larson’s Steel World (Undying Mercenaries Series Book 1), and Steven Campbell’s Hard Luck Hank: Screw the Galaxy.
Next up, of the 50 Kindle Book Deals for $2 Each
Matthew Mather’s The Atopia Chronicles (Atopia Series Book 1) and The Dystopia Chronicles (Atopia Series Book 2); Evan Currie’s Into the Black [Remastered Edition] (Odyssey One Book 1) and the rest of the series as well; Sarah Fine’s Sanctum (Guards of the Shadowlands Book 1) and the rest of the series as well; S.G. Redling’s Flowertown; …
Christian Cantrell’s Kingmaker; Neve Maslakovic’s Regarding Ducks and Universes; Martin Jensen’s historical mystery series The King’s Hounds (The King’s Hounds series Book 1); and William Lashner’s crime novel The Accounting.
Third, there’s another Amazon deal section this month which includes 72 Halloween Kindle Book Deals
Huntress Moon (The Huntress/FBI Thrillers Book 1) by for $1.99+$1.99 each — “FBI Special Agent Matthew Roarke is closing in on a bust of a major criminal organization in San Francisco when he witnesses an undercover member of his team killed right in front of him on a busy street, an accident Roarke can’t believe is coincidental. His suspicions put him on the trail of a mysterious young woman who appears to have been present at each scene of a years-long string of accidents and murders, and who may well be that most rare of killers: a female serial. Roarke’s hunt for her takes him across three states… while in a small coastal town, a young father and his five-year-old son, both wounded from a recent divorce, encounter a lost and compelling young woman on the beach and strike up an unlikely friendship without realizing how deadly she may be. As Roarke uncovers the shocking truth of her background, he realizes she is on a mission of her own, and he must race to capture her before more blood is shed.” Books 2 and 3 are also on sale.
The Beginning of the End (Apocalypse Z) by Manel Loureiro (Author), Pamela Carmell (Translator), and Nick Podehl (Narrator) for $1.99+$1.99 each — “A mysterious incident in Russia, a blip buried in the news - it’s the only warning humanity receives that civilization will soon be destroyed by a single, voracious virus that creates monsters of men.” Books 2 and 3 are also on sale.
The Neighbors by Ania Ahlborn, read by Fleet Cooper for $1.99+$1.99 — “Welcome to Magnolia Lane. It’s not exactly a little slice of heaven, but in the backwater town of Creekside, Kansas, it’s the best a jobless supermarket clerk like Andrew Morrison can do. After sacrificing a normal childhood, a decent education, and true love to look after his alcoholic mother, he’s finally breaking free and living his own life - but in the squalid house he’s sharing with a former childhood friend, the living isn’t exactly easy. Plus, there’s something about the chipper, all-American couple next door that’s just downright creepy. However, that doesn’t keep Drew from accepting a job as their handyman - or surrendering to the wiles of perfect housewife Harlow Ward, a woman who always gets what she wants. Drew, like a string of hapless young men before him, doesn’t realize he’s dancing with a devil - one dressed to the nines in high heels and pearls.”
Thriller: Matador by Ray Banks, read by Alexander Cendese for $1.99+$1.99 — “Costa del Sol, Spain: He wakes up screaming, a bullet in his head and his body buried in a shallow grave. He has no memory of life before this moment, just a single clue to the past: Crumpled in his pocket is a ticket to a bullfight, a phone number on the back. Maybe it will unlock the answers he needs. Or maybe it will be a brutal reminder that some lives are better left forgotten. Because as his luck would have it, the ticket leads to British drug runners and their gangster bosses who don’t take kindly to dead men walking around. Now they’re hot on his trail, threatening the family and friends he barely remembers yet will kill to protect. If it’s a fight they want, it’s a fight they’ll get. And this time when they murder the matador, they’d better make sure he stays dead…”
Suspense: Underwater by Julia McDermott, read by Laural Merlington for $1.99+$1.99 — “After years of guilt over a long-ago tragedy, Candace Morgan is finally poised for success. The CEO of her own women’s shapewear company, she’s about to launch a new swimsuit line - and make a fortune. When she is guilted into loaning her brother a huge sum of money for real estate, she believes she’s simply fulfilling a family promise. In reality, she’s enabling a devious sociopath - and now, she’s roped into the renovation from hell. For years, Monty Carawan has envied his sister’s wealth. Spiteful and self-centered, he’s convinced that her success came at the expense of his own future. But when the housing market plunges and Candace attempts to disentangle herself from Monty’s mess, her brother’s malicious streak brings the family tension to a dangerous boiling point.”
Thriller: A Density of Souls by Christopher Rice, read by James Daniels for $1.99+$1.99 — “Four high-school students in present-day New Orleans are torn apart by envy, passion, and tragedy. Meredith, Brandon, Greg, and Stephen quickly discover the fragile boundaries between friendship and betrayal as they enter high school and form new alliances. Brandon and Greg gain popularity as football jocks, and Meredith joins the bulimic in-crowd, while Stephen becomes the target of homophobia in a school that viciously mocks him. Then, two violent deaths disrupt the core of what they once shared. Five years later, the friends are drawn back together as new facts about their mutual history are revealed, and what was held to be a tragic accident is discovered to be murder. As the true story emerges, other secrets begin to unravel and the casual cruelties of high school develop into acts of violence that threaten an entire city.”
Lastly, a title to pass along this month I found as part of a Harper Collins promotion on “spooky” books for Halloween, on sale through November 9:
Anthology: Dark Duets: All-New Tales of Horror and Dark Fantasy for $1.99+$3.99 — “Dark Duets is a feast of eerie and mesmerizing horror, thriller, and dark fantasy tales - an ambitious and unique anthology featuring biting and atmospheric original stories from 17 pairs of acclaimed writers, all collaborating together for the first time, including New York Times best-selling authors Charlaine Harris, Rachel Caine, Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, Stuart MacBride, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Jonathan Maberry, and David Liss. Penned by two authors - and in one case, a trio - who have never worked together before, the stories in this enthralling literary chemistry blend diverse elements and rich themes into mesmerizing and highly combustible tales that delve deep into the shadowy, unexplored realms of the imagination. On the night before Halloween, an unwitting young woman falls under the spell of a dangerous man - and into a terrifying multiverse - in “T Rhymer” by Gregory Frost and Jonathan Maberry. Sarah MacLean and Carrie Ryan explore the exquisite agony of eternal love in “She, Doomed Girl”. “Welded” by Tom Piccirilli and T. M. Wright offers an unsettling vision of evil that infects and destroys lives.”
Enjoy! And as always, happy #WhispersyncDeal hunting!