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Giles, my sibling, my Mephistophilis. You lie whenever it suits you, but when you lie to me, surely you can take the trouble to make it convincing?
Simon Coltraine is a professional songwriter and musician. His brother Giles – trader, rogue and amiable bully – is a crook. When Giles is killed in a car accident Simon returns to their childhood home to confront his memories and his own complicity in his brother’s schemes.
The Devil has all the best tunes.
(1 votes, average: 3.00 out of 10)
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Craig Edmonds, a successful stockbroker, reports the disappearance of his wife, Kirsty. What starts as a typical missing person’s case soon evolves into a full-blown homicide investigation when forensics uncover blood traces and dark-blonde hairs in the boot of the missing woman’s car. Added to this, is Craig’s adulterous affair with the victim’s younger sister, Narelle Croswell, compounded further by a recently acquired $1,000,000 insurance policy on his wife’s life. He is charged with murder but, with no body and only circumstantial evidence, he walks free when two trials resulting in hung juries fail to convict him.
Ten years later, Jacinta Deller, a newspaper journalist is retrenched. Working on a freelance story about missing persons, she comes across the all but forgotten Edmonds case. When she discovers her boyfriend, Brett Rhodes, works with Narelle Croswell, who is not only the victim’s sister but is now married to the prime suspect, her sister’s husband, she thinks she has found the perfect angle for her article. Instead, her life is turned upside down, as befriending the woman, she becomes embroiled in a warped game of delusion and murder.
THIN BLOOD is a suspense-filled mystery in a contemporary Australian setting. The novel also touches on deeper themes, like family and trust: protagonist Jacinta Deller discovers that blood is not always thicker than water, and sometimes the people you should count on are not the ones who are tied to you by blood or by marriage.
Vicki Tyley author website
$3.97 (FREE until 15 Nov ’09 – enter code BV68V after adding book to cart.)
237 pages
(4 votes, average: 7.00 out of 10)
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“In ancient days, when only women were warriors … ”
“When was that?”
“I don’t know. A long time ago, I suppose.”
“How long ago?”
“I have no idea. It’s not important. It’s just the way you start a story.”
“Why?”
“All stories begin like that.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. They just do.”
In Book I of the trilogy, Tamras, our hero, arrives in Merin’s house to begin her apprenticeship as a warrior, but her small stature causes many, including Tamras herself, to doubt that she will ever become a competent swordswoman. To make matters worse, the Lady Merin assigns her the position of companion, little more than a personal servant, to a woman who came to Merin’s house, seemingly out of nowhere, the previous winter, and this stranger wants nothing to do with Tamras.
Tamras’s journey begins with the smallest of steps. She sets aside her disappointment and performs as well as she can the humble tasks given her, and eventually she succeeds in winning the trust and then the friendship of the cantankerous warrior to whom she has been assigned.
In the first year of her journey, Tamras will make a series of choices that often seem insignificant, but they will flow from her character and from her good intentions, and they will determine her destiny.
The Music of Words
… From the title the reader would expect simply a tale of battle and blood, but this story instead surprises and mesmerizes one in its wonderful intricate weaving of words that become a delicate fabric of story and feeling. Words flow like a gentle meandering stream and one is swept up in the actual thoughts and emotions of the main character as she experiences growth and change…
Well-written, well-conceived, polished
The world-building is solid, the characters feel true… These are fantasy books, but there’s no ring of power or glowing sword of specialness; the magic, like the tone of the book, is quiet. It feels real.
Perfectly believable, yet perfectly fanciful and imaginative
…(the hero) learns much of statecraft, friendship, loyalty, and duty… mostly, she learns what she wants most in her own life… Well written, a pleasure to read. On to Book 2!
(1 votes, average: 9.00 out of 10)
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1963, and panic over the spread of heroin addiction in London. While the Profumo and Challenor scandals are exposing the dark underbelly of postwar Britain, a teenage heroin and cocaine addict undergoes a cold turkey in a padded cell. His escape from custody triggers a chain of events which ends in murder and mayhem.
A lyrical and triumphant elegy to a seedy, vice-ridden London of the 1960s.
(7 votes, average: 9.43 out of 10)
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Eva thought she could outrun the plagues, but she was wrong. The bio-hackers that ripped the world raw are targeting her hometown of Prague, and this time there may be no escaping it.
Now, hunted by police who think she’s a hacker herself, Eva must brave the rotting city streets to find her mother before it’s too late. But with a ruthless agent known as a “Healer” on the prowl, it may only be a matter of time before Eva becomes another victim of his blood-soaked carnage.
In this snowy, ash-strewn apocalypse, Eva’s greatest fear is this new threat may not be coincidence at all… it may be personal.
“A gripping, scary viruscore tale.”
— io9.com
“MCM is one of the most unique voices working in SciFi today.”
— Martin Gero, Producer, Stargate: Atlantis, Stargate: Universe
(6 votes, average: 6.00 out of 10)
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Have you ever wondered what it might be like to go to Antarctica on a whim, or did you start thinking about it just now? Is going on the Trans-Siberian Railway on your list of things to do before you die, but you’re not entirely sure why? Does your idea of good traveling exclude any kind of detailed planning?
If so, you might want to get One for the Road. It’s a fun read, but it will also teach you a lot about several far-away and foreign parts, and about how to travel independently anywhere in general.
Building on experience from 60 countries worth of independent travel, the author takes you on three journeys to places you may never have considered visiting, although you probably should and you definitely could.
The book was published on paper in 2008, but was only recently made available as free PDF, ePub, mobi and LIT downloads from the book’s Web site, bjornfree.com.
FREE (but not because it had to be)
381 dead tree pages
(7 votes, average: 9.57 out of 10)
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Imagine Murakami’s Norwegian Wood, transported to Eastern Europe.
The day the Berlin Wall came down, Jennifer returned to England, A subtle dream one doesn’t want to wake up from (Authonomy) abandoning her week-old daughter, Szandi, to grow up on a Hungarian vineyard with 300 years of history. Now 18, Szandi is part of Budapest’s cosmopolitan art scene, sharing a flat and a bohemian lifestyle with her lover and fellow scupltress, Yang. She has finally found her place in the world. Then a letter arrives that threatens everything, and forces her to choose once and for all: between the past and the present; between East and West; between her family and her lover.
Songs from the Other Side of the Wall is a coming of age story that inhabits anti-capitalist chatrooms and ancient winecellars, seedy bars and dreaming spires; and takes us on a remarkable journey across Europe and cyberspace in the company of rockstars and dropouts, diaries that appear from nowhere, a telepathic fashion mogul, and the talking statue of a bull
(7 votes, average: 9.29 out of 10)
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Strategies to keep you sane
Housework is a unique challenge.
How you feel about housework not only affects your home – it can impact your relationships, your emotional well-being and your health. It can even affect your finances!
So if you’re just not at home with the domestic stuff…
Relax. There’s a brand new resource just for you!
Make Peace With Housework is a series of eBooks that deal with the mental woes of domestic life. Each of the 8 eBooks address a separate issue, ranging from Futility to Injustice to Overwhelm. This introduction sets out why we need to address the psychological aspects of housework – and shows exactly how to do it. The free intro gives you a taster of what you can expect from the series and also explains why this resource came about – and why women everywhere will find it useful, entertaining and inspiring.
So if housework is doing your head in – this intro will explain how there is another way.
It’s brilliant! Funny, interesting, informative and enjoyable. Thank-you!”
Tina Kirkman, West Yorkshire UK
“…wonderful and chock full of inspiration and useful info.”
Kris Wise, Manchester USA
“I’m married to a housework-phobic woman who will LOVE your ideas.”
Chris Twiggs, Florida USA
“…if I hadn’t read your book, I might not have understood the tools to help me begin what looked like a neverending task.”
Lowenna Luke, Cornwall UK
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.tech is a free e-book of poetry about technology, artificial intelligence, video games, and computers. Several of the poems are actually composed in programming languages and can actually be run.
The poems discuss a digital mindscape, telling a story of how technology affects many aspects of our lives, both in fantasy and reality.
The book is published free on scribd. A stylized audio version of one of the poems, building can be found on my blog. building is about how assembling a computer and bringing it to life resembles an act of mystic creation.
(1 votes, average: 7.00 out of 10)
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In an alternate present the minds of teen offenders are uploaded into computers for rehabilitation—a form of virtual wilderness therapy. Zach is a homo cognoscens, one of the new humans who can navigate the Fulgrid. Though still a high school student, he is indentured to the Fulgur Corporation as a counsellor. Laura is a homo sapiens. Their story is part odyssey, part tragedy, part riff on the nature of consciousness.
The novel is being serialised in weekly instalments, a chapter each Friday. Podcasts (audiobook) are also available, read by the Welsh actor Ioan Hefin.
(9 votes, average: 7.67 out of 10)
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I usually write international thrillers, but Beasts of New York is very different: it’s an urban fantasy about the wildlife of New York City, starring a squirrel protagonist who has to find his way from exile back to his home in Central Park, rescue his mother, and win a war. No easy task – but the unconventional friends he makes along the way just might be able to help him save his homeland…
– Jon Evans
This story is beautiful… Made me think of squirrels completely differently and its cool to hear about NY in a different perspective. As I’m reading this book, I cant help but feel for all the characters. Unbelievable that this book is free and a must read for all.
– kingshtcook, feedbooks.com
Jon Evans is a fool to give this away for free. This story is every bit as entertaining as any Harry Potter adventure or modern fiction thriller. Download it. Read it. Print it. Give it to everyone you know.
– Alex, Manybooks.net
(2 votes, average: 10.00 out of 10)
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In May 2009, Editor Unleashed and Smashwords partnered to sponsor The Flash Fiction 40 Contest. Any writer could post a story of 1,000 words or fewer on the Editor Unleashed forum, and the members would get a chance to read and rank all of the stories.
More than 280 writers took up the challenge and posted a story. It was a dynamic experiment in what is quickly becoming the new wave of publishing: crowd sourcing and open review. Both the forum members and editors who made the final cut chose the same story as the Grand Prize winner—a dark, astonishing piece of magical realism titled “Fairy Tales” by Laurel Wilczek. You can read about Laurel and her inspiration for her flash fiction in profiles on both Editor Unleashed and at the Smashwords Blog.
In this anthology, you’ll find “Fairy Tales” as well as 39 other winning stories from the Flash Fiction 40 Contest. These stories encompass every genre—from literary to horror and beyond—and are 40 outstanding examples of the rapidly evolving flash fiction form. Savor the stories one at a time or spend a few leisurely hours reading the collection in whole. I know you’ll enjoy reading these 40 great flash fiction pieces as much as I did.
-Maria Schneider, Editor Unleashed
(2 votes, average: 10.00 out of 10)
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WANTED: DEAD OR VERY DEAD!
Jason Cosmo is perfectly happy as a humble woodcutter in the village of Lower Hicksnittle-until a foppish stranger tries to kill him, claiming there is a huge price on Jason’s head. Ten million gold carats is enough to put Arden’s best–and worst–bounty hunters on his trail. It seems Jason has become the most feared man in the Eleven Kingdoms–which is news to Jason!
On the run from mercenaries, Demon Lords, and the full might of the sinister Dark Magic Society, Jason teams up with cynical wizard Mercury Boltblaster and winsome twins Sapphrina and Rubis to learn the truth.
Driven by the Laws of Narrative, Jason’s quest will take him from the bright realm of The Gods to the deadly depths of the Incredibly Dark Forest–and into a final confrontation with the forces of evil. Followed by another final confrontation. And then a sort of wrapping up loose ends scene. If he lives that long…
(2 votes, average: 9.00 out of 10)
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Set three thousand years in the future, at a time when spaceships travel between the worlds with the help of “webbers.”
Human worlds are organised in two empires – the “Old Empire” and the “New Empire” – and each of the two emperors is immortal. The two emperors have each signed an oath to respect the interests of the guild of Webbers which is seen as central to keeping the peace between the worlds.
In place of a single commanding officer, ships are run by a trirumvirate or “Three.” At the start of the book, the patrol ship Bhattya needs a new first officer. Commanda Rallya and her two colleages who make up Bhattya’s “Three” decide to offer the post to Rafe, a brilliant webber who looks twenty five, and believes himself to be thirty, but has had his memory erased on defecting from the New Empire to the old one.
As the Bhattya gets caught up in events which appear to threaten the stability of the galaxy it becomes very clear that there is something very unusual about Rafe. He is every bit as talented as Rallaya and her colleages had hoped, but his background seems to be very mysterious – and hint at an age rather greater than the 25 which his physical condition suggests or the 30 which he admits to. And whatever his past is, both of the two emperors are taking a close personal interest in him. Who or what is Rafe – and why is he so important ?
I really liked this book and am surprised that it didn’t become a bestseller. Good for a try if you want to read a science fiction book which is a bit different from the usual run.
By Marshall Lord, Amazon.com
(2 votes, average: 9.50 out of 10)
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The Ghosts of Earth is the first book of the Truthfarer series which describes the beginnings of a universe – the origins of space and time, and of consciousness itself. These cataclysmic events set in train the Truthfarers’ quest, and the account of their journey Homewards.
This history follows the adventures of two of these beings as they travel from the skies of an ancient planet to the realm of the gods, and then onwards to the freezing landscape of a new world, before finally encountering the subterranean regions of the Gaki. These creatures are a strange race indeed, inexorably driven by an insatiable hunger towards madness, to an insanity that holds within itself the key to the next stage of their path towards ultimate knowledge.
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This guidebook is the result of ten years of extremely active personal practice and study of the out-of-body phenomenon(the phase), coupled with having successfully taught it to thousands of people. I know all of the obstacles and problems that are usually run into when getting to know this phenomenon, and have tried to protect future practitioners from them in this book.
This guidebook was not created for those who prefer light, empty reading. It is for those who would like to learn something. It contains no speculations or stories, only dry, hard facts and techniques in combination with a completely pragmatic approach and clear procedures for action. They have all been successfully verified by a vast number of practitioners that often had no prior experience. In order to achieve the same result, it is only necessary to read through each section thoroughly and complete the assignments.
The book is beneficial not only for beginners, but also for those who already know what it feels like to have an out-of-body encounter and have a certain amount of experience, as this guidebook is devoted not only to entering the state, but also equally dedicated to controlling it.
Contrary to popular opinion, there is nothing difficult about this phenomenon if one tries to attain it with regular and right effort. On average, results are reached in less than a week if attempts are made every day. More often than not, the techniques work in literally a couple of attempts.
(5 votes, average: 8.20 out of 10)
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