Kindle Pick of the Week: These Things Happen

Daniel Zimmer will do almost anything to end his pain—except for the one thing that might work.
Growing up in 1970s Brooklyn under the shadow of his tyrannical father and against the backdrop of the Son of Sam murders, the Karen Ann Quinlan tragedy, and the New York Yankee’s back-to-back championship seasons, Daniel Zimmer struggles to find a sense of safety and belonging. Daniel and his brother Max find moments of solace in the rebellious rhythms of early punk and metal bands like the Ramones and Judas Priest. But when faced with an unexpected family tragedy—for which he feels responsible—Daniel discovers the magical escape that alcohol can provide, numbing his pain and guilt.

Carrying the trauma of his youth into adulthood, Daniel falls deeper into alcoholism as he fights to face life on life’s terms. Then, just as he finally begins to embrace sobriety, Max attempts suicide and Daniel’s ex-fiancée makes an unexpected reappearance. Forced to face his demons head-on, Daniel struggles to take it “one day at a time.”

Kindle Pick of the Week: Yellow A Novel

A new novel from Jeane Charters.

The Eighties...that time of glittery greed, unbound sexuality and political degeneracy when all that stood between Americans and fake news was a free press...and one strong woman.

A great Kindle buy right now.

Yellow skillfully takes readers into a newsroom of the 1980s at the highest-rated television station in Pennsylvania. Finley Smith is its principled news director. When she learns from her top reporter that the Pennsylvania Governor has hired a mob-owned construction company to repair a bridge in Pittsburgh, she plans to report it. Her unscrupulous station manager orders her to “leave it alone.” But when a reporter’s probe reveals dangerous truths about the construction company’s shoddy work, Finley opts to buck the system and run the stories. This sets in motion a deadly dispute.
 
Although Finley’s reputation is irreproachable, making it difficult to fire her, the station manager and corporate president conspire to have her eliminated. Between the covers of Yellow, Charters expertly weaves a suspenseful web of ambition-fueled deceit, financial desperation and corruption that ultimately culminates in a grisly crime. A veteran of broadcast television, Charters draws from her own experiences to inform the character development and story arc, lending authenticity to every page.

Kindle Free Pick of the Week: The Missing Link

It may not be the best book you ever read, but it will sure keep you entertained.

While civilization is steadily destroying itself, IT cubicle-jockey and cyberspace junkie Brent Porter enlists the help of his grumpy office building security guard, Mickey, to find his missing computer gamer girlfriend, Molly. The trouble is, Molly’s fallen down her laundry basket and into a lewd and confusing world of nonsense, in a retelling of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland with a twist: the heroine is dumped into the deepest, darkest bowels of the Internet.

So while Brent and Mickey are searching for Molly in a city that’s gone to complete chaos, and Molly’s fighting off porn freaks, viruses, and scammers, who’s going to save humanity from the Internet (and itself)? Well, that would be the Downriver Boys, a group of homeless people who’ve never had to rely on technology to survive. These vigilant vagabonds, led by a war veteran and a half-brilliant, half-insane madwoman, will have to rely on everything they know about survival so that Brent, Mickey, and Molly will even have something to come back to.

Kindle Free Pick of the Week: Moscow Sting

Alex Dryden follows up his superb debut, Red to Black (2009), with a riveting sequel. British spy Finn, who uncovered a Russian plan to control Europe's access to oil and natural gas, is dead, murdered by a KGB-trained Russian criminal. Anna, the beautiful KGB colonel assigned to seduce Finn, but who fell in love with him instead, is in hiding, raising her son, Little Finn. In the post-Bush era, both the U.S. and Britain have realized that Finn was right: Vladimir Putin is an enemy. Now they want Finn's source, a Kremlin insider known only as Mikhail. MI6 also wants revenge for Finn's murder. The Russians want Anna for her betrayal. Anna wants to shield Mikhail and keep herself and her son alive. Machinations by all the principals ensue, and Dryden, a longtime student of Russia and the world of intelligence, tosses a new player into the mix: Cougar, a private intelligence company run by Burt Miller, a former CIA spook extraordinaire. The larger-than-life Miller schemes against the CIA, MI6, the Russians, and Cougar's corporate competitors to hold on to Anna and reel in Mikhail. Red to Black reinvigorated the classic Cold War espionage genre. Moscow Sting—with its clever, devious, conflicted characters; its tension and verisimilitude; and its complex but fully plausible plot—is every bit as good.

A thriller for your pick this week.

Kindle Free Pick of the Week: Breaking News

Despite ABS News producer Bill Ramey’s distaste for seamy news stories, he pursues evidence that links Senator Gerald Smith to the disappearance of a beautiful blond coed. Nothing is as it appears and soon Bill uncovers dark secrets that someone would kill to protect. As the news story unfolds Bill Ramey and Senator Smith are swept into the funnel of a media tornado that neither of them can control. Though Bill tries to hang on to his integrity, he becomes one of the players in a dangerous game of media manipulation.

Give this a chance, it's free.