Friday, August 2, 2013

Free Kindle Books 8-2-13

PLEASE. Do everyone a favor and write an Amazon review if you end up reading a book (or trying to and giving up in disgust). It does not have to be much. Just tell what you think of the book. By the way, many times I have found the 1 and 2 star reviews on self published works to be far more revealing about the book than the more stellar reviews. Reviewers need gratification too, so if a review is helpful to you, please click on the voting button to indicate it was helpful.

Most times these books are only free for a day or two, so you have to grab them while you can. Worry about whether you really want to read it later if it seems interesting. And be careful, they can change from free to not free at any time. I have also decided to list books for no more than 3 days in a row to avoid cluttering up the posts, unless there is some reason I think the book deserves extra attention.

From the top 100 free list
As is typical, there are also several religious and recipe books on the list today, along with the usual assortment of romance, porn and near porn. I don't call them out because they don't interest me. Click on the link above and search through the Free List Tab if you are interested in such books.

Fall of the Citizens: A Novel
Eric Thomas' debut thriller is an exciting, violent and thought provoking story that asks the question, "What happens after you've won the revolution?" The story centers around Josh, a member of the hacktivist group Anonymous, who is living in safe seclusion until he's recruited by a bloodthirsty group of revolutionaries called "The Citizens." They've launched a war on the wealthy; stealing vaccinations from rich pharmaceutical companies and handing them out to the poor. Josh is reluctant to join until he meets Betty, a sarcastic, pink haired revolutionary motivated by her recent misfortune. Josh and Betty ride the wave of an uprising that will put them on the front line in the battle between the "haves" and the "have-nots," a class warfare struggle when the rights of the many finally outweigh the rights of the few.

5 star:(12)
4 star:(23)
3 star:(5)
2 star:(2)
1 star:(1)

[#7. A 2-star review writes "The F word is just not a descriptive adjective".]

Freezing Point
The polar icecaps are melting - fast.

In a drowning, desperate world, the Soldyne Corporation sees an opportunity: Melt Antarctic icebergs into drinking water using their microwave satellite array, ship the water to thirsty nations around the globe, and make a fortune.

But deep within the ice waits an enemy more deadly than anyone could imagine--and an apocalyptic horror Earth may not survive.

5 star:(37)
4 star:(45)
3 star:(23)
2 star:(10)
1 star:(4)

[#39. Why would anyone think it could ever be economical to do this when membrane technology can make all the drinking water from the oceans anyone could ever need at a much lower cost. Start off with an impossible premise, and likely some muddled environmental mumbo-jumbo, and probably you end up with a story that makes little sense. But, one never knows.]

[#95. 2nd day.  The 2-star review says "I was surprised at the quality of the writing after all the other reviews. Perhaps they were friends being supportive. I could not finish it. The pacing was laborious and left me ... Well it just left me so I never finished it."]

Free From Stackpole.
Stackpole seems to put a book or two up for free periodically.  I have read several of their free books. Some interesting stuff. Most of what I have seen is WWII German military history, with varying quality of translation.

Two One Pony: An American Soldier's Year in Vietnam, 1969 (Stackpole Military History Series)
Thoughtful, reflective narrative of a reluctant soldier in Vietnam
Author served as a mechanized infantryman in the Mekon Delta with the 9th Infantry Division
Captures the rhythms of life in war as well as the boredom and chaos of Vietnam
Two One Pony was the name of the author's squad's armored personnel carrier
Tries to make sense of the absurdity of the war

[One 5-star review.]

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