Kindle Genre Watch (23 Jul 09)

Genre fiction - as opposed to nonfiction, graphic novels and picture books - lends itself to enjoyable Kindle reading because when you pick up a book of fiction you don't necessarily expect it to be illustrated. Authors of mysteries, science fiction, fantasy, romance novels and westerns paint word pictures and their readers use their own imagination to picture the scene of the crime or the stare of a vampire or the track of an alien space craft hurtling towards earth.

Now you can spend less time searching for new genre fiction and more time reading it as I watch for newly-released genre fiction in the Kindle Storeso you don't have to. Recent genre fiction releases include:

MYSTERIES/
THRILLERS

The Defectorby Daniel Silva. Putnam. Kindle edition $13.34.
"...enigmatic art restorer and assassin Gabriel Allon...has returned to the tan hills of Umbria to resume his honeymoon with his new wife, Chiara, and restore a seventeenth-century altarpiece for the Vatican. But his idyllic world is once again thrown into turmoil with shocking news from London. The defector and former Russian intelligence officer Grigori Bulganov, who saved Gabriel's life in Moscow, has vanished without a trace. British intelligence is sure he was a double agent all along, but Gabriel knows better...Gabriel and his team of operatives will find themselves in a deadly duel of nerve and wits with one of the world's most ruthless men: the murderous Russian oligarch and arms dealer Ivan Kharkov. It will take him from a quiet mews in London, to the shores of Lake Como, to the glittering streets of Geneva and Zurich, and, finally, to a heart-stopping climax in the snowbound birch forests of Russia..." - Amazon.
Less expensive alternative: the first book in the Gabriel Allon series, The Kill Artist.

Devil's Punchbowl by Greg Iles. Scribner. Kindle edition $9.95.
"As a prosecuting attorney in Houston, Penn Cage sent hardened killers to death row. But it is as mayor of his hometown - Natchez, Mississippi - that Penn will face his most dangerous threat. Urged by old friends to try to restore this fading jewel of the Old South, Penn has ridden into office on a tide of support for change. But in its quest for new jobs and fresh money, Natchez, like other Mississippi towns, has turned to casino gambling, and now five fantastical steamboats float on the river beside the old slave market at Natchez like props from Gone With the Wind. But one boat isn't like the others. Rumor has it that the Magnolia Queen has found a way to pull the big players from Las Vegas to its Mississippi backwater. And with them - on sleek private jets that slip in and out of town like whispers in the night - come pro football players, rap stars, and international gamblers, all sharing an unquenchable taste for one thing: blood sport - and the dark vices that go with it. When a childhood friend of Penn's who brings him evidence of these crimes is brutally murdered, the full weight of Penn's failure to protect his city hits home..." - Amazon.

Fugitive by Philip Margolin. HarperCollins. Kindle edition $9.99.
"When the editor-in-chief of World News magazine offers Amanda Jaffe a $500,000 retainer to defend Charlie Marsh, an ex-con turned bestselling spiritual guru,... Amanda can't say no. Marsh, who fled the country in 1997 after being accused of murdering Congressman Arnold Pope Jr., has spent the 12 years since in the African country of Batanga under the protection of its benevolent ruler, Jean-Claude Baptiste, whose threat to kill Marsh for sleeping with his favorite wife has prompted Marsh to return to the U.S. to stand trial. Toss in Pope's revenge-seeking father, several homicidal maniacs and the evil head of the Batanga secret service, and you've got a plot set on full boil..." - Publishers Weekly.

Sworn to Silenceby Linda Castillo. Minotaur Books. Kindle edition $9.99.
"Kate Burkholder grew up in idyllic Painters Mill, where many residents drive buggies, shun electricity, and distance themselves from the complications of modern life. The presence of a serial killer shatters the stillness of the town, leaving its citizenry terrified and on guard. During this time, young Kate’s life takes a fateful turn when she is sexually assaulted by an Amish man named Daniel Lapp. She shoots Lapp in self-defense and, seeing blood splattered across the floor, is certain he’s dead. (Her father drags away the body, and the family banishes the incident from their memories, never reporting it to police.) With Lapp’s demise, the area murders cease. Rattled residents rest easily once again. Fast-forward 16 years. Kate, now chief of police in Painters Mill, is faced with a series of brutal crimes in which the female victims are tortured and raped. Could Daniel Lapp still be alive?... - Allison Block for Booklist.

FANTASY

Warbreakerby Brandon Sanderson. Tor. Kindle edition $15.37.
"...the story of two sisters, who happen to be princesses, the God King one of them has to marry, the lesser god who doesn't like his job, and the immortal who's still trying to undo the mistakes he made hundreds of years ago. Their world is one in which those who die in glory return as gods to live confined to a pantheon in Hallandren's capital city and where a power known as BioChromatic magic is based on an essence known as 'breath' that can only be collected one unit at a time from individual people..." - Tor.com.
"Sanderson melds complex, believable characters, a marvelous world and thoughtful, ironic humor into an extraordinary and highly entertaining story." - Publishers Weekly.
$9.99 or less alternative: Sanderson's earlier fantasy Mistborn.

Fire-Heart: A Tale of Alterra, The World That Isby C. S. Marks. AuthorHouse. Kindle edition $2.99.
"This is the tale of Gorgon Elfhunter, a monstrous, mysterious creature who has sworn to destroy all the Elves of Alterra - until none remain. It is the story of Wood-elven heroine Gaelen Taldin, who has sworn to rid her world of the Elfhunter even as she is hunted by him. Filled with moments both tender and terrifying, thrilling yet thought-provoking, it is a timeless epic fantasy suitable for readers young and old." - Amazon.

Thorn Queenby Richelle Mead. Kensington Publishing. Kindle edition currently $0.00.
Eugenie Markham is a shaman for hire, paid to bind and banish creatures from the Otherworld. But after her last battle, she’s also become queen of the Thorn Land. It’s hardly an envious life, not with her kingdom in tatters, her love life in chaos, and Eugenie eager to avoid the prophecy about her firstborn destroying mankind. And now young girls are disappearing from the Otherworld, and no one - except Eugenie - seems willing to find out why..." -kensingtonbooks.com.

ROMANCE

Twlight of a Queenby Susan Carroll. Ballantine Books. Kindle edition $9.99.
"It is 1588, and as the Spanish Armada prepares to besiege England, Paris balances on the brink of revolution. To maintain her grip on the throne and on the dark magic that has become her obsession, Catherine de Medici turns to Louis Xavier, a ruthless corsair who was schooled in the dark arts and has mastered piracy along the Spanish main. But Louis’s basest instincts are held in check by the kindness of Lady Jane Danvers, a British exile whose innate sense of honor is but one facet of her complex and passionate nature. On Faire Isle, Ariane Cheney, unaware of the escalating threat from the Dark Queen, struggles with the task of protecting the daughters of the earth and their vast store of ancient magical wisdom. Weak and desperate for an advantage, the ailing Catherine makes a devil’s bargain that will cast a shadow over all." - Amazon.

Anybody But Justinby Shelli Stevens. Samhain Publishing. Kindle edition currently $0.00.
"Gabby is serious about her search for Mr. Right, but no one can say she hasn't had a good time looking. She enjoys her numerous dates and the sex that comes with them. Until she finds herself falling for the one man she vows to never love. Her best friend and roommate, Justin. A player in every sense of the word - and a reminder of her awful past. One night, with the help of a bottle of tequila, things get a little too hot for comfort. She moves out, intent on removing him from the line of temptation. Justin has different plans..." - Amazon.

TailSpinby Catherine Coulter. Jove. Kindle edition $6.39.
"When a small plane carrying FBI Special Agent Jackson Jack Crowne makes a crash landing in mountainous Parlow, Ky., his friends FBI Special Agents Dillon Savitch and Lacey Sherlock fly by helicopter from Washington, D.C., to the scene. Jack survives the crash, aided by Rachael Abbott, a young woman who's returning to Parlow, her childhood home, after escaping an attempt to drown her in a Maryland lake. After Rachael reveals that she's the illegitimate daughter of the late Maryland senator John James Abbott, whose siblings she suspects are trying to kill her, the FBI agents agree to help. As further attempts on Rachael's life occur, the attraction grows between her and Jack..." - Publishers Weekly.

SCIENCE FICTION

Gears of War: Jacinto's Remnantby Karen Traviss. Ballantine Books. Kindle edition $9.99.
"Based on the blockbuster Xbox game, this is the stunning story of the men and women who stood between a planet and total destruction - and now have to face the consequences of their actions. After a brutal fifteen-year war for survival, the Coalition of Ordered Governments is forced to destroy mankind’s last city in a final bid to stop the Locust Horde. As the survivors flee Jacinto, they must contend with the last of the Locust, bent on vengeance, as they struggle to stay alive in an icy wilderness..." - Amazon.

The Roswell Protocolsby Allan Burd. Bed Bug Publishing. Kindle edition $9.99.
"Inside the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, an object is detected on radar rapidly descending to earth. Just moments before impact, it vanishes, crash landing somewhere other than originally predicted. Where? No one knows. But the ripple effects are felt worldwide. In a mountain chalet, an innocent children’s book author is about to be frightened to the very core of her soul. In the Kremlin, a war hero is once again summoned to serve his country. In Japan, a determined general sets a daring plan into motion. In California, an expert in kinesics, the science of body movement, is about to be put to the test. In Canada, the RAF takes to the skies. In Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, an order is given - Initiate the Roswell Protocols..." - Amazon.

Against a Dark Backgroundby Iain M. Banks. Orbit. Kindle edition $9.99.
"On the run from a cult of intergalactic religious fanatics who want her death, the Lady Sharrow emerges from retirement to seek out a powerful artifact that may save her life - a weapon that kills by altering the reality around it... Sophisticated prose, complex characters, and an unbridled imagination combine in this tale of high drama and intrigue..." - Library Journal.

The Men Returnby Jack Vance. Wonder eBooks. Kindle edition $2.49.
"Five vintage stories from the 1950s by Science Fiction Grand Master, Jack Vance. SF stories of adventure, detection, horror, and humor [including] The Men Return; The Devil On Salvation Bluff; A Practical Man's Guide; Worlds of Origin; and the haunting, When the Five Moons Rise." - Amazon.

Something Wicked This Way Comesby Ray Bradbury. Synergy House. Kindle edition $1.99.
"Few American novels written this century have endured in the heart and memory as has Ray Bradbury's unparalleled literary classic... For those who still dream and remember, for those yet to experience the hypnotic power of its dark poetry, step inside. The show is about to begin.The carnival rolls in sometime after midnight, ushering in Halloween a week early. The shrill siren song of a calliope beckons to all with a seductive promise of dreams and youth regained. In this season of dying, Cooger & Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show has come to Green Town, Illinois, to destroy every life touched by its strange and sinister mystery. And two boys will discover the secret of its smoke, mazes, and mirrors; two friends who will soon know all too well the heavy cost of wishes...and the stuff of nightmare." - Amazon.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: The Soul Keyby Olivia Woods. PKT HC JV eBooks. Kindle edition $6.39.
"There is a void in the alternate universe that demands to be filled. Iliana Ghemor, the Cardassian operative who years ago was altered in both body and mind to replace Kira Nerys, dreams of fulfilling a prophecy that will mark her as the one true Emissary of that other reality - a messianic figure who could lead her followers into an era of renewed hope...or an age of deepening darkness.Ghemor's claim to the mantle of the Emissary is by no means certain, however, as the inexorable pull of providence tugs also at other souls who are swept into the vortex of the Prophets, the remote and timeless beings who have set these strange events in motion.But the stakes are higher than anyone imagines: for the outcome of this struggle for the fate of one universe will ripple across many others, and become the key to unlocking a future that will prove to be the greatest trial yet for the heroes of station Deep Space 9." - Amazon.


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WESTERNS

The Road to Ratchet Creekby J. T. Edson. HarperCollins. Kindle edition $5.99.
"There are six passengers on the stagecoach from Promontory to Ratchet Creek among them a beautiful singer with bad intentions, a lawman dressed in deacon's garb ... and a red-headed hellion named Martha Jane Canary, who's hell with a whip and quicker on the draw than most male gun artists. But Calamity Jane has met her match in Marshal Solly Cole, which is just as well, since they're both rolling into more bad news than ever. Because Ratchet Creek's home to a lot more than the lowlife swindler that Cole's been trailing; it's a hotbed of mystery and death that abandoned the law long ago..." - Amazon.

Bloodshed of Eaglesby William W. Johnstone. Pinnacle. Kindle edition $4.00.
"Falcon MacCallister never thought he'd wear army brass. But Colorado is about to join the Union - and the would-be state has just made him Lt. Colonel in its Home Guard. Then, before his military career can take off, Falcon loses one of his men and two deadly new Gatling guns to a murderous ambush. Falcon is going to get those Gatling guns back-before they kill the wrong people..." - Amazon.

Texas Killersby J. T. Edson. HarperCollins. Kindle edition $9.99.
"To Dusty Fog's eye, it seems like a killer's conventionis set to convene in Corpus Christi in honor ofthe arrival of a European crown prince. And it's Dusty's job along with fast-draw artist Waco, a knife master called the Ysabel Kid, and other members of Ole Devil Hardin's Floating Outfit to keep his highness breathing while on American soil. But things are threatening to get seriously out of hand, because there're a lot more than just a few hired gunswho want a shot at this royal target. And it's looking like Fog's going to be facing an old adversary again the world's most feared assassin even though Dusty's already killed him once!" - Amazon.

Running Ironsby J. T. Edson. HarperCollins. Kindle edition $9.99.
"Danny Fog has a lot to live up to, being the younger brother of Dusty Fog, the legendary gun wizard from Rio Hondo. But Danny's still a lawman to be reckoned with and by breaking up the loathsome cow-thieving outfit that's terrorizing Caspar County, he'll be well on his way to writing his own legend. The gun-crazy outlaws and Mexican cutthroats standing in his way shouldn't be too much of a problem for the big and brash young Texas Ranger. But dealing with the lady boss of the rustlers may be more than he can handle without help... - Amazon.