The iconic vampire novel Dracula has consistently been one of the most frequently downloaded eBooks, even before the advent of the Kindle. Because the 1897 horror story was out of copyright, it was freely available, often in crudely formatted text files. But its popularity has never waned, thanks partly to the book’s continual revival in film and popular culture.

stokerAt the top of today’s Buffet is an edition made especially for the Kindle that includes several detailed maps and historical illustrations, along with author Bram Stoker’s short story, Dracula’s Guest. Normally this edition costs $1.99, but today it’s free.

The tale begins with solicitor Jonathan Harker journeying by train and carriage from England to Count Dracula’s crumbling, remote castle. His mission is to provide legal support to Dracula for a real estate transaction. At first enticed by Dracula’s gracious manner, Harker soon discovers that he has become a prisoner in the castle. One night while searching for a way out, and against Dracula’s strict admonition not to venture outside his room at night, Harker falls under the spell of three wanton female vampires, “the Sisters.”

Stoker was an Irish novelist and short story writer who was best known during his lifetime as the personal assistant of actor Henry Irving and manager of London’s Lyceum Theatre, which Irving owned.

The original 541-page manuscript was long believed lost, but was found in a barn in Pennsylvania in the early 1980s. The typewritten pages had numerous corrections, and handwritten at the top was an alternate title, “THE UN-DEAD.” The document was purchased by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Stoker’s original research notes are displayed in the Rosenbach Museum and Library in Philadelphia.

As usual, each book listed here has gone FREE within the past 24 hours (except for the “Kindle Daily Deals” on page 3). Warning: Kindle book promotions can end without notice, so before downloading click the link “See Kindle price at Amazon” to verify that the book is still free. (Prices and availability may differ outside USA.)

Dracula (Illustrated)

Horror
Author: Bram Stoker

Dracula (Illustrated)

A dreary castle, blood-thirsty vampires, open graves at midnight, and other gothic touches fill this chilling tale about a young Englishman’s confrontation with the evil Count Dracula. A horror romance as deathless as any vampire, the blood-curdling tale still continues to hold readers spellbound a century later.

Told in a series of first-person missives and reports, and set in 1890s Transylvania, this book is the source of every vampire story told in the 20th century, the founding text of the entire genre. Count Dracula is a dangerous and powerful creature who’s lived for hundreds of years and possesses powers no mortal can claim. Bent on creating legions of Un-Dead followers in populous London, Dracula must be stopped—but how?

Back on Murder (A Roland March Mystery Book #1)

Mysteries & Thrillers
Kindle Edition, J. Mark Bertrand

Back on Murder (A Roland March Mystery Book #1)

Detective Roland March is a homicide cop on his way out. But when he’s the only one at a crime scene to find evidence of a missing female victim, he’s given one last chance to prove himself. Before he can crack the case, he’s transferred to a new one that has grabbed the spotlight–the disappearance of a famous Houston evangelist’s teen daughter.

With the help of a youth pastor with a guilty conscience who navigates the world of church and faith, March is determined to find the missing girls while proving he’s still one of Houston’s best detectives.

Indecent Proposal

Contemporary Fiction

Author: Jack Engelhard

Indecent Proposal

A destitute couple try their luck in an Atlantic City casino. The wife, Joan,is utterly gorgeous. She attracts the attention of an oil rich sultan who can buy anything he sets his eyes on.

Arab billionaire Ibrahim Hassan offers Joshua Cantor $1 million if he will allow Hassan to sleep with Joan. But this ostensibly “indecent proposal” has darker overtones for Cantor, whose parents survived the Holocaust. He’s a corporate speech writer with an average salary and he’s “tired of being poor.” He’s also afraid of losing his well-bred wife.

Spirit Horses

Contemporary Fiction

Author: Alan Evans

Spirit Horses

In the hills of Tennessee, Shane Carson, a gifted, nationally-recognized horseman, is living the good life. When a mysterious mustang shows up on his farm, Shane doesn’t know how—or why—the horse appeared, but the horse’s distinctive brand identifies her. She is one of the Spirit Horses, a rare, wild herd that runs free on the Shoshone reservation in Wyoming. Watched over for centuries in the tribe’s ancestral valleys, these exquisite horses, according to belief, provide a link to the afterlife.

Chocolate Beach

Contemporary Fiction

Author: Julie Carobini

Chocolate Beach

Bri Stone has the man of her dreams, a surf-ridin’ son, a chocolate-loving best friend, and a job as a SoCal tour bus host. Throw in an intrusive mother-in-law, a flirty new boss, a vocal nemesis, and suspicions that her husband might be bored—and Bri’s rose-colored sunglasses suddenly crack.

Can Bri reinvent herself–and recapture his heart?

The Reckoning (A Jess Williams Novel)

Action & Adventure

Author: Robert J. Thomas

The Reckoning (A Jess Williams Novel)

Jess Williams is an ordinary young boy with a loving family growing up in Black Creek, Kansas. That all changes when he comes home and finds his entire family brutally murdered.

Forced to become a man overnight, he vows to avenge his family’s savage deaths. He leaves home transformed from a boy to a highly skilled shootist with no reason to live except to hunt down and kill each of the three men responsible for the murders of his family.

The Beholder, a Maddie Richards Mystery

Contemporary Fiction

Author: David Bishop

The Beholder, a Maddie Richards Mystery

Maddie Richards is an efficient and resourceful detective with a secret wish that she could handle her messy personal life as well as she handles her work life. As a homicide sergeant for the Phoenix, Arizona Police Department, she has one of the highest solve rates in America.

She has an ex-husband she still cares for, but who was bad for her and her ten-year-old son. Her widowed mother who lives with her is both a blessing and a trial. And, oh yes, her ex-husband has married an extremely wealthy and politically connected woman who cannot give birth.

Forever My Lady: A Novel

Mystery & Thrillers

Author: Jeff Rivera

Forever My Lady: A Novel

Dio Rodriguez grew up on the streets and knew all too well the hard, cool feeling of the barrel of a gun tucked down the back of his jeans. But his hard exterior softened when he met Jennifer. Jennifer understands Dio like no one else and makes him want to be a better man.

Suddenly a drive-by shooting lands Dio in a prison boot camp and sends Jennifer to the hospital. When Dio learns that Jennifer is pregnant, he realizes that he must find a way to turn his life around and return to his lady

A Boy Called Duct Tape

Children’s eBooks

Author: Christopher Cloud

A Boy Called Duct Tape

Pablo Perez is a 12-year-old kid without much going for him. His classmates have dubbed him “Duct Tape” because his tattered discount-store sneakers are held together with…you guessed it, duct tape. He can’t escape the bullying.
Pablo’s luck changes after he finds a $20 gold coin while swimming with his sister in a river near their home. Pablo later buys a $1 treasure map at the county fair. The map shows the route to the “lost treasure” of the notorious outlaw Jesse James. Pablo can’t help but wonder: Is there a link between the map and the gold coin?

Contingency

Fantasy

Author: Peggy Martinez

Contingency

Eighteen-year-old Sage Hannigan wants to get back to her own time, preferably one that hasn’t been destroyed by an underworld plot brewing in Edwardian-era South Carolina. How hard can it be?

All she has to do to accomplish this; learn to use newly acquired warping skills to bend time to her will, take out a few rogue vampires, join an ancient secret society, figure out who is putting the time stream in jeopardy, and find and maim whoever invented the corset.

The Demi-Monde: Winter (The Demi-Monde Saga)

Mystery & Thrillers

Author: Rod Rees

The Demi-Monde: Winter (The Demi-Monde Saga)

In the year 2018, the Demi-Monde is the most sophisticated, complex and unpredictable computer simulation ever created, devised specifically to train soldiers for the nightmarish reality of urban warfare. A virtual world of eternal civil conflict, its thirty million inhabitants—“Dupes”—are ruled by cyber-duplicates of some of history’s cruelest tyrants.

But something has gone horribly wrong inside the Demi-Monde, and the U.S. president’s daughter, Norma, has been lured into this terrifying shadow world, only to be trapped there.

Dust

Short Stories

Author: Allison M. Dickson

Dust

A hungry alien substance has traveled to Earth following a doomed Lunar mission, and it’s consuming everything it touches, leaving behind drifts of gray death. No life form stands a chance, but Clyde Jackson is tougher than most. He’s seen war and he’s been in plenty of foxholes. Now he’s living through the end of the world one day at a time in a panic room that has become his only refuge. It’s only a matter of time before the ventilation fails, and it’ll only take a single gray speck to end it all…

The Mule Tamer II, Chica’s Ride

Westerns

Author: John Horst, Paulette Bethel

The Mule Tamer II, Chica's Ride

Nineteen-hundred is a new century and a new era, yet the fearless Chica and her beloved Arvel Walsh have an old score to settle. Sombrero Del Oro is back and he has stolen something that will unleash a fury that neither he nor his gang have ever known.

She was once wild, and now tame, once vulgar and now refined. The bride of a blueblood Easterner, a loving mother, a devoted wife, but it quickly becomes apparent that she has not lost her edge. Chica has everything to lose and is more terrifying and ruthless than ever.

Trade Secrets

Mystery & Thrillers

Author: Holly Rozner

Trade Secrets

Trade Secrets is a fast- paced thriller-a story of financial greed that has never been told. It takes the reader on the trading floor of the world’s largest Exchange where money is pocketed before a trade is processed. When Remy Masterman becomes a member of the Exchange to unearth the details surrounding her father’s car crash, she comes head to head with Zach Silverman, once her father’s partner and now Chairman of the Exchange.

My Two Uncles

Children’s eBooks

Author: Jeff Rivera, Tariq Saeed

My Two Uncles

Having two uncles is so much fun and two uncles are definitely better than one! Together, they’ll teach you all about studying, baking and football. My Two Uncles will take you on a journey of twice the compassion, twice the
understanding and twice the love.

Perfect for any family that has two uncles, two daddies, two aunties or two mommies.

Amongst My Enemies

Action & Adventure

Author: William F. Brown

Amongst My Enemies

Inside an old German U-Boat rusting on the bottom of the Baltic are millions in gold bars, stolen art, and a secret that could tear NATO apart. The only one who knows the truth is Mike Randall, a battle-scarred American who survived four months in the frozen Hell of northern Germany at the end of the war. When he does speak up, he puts a target on his own forehead, one which the Russians, the West Germans, the U-boat’s former owners, the Israeli Mossad, and even his own government quickly take aim at. Some want the gold, some want him dead, and some want proof about a high-ranking spy inside NATO itself.

Planning on Forever (The Forever Series)

Romance

Author: Ashley Wilcox, Jennifer Roberts-Hall

Planning on Forever (The Forever Series)

Collin and Alexa are the perfect couple; gorgeous, popular and hopelessly in love. With graduation day nearing and college life on the horizon, Collin flirts with infidelity and loses everything he has with Alexa.

Brokenhearted and single, Alexa meets sexy Nolan Pratt. She can’t deny the attraction and pull that he has over her.

The Merchant and the Menace (The Seraphinium)

Fantasy

Author: Daniel McHugh

The Merchant and the Menace (The Seraphinium)

The Seraphim. Beings of power, created to guide the world in times of trouble. They live their lives of near immortality in servitude to a lesser creature, man.

One rebelled. Amird, the Hand of the Creator, bridled at the sovereignty of his lord. In defiance he murdered a brother and was cast into the Mists of Chaos.

Through These Eyes

Mystery & Thrillers

Author: Tom Bradford, Michael Risley

Through These Eyes

For Sheriff’s Deputy Michelle Baxter, the ending of a routine patrol shift instantly turns deadly when she responds to a convenience store armed robbery. After a high speed pursuit with the robbers shooting at her, they ditch their car, and she gives chase to one of suspects. She shoots, killing the armed robber. But it’s not the robber. It’s sixteen year old Mario Costa, in his backyard, with only a cell phone in his hand.

Still in mourning over the death of her soldier husband in Afghanistan, Baxter must now confront the harsh reality that she has killed an innocent boy; a boy the same age as her son, Nate.

Breaking News: A Novel

Contemporary Fiction

Author: J. D. Rader, Michael Gudgell

Breaking News: A Novel

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.

Petal’s First Winter (Petal the Owl)

Children’s eBooks

Author: Joy Findlay

Petal's First Winter (Petal the Owl)

Petal the owl discovers winter in this delightful children’s ebook, come and see Petal’s First Winter and the fun she has.  Ages 3-6.

The Chalice (Luna Vampire Series)

Mystery & Thrillers

Author: Christine Asher

The Chalice (Luna Vampire Series)

Luna Lynn Miller awakens to find herself naked and freezing in the pitch black nothingness of a cement pit. Instantly panic stricken, she discovers that blood is steadily seeping from several deep cuts on her neck and wrists.

Mysteriously elusive, her captors give her a choice; she can either drink a supposedly lifesaving concoction from their chalice or die.

How To Build A Website With WordPress…Fast!

Business & Investing

Author: Kent Mauresmo, Anastasiya Petrova

How To Build A Website With WordPress...Fast! (Read2Learn Guides)

Presenting The Easiest Way Ever Developed To Learn WordPress—Guaranteed! We’ll teach you how to use WordPress to create potent money making websites that will boost your business fast! We’ll show you:

  • How to pick the best domain names.
  • How to pick the best hosting package. (#1 mistake 95% of people make)
  • How to pick and install the BEST WordPress Plugins.
  • Where you should go to get amazing WordPress Themes.

The Guardian of Threshold – A Young Adult Paranormal Fantasy (Urban Fantasy, Contemporary Fantasy) (Threshold Series)

Fantasy

Author: A.A. Volts

The Guardian of Threshold - A Young Adult Paranormal Fantasy (Urban Fantasy, Contemporary Fantasy) (Threshold Series)

While normal sixteen-year-old boys are out chasing girls, Mark is floating outside his own body being chased by a nefarious demon. Death itself can’t keep him from trying to see his dead mother again, but when he disturbs Phasma-the Guardian of Threshold, he may have gone too far.

Meet Me

Erotica

Author: Azure Boone

Meet Me

Tasha feels safe in her online affair. Plus, she’s broken no hard moral rules. But that all changes when her cyber lover types those two forbidden words: Meet Me.

Story of a Comfort Girl

Drama

Author: Roger Rudick

Story of a Comfort Girl

In 1991, a Council for Korean Comfort Women’s issues was formed to record the testimony of survivors of the Japanese Labor Service Corps, a branch of the Japanese military charged with setting up brothels to serve its troops during WWII. To populate these “comfort stations,” as they were euphemistically called, the Japanese army drafted or tricked some two-hundred thousand girls, most from rural Korea, into coming to work in military “factories.” Instead, they were forced into sexual slavery.

This is the moving first-person account of one such survivor.

As The Last Petal Falls (Once Upon a Romance)

Romance

Author: Jessica Woodard

As The Last Petal Falls (Once Upon a Romance)

Vivienne never planned to get lost, when she set out to find the truth about her mother. She also never planned to be chased by wolves, break her arm, or be held prisoner by an enigmatic, scowling, beast of a man

Most of all, she never planned to fall in love. Funny how things change.

… See the rest of today’s Editor’s Picks and the Kindle Daily Deal here on page 2