SICK by Brett Battles

I was just a few weeks into my LDS mission when I landed in the hospital with food poisoning.  After a week of treatment I was released and sent back out to do my duties as a missionary, but I never did feel healthy after that. I was constantly feeling sick to my stomach. My complaints led to more tests, and more than one MRI. One test even required me to drink barium. Awful stuff. Made me sick for days.

Then the results came in when my physician was out of town and this new doctor diagnosed with me pancreatic cancer. He gave me six months to live and sent me home with some meds. Then my physician came back from vacation and demanded a new test.  The pancreatic cancer? Turned out to be a shadow.

I wasn't dying. I was just sick.

Three days later there was a knock on our apartment door and a woman with the Health Department was there informing me that I was under quarantine. Turns out I had Salmonella E... a very rare form of salmonella.  A form of salmonella that is very contagious.  Want to know where I got it?  The hospital. Turns out their shipment of barium was tainted. Go figure.

I didn't die from my little illness, but it was a real concern for Washoe County. It was quite the little outbreak, and it took them a lot of time and interviews to track the source of the contaminant. Surprisingly there were no secrets. No cover ups regarding the source of the problem. People just tracked it, found all the people that were ill, and did everything they could to help us.

This obviously isn't the case in the novel Sick by Brett Battles.  After waking to the sounds of his daughter crying, Captain Daniel Ash discovers that she is seriously ill. After rushing her to the bathroom and putting her in a cold shower, Captain Ash goes to wake his wife for assistance, and sadly, finds her dead.

After calling for help, Captain Ash is surprised that the men coming to assist are dressed in bio-hazard suits, and even more shocked when he finds bio-hazard teams in front of all the homes in the neighborhood. Taken away in the night and later told that his family is dead, Captain Ash is left to deal with the loss of his family while being kept in an isolated location.  It turns out that Captain Ash has an immunity to the disease and the government uses him to find a vaccine for this deadly virus that is now spreading quickly and killing everyone within hours of exposure... Or at least that's what some people would have you believe.

In Sick by Brett Battles, you'll read about a ruthless helicopter squad assigned to shoot down innocent victims, a news anchor that doesn't know when to stop asking questions, teenagers being trapped with no way to escape the virus, and Captain Ash's incredible escape from quarantine. As the virus leaps from host to host and innocent lives are lost, you'll learn about the people behind the virus and the reason why it was created, and see just how far one man will go to bring justice to the family that he has lost.


Brett Battles was born and raised in southern California. His parents, avid readers, instilled the love of books in him early on.  Though he still makes Californian his home, he has traveled extensively to such destinations as Ho Chi Minh City, Berlin, Singapore, London, Paris, and Bangkok, all of which play parts in his current and upcoming Jonathan Quinn thrillers.

Click x 7 (the free one doesn't count)

I purchased the following books for my Kindle last week.  One of them was free so technically that one doesn't count.

Blood is Red by Scott Sigler

For Whom the Minivan Rolls by Jeffrey Cohen

Witness to Death by Dave White

Plan B: A Nick Heller Story by Joseph Finder (FREE)

Here Comes Mr. Trouble: The Trouble Family Chronicles by Brett Battles

Vanished by Joseph Finder (I own this book in paperback and hardback, too)

Julius Katz and Archie by David Zeltserman

Hmmm. I've got no explanation for this. None.

BUY NOW with 1-Click!

I was warned by my twitter pal, Spencer Koch, that Amazon had devised this plan to easily suck you dry by letting you save a credit card number in their system so when you wanted to buy a book for your Kindle, like... 8 Pounds by Chris F. Holm, all you had to do was click the button that said, "Buy Now with 1-Click"  and you were done. No address information. No double checking the shipping.  Just a simple click.

I didn't think it would become a problem for me. I mean, really. How many books could there possibly be on Amazon that I would be interested in? 

Click. Click. Click.

Turns out (after pulling a copy of my Kindle Orders),  I click that damn button a good 2-3 times a day. In fact, on November 25, 2010, I clicked that button six times. SIX TIMES!  On December 18, 2010... THREE. February 5, 2011... THREE. February 26, 2011... TWICE.  February 28, 2011... TWICE. April 28, 2011... THREE. 

Last week I clicked the button five times. FIVE TIMES, PEOPLE!  It would have been every work day last week, but according to my purchase order I skipped Wednesday and double clicked on Friday. And today, the day I'm typing this post, I clicked it twice. Back to back thanks to Ron... well, does it really matter who tempted me?

I'd really like to blame other people for my clicking addiction, but that really wouldn't be fair.  All the people that I have come to admire and trust with my book purchasing decisions are part of my wonderful twitter family. They clearly have my best interest at heart when they're innocently suggesting great reads by people that they know and like and have read.  I mean, really. It's hard to go wrong and I can't complain about the incredible mass of books I've accumulated since I first started purchasing Kindle books for my phone app with that "Buy Now with 1-Click" feature on October 18, 2010.

My very first purchase was 8 Pounds: Eight Tales of Crime, Horror & Suspense by Chris F. Holm.  For an unbelievable price of $0.99 you get eight incredible reads that leave you shaking your head in disbelief and thinking horrible, horrible thoughts whenever you hear a noise in the wall.  You know the noises I'm talking about. The ones that always come around in the middle of the night when you're home alone, or when you're the only one awake in the house that can hear them.

My second purchase for my Kindle was Terminal Damage by the gang at Do Some Damage.  While the collection as a whole is excellent, it must be said that this was the collection that introduced me to Oscar Martello. After reading this I collected every collection of short stories that contained an Oscar Martello story.  I mean, honestly. How could I pass them up?  You can find any and all stories about Oscar Martello here.

Would you believe me if I told you I've been putting off my reading of More Sinned Against by Dave White for fear that his main character might take away my possessive feelings for Oscar? It's totally true. It's on my list to read, but after finishing a book this weekend I really think I'm okay with moving on. Not on, on. Just moving on a little. Now would be a good time to release an Oscar Martello short story collection, Mr. Weddle.  It'd be really nice to have Oscar around all the time. All. The. Time. 

My good friend, Elizabeth introduced me to Jeff Strand.  Not only do I plan to collect all of his book books, I'm creating a nice little collection on my Kindle. I know the writing is excellent because I've read about him over at Musings of an All Purpose Monkey, but truth be told... I'm a fan of the cover art.

I was introduced to Dave Zeltserman by reading an expert of Blood Crimes: Book One over at Paul D. Brazil's blog.  It's like a dark urban fantasy, meets crime fighter, meets vampires book. Dark and dirty with vampires, and some really good love scenes, believe it or not. Sounds like my kind of thing. I've recently purchased Zeltserman's Julius Katz Mysteries... again, thanks to Paul.  Well, I should blame Dave, too. He did talk about this character in a blog post and made me curious.  Plus, David Cranmer thinks the guy rocks.  I totally trust David Cranmer.

I've got a pretty good collection of hard-boiled crime by Anthony Neil Smith... some I've accidentally purchased twice (Kindle should really find a way to prevent that from happening).  Word on the street is Anthony should have another book available for my Kindle enjoyment shortly. Can't wait!

Who else... Oh, I bought two books by Brett Battles after reading reviews by Elizabeth White.  And I bought three books by some guy named J.D. Rhoades after someone, who shall remain nameless, retweeted information about the Jack Keller series.  Makes sense that I would buy it.  The books are about some hot guy named Jack... and it's a series. Cute men on repeat seem to be my thing. Can't wait to read these books!

I bought Beautiful, Naked & Dead by Josh Stallings because my friend from Scotland told me to.  She had read it and loved and promised me I wouldn't be disappointed. I wasn't. My review is in the making.  I'm just trying to find the right words to describe hubba-hubba superlicious without it coming across as cheesy.

So why am I telling you about this? Well, I'm hoping if I confess my Kindle  purchases on my blog each week that it might... might help me with my clicking problem.  So I've gone ahead and created a Sabrina's Kindle page for my blog. I'm hoping to update it weekly. Ya, I probably shouldn't be hoping for that since I'm supposed to be curbing my habit. Oh, well. You can find every book you will find on my Kindle listed; minus the freebies you can find on Amazon.

So take a look. If you like any of the books on the list feel free to click on the link and buy them. I haven't added today's purchases just yet. Just as well, since I just noticed on Twitter that that Dave White guy just released Witness to Death on Kindle this evening. Best $0.99 EVER! Thanks, Dave.

May 9, 2011... THREE!