Any suggestions for Indie Kindle Books?

[jessicafaust]

I've been a big reader for a long time. I am a little embarrassed to admit it, but I love reading young adult novels even though I am almost 30. I'm a big fan of romance and adventure.
I just got a kindle recently and was sad that even the kindle files are still really expensive, so I decided to jump on the wild side and try out new indie books. I'm so glad I did. I found two of them that I really liked! I wouldn't have given them a chance in not because they were unknown titles.

1. Stalkers: The Resurrection by Melissa Damon.
-All I can say is OH MY GOD! I found it on amazon kindle for 3 bucks. I think it is also in paperback, but I'm not sure. It's amazing! It's a story about a teen girl that has the ability to change into a tiger. It's tough to explain because there is so much happening in the novel, but it has two storylines in it. One part of the story is when she is awake and trying to figure out what she is (hehehe...a tiger) and the other story happens whenever she falls asleep. The past story is her memories of the 1800s. I loved it! There is supposed to be a second one coming out within the month and I can't wait to read it. Gabin (one of her characters) is sooo amazing! I want to meet him! ^_^

2. The Witches of Santa Anna by Lauren Barnholdt and Aaron Gorvine
-I also found this one on amazon and bought the complete set (1-10 I think) for a dollar. I'm so glad I did. Each book is really short, but they are like one big book when added together. It's about this girl that goes to school in Santa Anna and becomes friends with a really hot guy. She comes to find out that there are witches there, and she's one of them. There is a lot of cool symbolism about butterflies and light and dark. I love all of the plot twists in it! It's great. Even though it says it is the complete set, there are more out. I'm just waiting for them to make it into a set again before I get the next ones.

Have any of you guys read these? Are there other good indie books out there that you recommend? Now that I have tried out indie books, I definately want to keep going. I love the prices and its neat to know about something that is unique. L^_^

[T.C. Seiko]

Thanks for the recommendations. As I'm about to publish my own works on the amazon kindle store, I sampled a few of the better-known kindle authors; the only author I can wholeheartedly recommend so far is Hugh Howey (based on Wool 1): You can download the first book for free from the kindle store. If you like serious Sci-Fi that's well-written, you should give WOOL a try.

Authors I can't recommend:
-Amanda Hocking: The best-selling YA Kindle queen: I couldn't finish any of her books - the writing was just too bad and the stories too childish for my taste. The target group - young adults - seems to love her books, so you may like her writing. She signed a contract with a major publisher last year, so her newer work (with the working hand of a professional editor) may be better.
-John Locke: One of the first indie authors to sell a million books. He's best known for the Donovan Creed novels; so you if you enjoy trashy thrillers with tough ex-CIA assassins with a weakness for women (description from author's homepage), you may like his work. As I'm not the target market for his novels, I can only say that they're badly written thrillers with bizarre plots. I know people who like these books; I'd rather read Dean Koontz or even James Patterson (whom I strongly dislike), if I were looking for a fast-paced thriller.

Now, two indie authors I just discovered last month are Sean Platt and David Wright. They're writing kindle series; books series modeled after modern TV-series like LOST and 24. They describe their own work as the HBO and AMC of indie writing, which is what their books actually feel like: novelizations of serialized TV.

I've read 'Yesterday's Gone' Season 1, which is described as a cross between 'The Stand' and 'LOST'. I've never seen 'LOST', but I can imagine what it feels like. 'Yesterday's Gone' is fast paced, highly entertaining, and devoid of any originality whatsoever, which I consider as a compliment. It's mindless entertainment filled with known characters and situations, sex and violence and a writing style that puts James Patterson to shame. If you like 'LOST', Stephen King and James Patterson, you will probably love 'Yesterday's Gone'. I will probably pick up the second season for my next trip. I haven't read such a fast-paced book in a long time.

'Z 2134' another kindle series by these two authors and I didn't like it at all. It's basically 'Hunger Games' with Zombies. 'Yesterday's Gone' wasn't original, but it was at least entertaining to read. Z was just generic and boring; the first twenty pages show an action scene with one character fighting against a bunch of zombies in a TV show, and it just drags on forever.

I'd be interested in other indie book recommendations.