Amazon.com Offers Customers Exclusive First Look at Khaled Hosseini's New Book, ''A Thousand Splendid Suns''

Amazon.com (Nasdaq:AMZN) today announced it has secured exclusive rights to offer its customers a free download of a portion of author Khaled Hosseini’s "A Thousand Splendid Suns,” his much-anticipated follow-up to "The Kite Runner.” Beginning today, Amazon.com customers can visit www.amazon.com/books to download and read portions of the new book as well as listen to a recent exclusive podcast interview Amazon.com conducted with Hosseini about his success with "The Kite Runner” and the expectations of "A Thousand Splendid Suns.” "This book is a heart-wrenching, thought-provoking book that we wanted all of our customers to have the experience of sampling prior to the book’s availability,” said Daphne Durham, books managing editor at Amazon.com and leader of the company’s Significant Seven book-reviewing septet. "‘The Kite Runner’ was a huge hit with our customers and we expect many of our customers will want to experience the deep and emotional story Hosseini tells in ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns.’” Early feedback from Amazon.com customer reviewers is overwhelmingly positive. "Khaled Hosseini has succeeded in capturing many important historical and contemporary themes in a way that will make your heart ache again and again,” said Donald Mitchell, Amazon.com No. 3 customer reviewer. "Why will your reaction be so strong? It’s because you’ll identify closely with the suffering of almost all the characters, a reaction that’s very rare in a modern novel.” "A Thousand Splendid Suns” chronicles 30 years of Afghan history in a story of family, friendship, faith and the salvation to be found in love. Born a generation apart and with very different ideas about love and family, Mariam and Laila are two women brought jarringly together by war, by loss and by fate. As they endure the ever-escalating dangers around them – in their home as well as in the streets of Kabul – they come to form a bond that makes them both sisters and mother-daughter to each other, and that will ultimately alter the course not just of their own lives but of the next generation. Hosseini shows how a woman's love for her family can move her to shocking and heroic acts of self-sacrifice, and that in the end it is love, or even the memory of love, that is often the key to survival. Amazon.com customers can pre-order the hardcover edition of "A Thousand Splendid Suns” for just $15.57, a savings of 40 percent, or $10.38 off the cover price. The book is eligible for free Super Saver Shipping and Amazon Prime. About Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc., (Nasdaq:AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as health and personal care, jewelry and watches, gourmet food, sports and outdoors, apparel and accessories, books, music, DVDs, electronics and office, toys and baby, and home and garden. Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.ca, and www.joyo.com. As used herein, "Amazon.com,” "we,” "our” and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise. Forward-Looking Statements This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to competition, management of growth, new products, services and technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption, significant amount of indebtedness, inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006, and all subsequent filings.