Friday Five Challenge

Welcome to my Friday Five Challenge
(Original idea from Rosie Amber at https://rosieamber.wordpress.com/)

To join in read the rules at the bottom.

This week I tried searching for books using the keyword Mystery.  It gave disappointing results including bizarrely Cross Stitch Patterns for Starters!

So I tried again using the word  Sea.  This time a more interesting, if rather predictable selection appeared.  None appealed until I spotted this cover

Once I started to read the blurb I realised this book was outside my comfort zone.  Seasick by Iain Robb Wright is described as a novel of horror and suspense.  

Jack is about to board The Spirit of Kirkpatrick, a cruise liner built for relaxation and fun. Pretty soon, however, Jack is going to realize that a little fun in the sun is the last thing he’s going to get. There’s a virus onboard and it’s turning people insane.

So far so good but…

It won’t be long before the entire ship is overrun with blood and death — and there is nowhere to escape in the middle of the sea. Nowhere to run.

To add to the intrigue there’s an element of groundhog day and zombies!

There are eighty five 4 and 5 star reviews and 14 with 3,2 or 1 star.  One reviewer comments,

There’s all the classic ingredients of a terrific horror novel; we have copious amounts of blood-shed in gory, living colour and colourful, complex characters who never turn out to be quite what they seem and a fantastic ending which the reader will never see coming. 

Another says,

A few grammatical and spelling errors, and the last few chapters could certainly do with being re-edited – there is no plural ‘women’ in the book – each time it says ‘woman’ and this gets irritating.  We don’t find enough out about the virus and what caused/created/released it, or why, only assumptions. I figured out how the story was going to have to end, although I was secretly hoping for a different way

I think many people would really enjoy this book but I’m afraid the copious amounts of bloodshed mean that I will PASS

Now a recap on a book I looked at two weeks ago and decided to BUY

Written several years ago it is a relaxing holiday read with a murder mystery to solve. Artist/photographer Rose Tremain is an intrepid investigator living in a beautiful setting. The other characters were unconvincing and time changes within chapters confusing, but I would read another of Rose’s adventures if I could borrow it from the Library.

So now it’s your turn.

Get yourself a cuppa and give yourself 5 minutes.

In today’s online shopping age, readers often base their buying decisions from small postage stamp size book covers (Thumb-nails), a quick glance at the book description and the review. How much time do they really spend making that buying decision?

AUTHORS – You often only have seconds to get a reader to buy your book, is your book cover and book bio up to it?

Rosie’s Friday Five Challenge is this….. IN ONLY FIVE MINUTES….

1) Go to any online book supplier,

2) Randomly choose a category,

3) Speed through the book covers, choose one which has instantly appealed to your eye,

4) Read the book Bio/ Description for this book, and any other details.

5) If there are reviews, check out a couple,

6) Make an instant decision, would you BUY or PASS?

For other Friday Five Choices 

Cathy has chosen a book set in 1953

 https://betweenthelinesbookblog.wordpress.com/2015/07/31/friday-five-challenge-5/

Rosie is baking with Paul Hollywood!

https://rosieamber.wordpress.com/2015/07/31/would-you-buy-or-pass-fridayfivechallenge-how-to-bake-by-paulhollywood/

Shelley has found a mystery story about an abandoned baby

http://shelleywilsonauthor.com/2015/07/31/buy-or-pass-an-anniversary-post-for-the-fridayfivechallenge/

Terry has found a family saga set in wartime Poland

http://terrytyler59.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/would-you-buy-or-pass-10.html?spref=tw