Friday Five Challenge ~ Without A Trace by Lesley Pearse

Rosie Amber’s Friday Five Challenge, involves taking only five minutes to choose a book cover which appeals instantly. So take a few minutes, pour yourself a coffee…..and have a browse.

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?

My 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?

Searching in the Summer Reading section again, it must be a knee jerk reaction to the less than summery weather we’re having at the moment, I came across this book. Will an author from my distant past tempt me to buy?

I remember reading Lesley Pearse books years ago and enjoying them. Although the cover caught my eye and I like the sepia toned background offset with the colour in the forefront, the reflective pose, it doesn’t say anything about the story. I suppose it did do its job making me stop and look further.

The book description reads…

International number one bestselling author Lesley Pearse brings a compelling story of courage, friendship and love in her brand new novel Without a Trace.

Coronation Day, 1953.

In the Somerset village of Sawbridge, young shopkeeper Molly Heywood slips away from the celebrations to her friend’s cottage and makes a shocking discovery: Cassie is dead and her six-year-old daughter Petal has vanished without a trace.

In her grief, Molly seeks help from her childhood friend George, now the village policeman, but no one can find Petal. The only clue is a letter from London, where Cassie once lived. Despite George’s reluctance and her growing feelings for him, Molly resolves to go to London in the hope of discovering the missing child.

Arriving in the big city, Molly quickly learns it’s a dangerous place for a country girl on her own. But there’s hope too – in the Blitz-ruined East End, she unexpectedly finds friendship with strangers from Cassie’s past and, with handsome, mysterious workman Charley, the possibility of something more. However, the closer Molly gets to the truth, the more perilous her journey becomes. She has given up everything – her home, happiness and a chance at love – all to find Petal. But is she also risking her life?

Kindle price: £8.99!! What?! The hard cover is only £9.00 and the paperback £5.59. There’s no Kindle edition on Amazon.com, only hard cover and audio editions.

Pages: 409

There are 277 reviews coming in at an average of 4.4 stars. 188 are 5* and 39 are 4* the rest spread across the lower ratings. The blurb is interesting and I like that there seems to be several aspects to the story; mystery, intrigue, romance and possibly murder. The Somerset setting was a hook too, since it’s my area but that’s as positive as I can be, I’m afraid. I had a quick look at the first couple of pages and I wasn’t engaged. A few reviewers mention errors, weak plot and poor writing. One review made me laugh – they gave it 1* but deemed the book ‘excellent’! Another gave 5* because the book was in excellent condition?! On the whole it’s not doing much for me. I think sometimes reading tastes change over the years, mine certainly have, and I’ve a large enough reading pile without adding something I’m not at all sure I’d enjoy.

The Kindle price is very off-putting and way over the top anyway, and if I was thinking of buying this book it would definitely be the paperback.

Would I BUY or PASS? I’d PASS

If you’d like to enter next week’s challenge, and the more the merrier, check out Rosie’s blog to read about the Friday Five Challenge.

This week’s choices from other Friday Five Challengers…

Rosie is baking with Paul Hollywood

Liz looked for sea and found horror

After searching under Anniversary Shelley finds a mystery

Terry chooses a historical family saga

Barb found some zombie fairy tales

Luccia’s search took her to a mystery