#FridayFiveChallenge ~ The Diabolical Miss Hyde: An Electric Empire Novel @rosieamber1 ~ BUY or PASS

Rosie Amber’s Friday Five Challenge, involves taking only five minutes to choose a book cover which appeals instantly. So take a few minutes, grab 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?

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?

After having electrical work done for the last two days I wondered what would come up if electric was my search criteria. After numerous books about pressure cookers, the odd tome on electric guitars and even electrical cars, I found… this!

Amazon UK | Amazon US

The book description reads..

Forensic science, magic, mystery, and romance mix in this edgy steampunk fantasy—a retelling of the horror classic, in which Dr. Eliza Jekyll, daughter of the infamous Dr. Henry Jekyll—pursues a dangerous murderer in an alternate Victorian London.

In an electrified Victorian London, Dr. Eliza Jekyll is a crime scene investigator, hunting killers with newfangled technological gadgets. She will need every advantage available to catch a terrifying new psychopath splattering London with blood. Hidden in the grimy shadows, the fiendish murderer preys on beautiful women, drugging them before slicing off their limbs. Finding the “Slicer” can make Eliza’s career . . . or unmask her darkest secret. Like her father, she has a hidden second self that emerges when she drinks his forbidden magical elixir. Just a few sips, and a seductive and impulsive Lizzie Hyde is unleashed.

The members of the Royal Society do not trust Eliza, and they send their enforcer, the mercurial Captain Lafayette, to prove she’s a dangerous sorceress. The careful doctor knows that one wrong step can make her prey to the clever Lafayette, a man who harbors an evil curse of his own. No matter how much she craves the elixir, she must resist.

But as the Slicer case draws her into London’s luminous magical underworld, Eliza will need the potion’s power to help her . . . even if it might attract the attentions of Lafayette. .

Even if it means setting the wild Lizzie free. . . .

I really like the cover and the blurb sounds different and interesting.  I think both convey a good basis for the story with the Victorian dress, the cogs and wheels round the edges and the mix of forensic science, mystery, romance and magic. The kindle price is £4.99, paperback £9.98 or from £4.30 from other sellers. I can’t see a kindle edition on Amazon US. The paperback price is $14.61 but other seller’s prices start at $7.16. It’s quite a long read at 464 pages

The six reviews on Amazon UK give an overall rating of 4.8* with comments such as Twisted and Delightfully Dark and Steampunk Meets Classic Horror….. Deep, Dark and just Delightful!

On Amazon US there are 64 reviews with an average of 4.1* with 22% in the lower ranges. This is taken from a 3* An interesting take on the Jekyll and Hyde legend, this story is set in a steampunk, alternate version of London and involves Dr. Eliza Jekyll and her alter ego, Lizzie Hyde. Eliza is a doctor working with the police at crime scenes, using the latest in forensic techniques, as well as assisting at the Bethlem Hospital for the Insane, also known as Bedlam. The main character seems to be Eliza, but we get Lizzie’s point of view frequently, and she’s not only different from Eliza in nature, but physically as well. There’s a lot going on….. At times I thought there was a little too much going on, but everything pretty much wrapped up to a conclusion that made sense and answered all of the questions that were raised, so I felt it was a satisfying ending.

In the main the reviews are positive and I like the imaginative idea of the different take on a classic story and the alternate reality. There’s a follow-up too, The Devious Dr Jekyll, both released last year. It’s up there in price for a debut kindle book, a paperback might be a better option.

Will I BUY or PASS ~ I’m going to BUY and give it a go. In fact, I’ve already sent for a paperback copy. It’s a complete change from my recent reading although I’m not sure when I’ll get to it.

More Friday Five Challenge Choices

Rosie’s going on a road trip with Billy Connolly

Shelley found a Winter Kitten

Liz chose historical fiction