The First Ten Focus Group Feedback for Pity the Devil's Wife
Because Pity the Devil's Wife was Book of the Day, some of our most trusted members have carefully looked over the cover, the description, and other aspects of this book as a part of purchase-intent focus group. We then asked each participant in the focus group if they planned to buy and read the book, and why they planned to buy and read the book or not. Their answer to that question and reasons are displayed below. We call this awesome feature The First Ten Focus Group.
Keep in mind, the responses from the members are not reviews. This is purchase-intent focus group which means the participants are people who have NOT yet bought or read your book. A purchase-intent focus group is an important and extremely useful marketing tool for any product, not just books. For other products, you might walk on the street and show people an item in a package and poll them about whether they would buy if or $X or not. These kind of focus groups are one of the ways big marketing companies find the ideal price points for products and test the effectiveness of different packaging. The focus group can help you identify your market so you how to target ads of your book, and it can (but may not) provide you new useful info about your "packaging" (e.g. your book cover, your book synopsis on Amazon, etc.). The point of the focus group comments is to give you information from people who have not bought or read your book about why they plan to buy your book which will help you in marketing the book. These are not reviews or critiques of your book because they are not from people have read the book. This is a marketing tool, not reviews. The trick of book marketing and book advertising is that you have to convince people who have not read your book yet that your book is worth buying and reading. For marketing, it doesn't matter much if people love your book after reading it if you cannot convince potential buyers before they read it that they will love it.
IMPORTANT: Any score over 10% is considered very good. And any score above 0% is acceptable. This is because we only poll about 20 or so readers, and all readers have to say "no" to almost all books. Over a million books are published each year. Even a very active reader cannot come close to even reading 1% of books out there.
This is also why publishing books is such a tough industry.
Vickie Noel
I wouldn't have read this book outside the program just by looking at it. The cover's too dark, and I don't like reading about anything involving Satan, so the title would certainly have scared me away. Reading the sample didn't change my mind. I liked the author's writing style and descriptive capabilities, such as can be seen in this sentence, "A greenish glow from the command console fell across scowl lines cut like trenches in his weatherworn face." Yet, for the fact that hints of violence appeared so quickly in the book, evident from the conversation between Franz and Guerra, I became unsympathetic to the story. I also didn't like that a Spanish conversation was included without interpretation for non-speakers. For example, "Cómo está, señor,” said Guerra. “Bien. Pron yo preferir hablar ingle.” The book appears to be professionally edited although I found a missing comma in the sentence, "Guerra’s blood ran cold alarmed at the power behind those darkened sockets." There should be a comma after "cold." The OBC review, despite being enthusiastic, did not influence my decision. It made me quickly realize that I wouldn't bother reading more of this book than necessary.
First Ten review added on May 25, 2020, at 4:56 am by Vickie Noel.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Cristina Chifane
Based solely on the cover and title, I wouldn't have read this book because they are too dark and obscure to tempt me to read the novel. Since there are no editorial or customer reviews, the OBC review was the only way I could learn more about the plot and character development. I was particularly drawn to the fact that the book is a psychological thriller relying on a murder investigation. What worried me was the reviewer's reference to satanic rituals and graphic description of violence. I liked the description of the encounter between Guerra and the Yankee in the first chapter. It was intense and realistic. The intrigue gets complicated with immigrants' stories and twins' adventures in the second chapter. I didn't notice any editing errors. I have no suggestion for improvement. On the contrary, I've enjoyed the author's gift for both descriptions and dialogues and the complex plot. I'd like to add this novel to my reading list.
First Ten review added on May 25, 2020, at 3:25 am by Cristina Chifane.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Annelore Trujillo
I would not have sampled this book based on the genre, blurb, OBC review, cover and title. The reviewer described the book as a psychological thriller about a murder. This didn’t really interest me. After reading the first ten pages, I won’t be finishing this book. I thought the author started out with some great description. The description of lightening and of the captain were both excellent. However, I thought the talk about the drugs that were present on the boat and the following conversation about getting paid were both fairly lengthy. I also wasn’t a huge fan of the Spanglish that was used. I thought I would like it at first when there were a few Spanish sentences. However, I thought it was oddly done. All of the words were ones that are easily identifiable in English such as “capitan” and “policia”. While this does make it easier for the reader, it’s not really how I’ve heard Spanglish in the past. It felt forced. There was one paragraph that had a 7 or 8 words liked this. I also noticed errors that told me the book might not be professionally edited. For example, there was a piece of dialogue that said “Si senor”. It had only one quotation mark at the beginning but used double marks at the end. The rest of the dialogue used double quotation marks. I don’t like reading books with errors.
First Ten review added on May 25, 2020, at 3:16 am by Annelore Trujillo.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Jeremie Mondejar
The cover photo symbolizes deceitful activities due to its creepy background, and it looks dull to me. While sampling, the narrative doesn't thrill me. The plot is about prohibited drugs run by smuggling syndicates. Set of twins were kidnapped and destined to have chaotic lives. The story didn't pique my interest in reading the rest of the book. The OBC review is helpful in providing an overview of the book like murder and satanic rituals. I don't like such occult practices. However, I like the basic Spanish language intertwines in the narrative. The book seems professionally edited, though I found this sentence worded awkwardly, "...a net some of twenty-five thousand dollars U.S..." I recommend changing the cover photo by putting some lively colors.
First Ten review added on May 25, 2020, at 3:03 am by Jeremie Mondejar.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
va2016
The cover is attractive, although it does not convey what to expect in the book. The title is catchy, but again I could not figure out what the book is about. There are no Amazon customer reviews or ratings. The story described in the Amazon summary is pretty captivating, so I would have sampled the book even if not for the First Ten program. As I sampled through the book, I found the narration introducing Guerra, the captain of a speed boat, and the memories of his starting working with a drug-peddling group. As I was intrigued by the story described in the Amazon summary, and also since I liked the narration, I am going to read this book in full. I didn't find the book professionally edited. For example, in the first page, there should be comma between the words "sea intensified" and "the pilot". Another instance is when "GPS device" is spelled as "GPS devise" in the next page. What I liked most about the book is its rich vocabulary. As an improvement, I would suggest thorough proofreading. Although I found one OBC review of the book, my decision to read the book in full is based on my own sampling.
First Ten review added on May 25, 2020, at 2:28 am by va2016.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
CrescentMoon
After reading the blurb, I don't think I would pick this book up. I normally enjoy psychological thrillers and mysteries but I don't like reading about satanic rituals and worship so I don't think this book is for me. After reading the first ten pages, I didn't see any spelling or grammar errors and it appears very well edited. What I liked best about the book was how descriptive it is. The first chapter alone is so full of imagery and descriptive words that I could easily imagine the scenery with the boat cruising through the ocean waters and the spray coming out the other end. I do not have any suggestions for improvement. There was an onlinebookclub review. However, because of the subject matter I still would choose to not read this book so it's not for me.
First Ten review added on May 24, 2020, at 11:59 pm by CrescentMoon.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Sarah_Khan
At first glance, the cover and title made me want to find out more. I would have picked this up even without the First Ten program because murder and satanic activities mentioned in the Amazon blurb definitely caught my interest. The first ten pages seem professionally edited. I actually liked that this book is narrated in third person. I found the whole drug trade process quite interesting. The OBC review was favorable. It mentioned conspiracy theories and mental health issues. This book seems like exactly my cup of tea, so I am excited to read the rest. I do not have any suggestions for the author.
First Ten review added on May 24, 2020, at 11:35 pm by Sarah_Khan.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Howlan
The cover is good. The synopsis is informative. The Official OBC Review is present, and it provides great insight into the book. The first ten pages are pretty decent. The first chapter describes a ship and her captain, Guerra who are on their way to California having smuggled a human payload on the threat of some crime syndicate. The second chapter indicates other children getting kidnapped and sold off. The third chapter introduces another character, Rainy Claiborne, and his faithful dog Scout as they navigate their horses to shelter from the rain. The first thing I noticed in this book is that it is heavily detailed which is a good thing but on the other hand makes this book way more difficult to read. Again, the story starts off way slowly. In the first ten pages we have no event or hook to pull the readers into the story. Being five hundred pages long, I can understand but it is difficult to see where the story will head in just ten pages as no development occurs here. In terms of writing style, as mentioned above the author details everything and describes everything perfectly with heavy metaphors and allegory. However, I am not going to read this book based on the first ten pages, as it has failed to interest me in the plot. And when reading a long book I need a hook to pull me through the book quickly which it lacked. So I am not going to read the rest of the book. No typos were found in the first ten pages. For improvement, the author could make the story a bit fast-paced.
First Ten review added on May 24, 2020, at 11:22 pm by Howlan.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Mbrooks2518
I enjoy thrillers and crime novels, so I would have sampled this book even without The First Ten. The review convinced me that this book is an exciting and engrossing thriller and well worth reading. I also like the descriptive writing, like the description of the boat at sea on the first page. Therefore, I am going to finish the book. There were no editing errors, and nothing needs to be improved.
First Ten review added on May 24, 2020, at 8:52 pm by Mbrooks2518.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Scerakor
From the cover, blurb, and review of this book, I may have read the book. The book sounded exciting and full of action - both characteristics I enjoy in a novel. After reading the first ten pages I didn't change my mind and therefore will be reading the rest of this book eventually since I already have my copy. I loved the descriptive writing demonstrated early on in the book. At the beginning of the second chapter, the line that says that the "chaotic mass of bodies struggled desperately for breathing room amon the steel-shipping containers" really paints a picture to the reader. I didn’t see anything specific that I would have wanted to change within the sample that I read and the book looked well written and edited. The official review did not affect my decision at all.
First Ten review added on May 24, 2020, at 8:44 pm by Scerakor.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Maria Esposito
I knew I would not be interested in this book before I sampled it. Firstly, the cover appears dark and somewhat blurry, failing to catch my interest. Secondly, the blurb contains several errors concerning comma usage, which make me think that the book has not been professionally edited (for example: "On a stormy night before All Hallows Eve[,] a harmonica-playing wrangler and his rescue dog discover a body mangled beyond recognition under a bluff on the Twins Ranch"). Thirdly, I am not into the action-thriller genre. The book has no customer reviews on Amazon, which further confirmed my initial decision. Reading the first ten pages did not make me change my mind. The book begins with a description of the island where the book is set. Then, a Captain and a Yankee discuss what seems to be a drug-dealing business. The writing style is way too descriptive for my taste and simply failed to catch my interest. There was nothing I particularly liked or disliked about the book: I am simply not into this genre. However, contrary to what the blurb suggests, the book seems to be well-edited, since I did not come across any errors. I did not come across any featured review on this website, but this had no impact on my initial decision.
First Ten review added on May 24, 2020, at 5:24 pm by Maria Esposito.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Aubrey Lewis
The overall appearance of the book is, admittedly, not very eye-catching in my opinion. However, it does give off some sort of mysterious vibe which I think fits the genre of this book. When I read through the official OBC review, it seems that this is going to be a psychological thriller with twists and turns that'll keep the reader on their seats. If I weren't a part of this program, I would've read the free sample since a story like this oftentimes catches my interest.
When I finished sampling the first ten pages, I decided not to read the rest of the book. The contents seemed professionally edited so far, and the author's writing style was quite knowledgeable and detailed. However, it was a bit too descriptive for my taste to the point where I couldn't visualize the scenes clearly in my head. Even the part where Guerra did something to the twins was quite confusing for me as someone whose first language isn't English.
Due to these reasons, I'll have to pass on this book despite the interesting genres. In terms of improvement, I suggest toning down on the details and not make the book too wordy so that readers like me can enjoy without needing to analyze what each paragraph means. This is, of course, only my own humble opinion.
First Ten review added on May 24, 2020, at 3:17 pm by Aubrey Lewis.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Jorge Leon Salazar
In the reading that includes the first ten pages there is only a preamble to the story. It says scarcely about the plot. However, a suspenseful scene is already portrayed with the appearance of twins in the fast boat of some smugglers. Then, other smugglers of people on a cargo ship that goes from China to Los Angeles, there are also two sets of twins. They are left in a welfare facility.
Next the book tells about Rainy Claiborne, apparently one of the aforementioned twins. It merely counts his wanderings to deal with his herd in the companion of his dog and horse. Rainy seems to suffer from hallucinations.
The writing style is outstanding, generating curiosity in the reader. The book seems professionally edited, I barely observed detail with the word in Spanish "curiosidads" it should be "curiosidades". The official review transmits an excellent image of the book in which highlights features like suspense, mystery, horror, and crime blending fiction with reality. I will read this book.
First Ten review added on May 24, 2020, at 11:04 am by Jorge Leon Salazar.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Lorraine De Vos
I would not have chosen to sample this book based on the title and genre. The first ten pages were very well written. Guerra is a hard character and his portrayal in the book is fitting to what I would expect from someone who chooses to smuggle illegal drugs for the cartel or in this case, for a secret organization. The book does appear to be professionally edited, as I did not notice any errors. The official OnlineBookClub review was comprehensive and confirmed that I will not be adding this book to my reading list. I am completely put off by the satanic ritual aspect mentioned in the review. I have no recommendations for improvements.
First Ten review added on May 24, 2020, at 5:05 am by Lorraine De Vos.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Stephanie Runyon
The OBC review was written very well and piqued my interest. I may have picked this book due to the genre and the suspense factor. I did find one error at location 194, "As the strength of the wind and the might of the sea intensified the pilot's fingerless-gloved grip tightened on the controls." I believe there should be a comma after intensified. Other than that error, I found this to be well written. I liked the detail given to the characters, but the way two boys were drowned and the lack of empathy that the Coast Guard gave to assist in possibly rescuing them was disheartening. I am interested in reading the rest of the book, and look forward to learning more about the impending introduction of the protagonist.
First Ten review added on May 24, 2020, at 5:00 am by Stephanie Runyon.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Catherine Hsu
If I had not read the sample, I would have read the book. The blurb looks very interesting. After reading the sample, I have not changed my mind. I really liked how different chapters took place in different locations, first in Santa Barbara Channel, then in Fuzhou in China, and then at Twins Ranch. It was really interesting to see how crime was connected around the world, and how the book constantly mentioned "tempting fate." It was professionally edited. The murder mystery and psychological aspects mentioned in the official review are things I am really interested in so it did not affect my decision.
First Ten review added on May 24, 2020, at 3:09 am by Catherine Hsu.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
J_odoyo
After reading the first ten pages of this book, I’ve realized that Pity the Devil’s Wife by W. Hanelan is a reverting read. The novel opens up with the story of Guerra—a captain working for an international consortium, dealing in illegal products. The consortium maintains hydroponic cannabis operation, cocaine production facilities, and meth labs worldwide. It also controls grow houses and cannabis dispensaries in the U.S. and abroad. Guerra has been working for this consortium for ten years, having accomplished more than forty-three successful runs altogether; however, his second last run—before he could consider retirement—is a rough one. He and his team were delivering several payloads, including a payload containing kidnaped twins. They are accidentally met up with the Coast Guards. To escape successfully, they are forced to jettison the twins into the sea. Guerra and his mates have successfully escaped, but his conscience is not at peace. The progress of this book is so promising, and I can’t stop guessing what is next.
I did find one punctuation error in one sentence: “As his frustrations shimmered his conscience began to trouble him.” This was a case of a missing comma. However, it couldn’t disturb my belief that this book was professionally edited. I liked the title as well as the book’s cover page, which was well done. His book is well organized and well written. It was very impressive that editorial reviews were accessible: thanks to the OnlineBookClub for such an insightful review. The author did include some reviews at the beginning of the sample, but I think posting the same on the Amazon website will work better. Having read the sample and the OnlineBookClub review, I’m not going to finish reading this book, because I’m not a fan of this genre. Moreover, I won’t be comfortable reading through graphically described violence.
First Ten review added on May 24, 2020, at 2:16 am by J_odoyo.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Sanju Lali
It was evident from the cover and the title that this book is a murder mystery, knowing that, I considered reading the official review of this book before buying because I was curious to know the setting of the story and the characters in the story. The official review was very helpful to let me know that this book follows Clare Cordingley’s and her patient, who is arrested on the murder charge. The story is filled with satanic rituals and murders. This idea encouraged me to sample the book. After reading the first ten pages, I found that this book was professionally edited as I did not notice any grammatical or typing errors. The thing l liked the most in this book is the depiction of the life of Guerra, a boat owner, who joined the drug smugglers to make more money for himself. However, I found that the descriptions of the scenes were more than required and felt as boring. Moreover, I was also distracted by several other detailed subplots, which appeared not so relevant to the main plot. I suggest the author consider my points made in the above sentences and make the book appealing by removing the unnecessary stuff. After looking at all these aspects, I decided not to purchase and read this book today. I will wait until the author considers my suggestions so that the book gives a pleasurable experience for me.
First Ten review added on May 24, 2020, at 2:02 am by Sanju Lali.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Shrabastee Chakraborty
The cover and the blurb were appealing. The official OBC review rates it a 4 stars. The first ten pages were without editing issues. It shows a ship carrying methamphetamine and marijuana disguised as cargo. A man named Guerra asks the pilot how he is going to transport it while evading the law. The premise was interesting, but the pace was too slow for my choice. I would suggest inserting some exciting scenario as a suggestion for improvement. I am not going to read this book as the slow pace did not hold my attention.
First Ten review added on May 24, 2020, at 1:11 am by Shrabastee Chakraborty.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Odette Chace
I like the title of the book but am not a fan of the cover. The length of the book is quite daunting. I do not handle horror well so the synopsis didn't entice me, though the premise is interesting. The official Online Book Club review gave the book a perfect 4 out of 4, which is promising. The book appears to have been exceptionally well-edited as I did not notice any errors while sampling the book. Due to the genre and length, I will not be finishing the book. I had a hard time getting into the story as well. The opening was a little too slow-paced for me.
First Ten review added on May 24, 2020, at 12:51 am by Odette Chace.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Juliana_Isabella
I wouldn't have chosen this book because I don't usually read thrillers. Even though the review I read was positive, it didn't make me want to read the book because I don't enjoy the genre. I didn't find any errors in the first ten pages, but I also didn't feel like there was anything that connected me to Guerra or Alvarez. I wasn't sure who I was supposed to relate to or sympathize with, which is generally my issue with reading thrillers. This book seems to be similar to others in the genre, so I won't be finishing it.
First Ten review added on May 24, 2020, at 12:10 am by Juliana_Isabella.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Damis Seres Rodriguez
I have to be honest here. The cover of this book definitely isn't the prettiest out there, nor the most attractive. However, there's something about it that caught my attention so quickly that I was excited to read the sample. The review that I read only made it better. As for the first ten pages, it was hard to stop reading it to write the review. What I liked the most was reading Spanish in the dialogues. While it had obvious grammatical errors there ("Pron yo preferir hablar ingle" is a good example of this), they were pretty accurate when it comes to the way non native speakers speak. I could almost hear the accent. I loved it. I have no option but to finish reading it, because I simply can't put it down.
First Ten review added on May 24, 2020, at 12:06 am by Damis Seres Rodriguez.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Kelyn
If I had not been a member of this program, it is doubtful that the cover, title, genre, or author of this book would have attracted my attention. Although I am fond of psychological thrillers, the cover and title do not indicate the content of the book. The cover just seems muddled to me, and the title could mean any number of things. The genre might have interested me a bit until I found out that a significant factor of the book was the mystery aspect. I am not fond of the mystery genre. The author is unknown to me, so that would not have been a factor in my decision. There were no customer reviews on Amazon to consider, but there were two in the forward of the book itself, one of which was from this program. Both reviews were complimentary of the book, and I took each at face value. The blurb was intriguing, mentioning several themes that I am particularly interested in: the paranormal (satanic society), romance (no matter how vexing), and twins (because I am a parent to twins). This raised my interest in the book considerably. The sample, however, was a bit disappointing. Twins are referred to in a seemingly unrelated plot thread with sets of them being kidnapped and taken by ...possibly...the mob??? This part was confusing. We meet Rainy, an entirely personable ranch hand, who is mentally disabled and sometimes refuses to take his meds. This character was easy to become invested in as he interacted so patiently and gently with both the horses and his dog, Scout. I was again jolted out of the plot flow with an abrupt switch to what appeared to be group therapy. The plot jumps were jarring, too jarring for my taste I’m afraid. I like the books I read to flow, not jolt abruptly from one thing to the next. As a result, I decided not to continue reading the book. The book seemed fairly well-edited, but I did find a couple of errors in the sample. One of these was: “Your GPS devise will lead you to a cache of fuel drums tied to buoys eighty miles off-shore.” Misspelled word – “devise” should be “device”
First Ten review added on May 23, 2020, at 11:05 pm by Kelyn.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
AvidBibliophile
A sinister and darkly disturbing tone is appropriately conveyed by the cover art. The Amazon product description persuasively entices prospective readers with mentions of mysterious murders, nefarious corporations, behavioral specialists, and a touch of terroristic intent. The story immediately begins with highly descriptive prose, bringing to life go-fast boats and smuggled bales of marijuana, packed around large quantities of illegal meth, cocaine, and pilfered diamonds. On page 1, the phrase: "with a value of three-to-four million dollars respectfully" probably means to say (respectively). On page 2, "GPS devise" should say (device), and "zippo lighter" should be capitalized as a proper noun since (Zippo) is a registered trademark and brand name. The one published OBC review offers positive feedback and complimentary impressions, but there are no currently posted Amazon user ratings to further support or substantiate that glowing opinion. Since drug smuggling, satanic rituals, and terrorist attacks muddle my desire to read further into the twin psychosis and murder angle of this tale, I will be passing on this one, but it sounds to be full of many convoluted and complex guilty pleasures.
First Ten review added on May 23, 2020, at 10:54 pm by AvidBibliophile.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
unamilagra
Before sampling this book, I would not have picked it up. Despite the positive OBC review, I do not enjoy books about demonic rituals. In reading the first ten pages, I didn't really like Guerra or his drug-running business. I was also distracted by a lot of errors. I noticed the word "devise" was used instead of "device" on page 2. There were also several places where commas between clauses would have made the meaning of the sentence more clear. There were also some errors in the Spanish. For example, on page 3, "Comprender amigo" should have been properly conjugated "comprendes amigo." I do not plan to continue reading this book.
First Ten review added on May 23, 2020, at 9:19 pm by unamilagra.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
HRichards
I probably wouldn't have picked this book up since I'm not very interested in psychological thrillers. Having read the sample I won't be continuing on with the book since I didn't find the content that appealing and wasn't really keen on the strange font the book used. The sample deals with a marijuana smuggler who drug runs using boats meeting a mysterious American who is doing business with him. Their deal involves diamonds and the smuggler is curious about how they play into the operation. The writing is good and I didn't notice any grammar errors. Those who like thrillers might like this book since the author seems to have a good plot and the OBC review was complimentary. I'm not really interested in the genre and didn't like the font style that the author chose which was hard for me to read.
First Ten review added on May 23, 2020, at 9:08 pm by HRichards.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Brenda Creech
I would not have checked this book out based on the cover and title. I wasn't sure what it would be like, but I would have opted not to find out as neither the title or cover appealed to me. After reading the official review, I knew I would not read this book due to the mention of satanic rituals. I never read books with anything to do with magic, cults, or anything about Satan. This book sounds like it has a little bit of everything from sci-fi to psychological thriller. As I read the first ten pages, I did not encounter any errors; so I believe the book had professional editing. I am sure there is nothing that needs to be improved as the book is intended to be intense and possibly frightening at times. It is not something I want to read primarily due to the satanic rituals. I enjoy a good thriller at times, but with the absence of anything evil.
First Ten review added on May 23, 2020, at 8:02 pm by Brenda Creech.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Chelsy Scherba
Guerra is a sea captain, smoker, and diamond smuggler. The novel was very descriptive, which I liked, but like most thrillers, there was a lot of technical jargon about drugs, boats, and international crime which doesn’t really interest me. The review was very enthusiastic about the thriller aspects, but I’m also not a fan of the demonic rituals in the story. All that combined, I think I’ll pass on this book. It’s very well-edited, I saw no errors. The cover is attractive. I would not have found the book outside of the program.
First Ten review added on May 23, 2020, at 6:52 pm by Chelsy Scherba.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Twylla
Normally I would not have been drawn to this book at all. I have no idea what is going on in the artwork on the cover. But I read the first three chapters and it is so good.
My favorite thing about the book is the genre - psychological thriller. It takes a really good writer to write a psychological thriller. I am so anxious to get alone and read it cover to cover - probably in one sitting.
The official review from onlinebookclub.org also had a lot to do with me getting excited about the book.
I really think you can improve on the artwork on the cover. I don't like this cover. To me, it doesn't capture the message of the book.
The book is well written and professionally edited. It grabbed me from the first sentence!
First Ten review added on May 23, 2020, at 6:31 pm by Twylla.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Kajori Sheryl Paul
'Pity The Devil's Wife' is a book written by W. Hanelan. The title, cover, and Amazon review did a good job at convincing me to give this book a try.
The sample of the book leads me to believe that it is a psychological thriller. It centres around Dr. Claire Cordingley. It sifts from Santa Barbara to China to California. I like the way the author created a mystifying atmosphere from the very beginning. I did not find any error. I think that it is professionally edited. I will give this book a try as I like reading books of this genre as of now.
First Ten review added on May 23, 2020, at 5:00 pm by Kajori Sheryl Paul.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Verna Coy
Had I not sampled this book through the First Ten program, I would not have sampled this book because the cover, genre, and title don’t appeal to me. For this reason, I don’t plan to read the whole book, although I thank the Online Book Club for the free copy! Reading the first ten pages didn’t change my mind about reading the whole book. The beginning features the drug trade and has a dark feel to it. Based on what I read, the book seems professionally edited. I didn’t see errors in the first ten pages. What I liked most about what I read is how the author is able to convey the dark feel of the book with the descriptions of each scene. I know that readers who enjoy novels with a dark twist, and thrillers, will like aspects of this book. As far as improvements, considering the genre, I could see no need for any in what I read. I did read the Official Online Book Club review and found it insightful. It didn’t affect my views of the book.
First Ten review added on May 23, 2020, at 4:29 pm by Verna Coy.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Nikolas Farmakis
This is an action-packed psychological thriller about drugs human trafficking, and mental illness. I would not have read this story based on the cover, the title, or the genre, as I do not like crime thrillers. I will not read this book, as I do not like horror novels, while I also found the book cliche and unoriginal. The book was not professionally edited, as I found some errors in it (e.g. 'Your GPS devise will lead you', whilst it should be 'Your GPS device will lead you'). What I liked most in the novel was the presence of tension, suspense, and drama, which grasped my attention. To improve, the writer must be more creative and original when writing the story, avoiding a cliche storyline. The book had an Official OnlineBookClub review, which had no effect on my choice.
First Ten review added on May 23, 2020, at 4:21 pm by Nikolas Farmakis.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
edztan15
The premise of the book instantly sold it for me. A psychological thriller involving the occult, murder, and conspiracy theory is just right up my alley. The first ten pages of the book were written very well on both editing and narration standpoint. The attempted rescue of the twins was an enthralling setup for things to come later in the book. I am curious on what will happen next so I'm definitely going to buy and add this book in my TBR pile.
First Ten review added on May 23, 2020, at 3:39 pm by edztan15.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Laura Ungureanu
The cover and the title give a creepy vibe which I don't like, so I would've definitely stayed away from this book. The OBC review made a good case, but I realized it's not a book I would ever enjoy. I don't like anything involving satanic rituals, murders, and secret societies. The beginning also didn't make a good impression on me. Capitan Guerra agreed to transport drugs after a meeting with the Yankee. I had a problem with the language. The author uses a complex vocabulary, which isn't easy to grasp for someone who speaks English as a second language. Having to search for a lot of words takes the fun away. I'm not saying that it's the author's fault, but I, as a reader, have a difficult time understanding the meaning of the words if they are mostly unknown to me. I obviously won't continue reading, since I don't like anything about the book. I haven't found any errors.
First Ten review added on May 23, 2020, at 3:33 pm by Laura Ungureanu.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Kaitlyn Canedy
I likely would have skipped the sample of this work if it had not been the book of the day through the OnlineBookClub. Thrillers that are gory and satanic are not interesting to me at all, so I had already decided that I did not want to read it even after reading the sample. To be honest, I could not find anything that I liked when I read the first ten pages because of the type of book that it is. I was frustrated because the words were so tiny that I needed to zoom in on them to read them properly. If there is something that needs to be improved in Pity the Devil's Wife, it would be to make the font larger so it can be read more easily. Luckily, I could spot no grammatical errors so that is a plus. Even though there is an official OnlineBookClub review for this work, it was not enough to convince me to read the entire book.
First Ten review added on May 23, 2020, at 3:06 pm by Kaitlyn Canedy.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
aacodreanu
The cover, but also the title, the genre mix, and, especially, the editorial review that I read would have made me choose to read Pity the Devil’s Wife even if I had not sampled the first ten pages. I shall probably read it because it has a strong start that creates the need to see what happens further on in the story. All the genres that make the mix of this novel interest me. The editing is professional enough, I only found a missed capitalization:
“Once the diamond rough is safely in the states”(p. 3). – should be States with a capital S,
and a logical flaw:
”The police were immediately notified, as disappearances of this nature were routinely ignored.”(p. 7). – ”as” does not signal contrast, as the content seems to imply – illogical.
I liked most the description of the horses running in the rain, directed to shelter by two ranchers and a dog.
First Ten review added on May 23, 2020, at 2:16 pm by aacodreanu.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
gen_g
Based on the title and cover, it seems like a mystery thriller (perhaps with a bit of fantasy), which I am not in the market for, hence, I would not have sampled it. However, I have come across a positive review of this book. After sampling, there are a couple of errors. At loc 181, the hyphen in "Beneath unruly-heavy eyebrows..." should not have been inserted; "unruly" ends in "-ly", in which a hyphen should not be included. I would suggest more editing. However, I appreciate that Hanelan gave a pretty detailed introduction for the reader to better understand the world Hanelan is describing. The book opens with a scene of drug smuggling, where there is 2500 pounds of marijuana hidden in the mid-ship cabin berth from floor to ceiling, and within this 2500 pounds, sixty pounds of meth and 120KG of cocaine. There were also rough diamonds. All of these loot makes the story seem very exciting, due to the high stakes (so much money worth in illegal goods). It is also interesting to learn how this had been transported in the story, as we see Franz (the Yankee) describing to Guerra that they used planes, high-speed boats and trucks to get the goods to the various black market operations. Franz had also threatened Guerra not to repeat the information, otherwise he would have the latter's tongue. However, I will not be reading the rest of the book, as I am not in the market for realist fiction; also, the book is also rather description-heavy (as seen from the introduction), which, personally, is rather distracting, unfortunately causing a stilted reading experience for me that I do not prefer.
First Ten review added on May 23, 2020, at 1:51 pm by gen_g.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda
The cover of the book didn't catch my attention, but the title is amazing and the blurb did intrigue me. I love a good thriller and I feel a strange fascination for subjects like twins and satanic practices. The book lacks rating but I still would've bought it based on the blurb.
I have mixed feelings about the first ten pages. The narrative was too descriptive for my taste. But, on the plus side, I think the dialogues are amazing. Usually when English-speaking writers include Spanish-speaking characters they sound forced or fake, but not in this case. I also want to applaud that it's obvious the author did her best to keep the Spanish spelling and included accents and other symbols that don't exist in English. Even so, the book could use a second editing round. I found several mistakes, so I'll name just the first one in position 199: "The small-scale river miner had bargained away the rough for a neat sum of twenty-five thousand dollars U.S. with a shadowy underworld figure..." As far as I know, the correct order of words would be "U.S. dollars." There are also several mistakes on the Spanish spelling. This is the only improvement I would suggest. The book has an official review that helped me decide to read the novel.
First Ten review added on May 23, 2020, at 1:10 pm by María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Diana Lowery
The title of this book did not appeal to me, and because the blurb mentioned satanic elements, I will not finish reading this book. The review, however, was very positive, and I might have been convinced to finish reading the book. The first ten pages impressed me with the descriptive writing style. It appears to be professionally edited, but I did notice a punctuation error in the second paragraph of the first chapter. The title of the song should be in quotes, and the name of the author should not be in italics. A similar passage at the end of Chapter One was punctuated correctly as the title of the album was in italics.
First Ten review added on May 23, 2020, at 1:04 pm by Diana Lowery.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Caffrey_19
Pity the Devil's Wife by W. Hanelan is a fast-paced narrative on crime, drug dealers, murder, kidnapping, and sea voyage. I decided to sample a few pages of this book after reading its obc review. I probably would’ve made the same decision by merely seeing the cover. After reading a few pages, I noticed the presence of suspense which prevented me from relating what I read about the book to what I actually read in the book. I couldn’t confirm the ritual and psychological aspect of the book. I wouldn’t be buying and reading the whole book because I don’t want to mess with my mentality. I might not be able to withstand the effect of knowing in detail, the procedures for rituals. Having read a few pages, the book seemed professionally edited and I rarely encountered any typos/errors. I liked the presence of a foreign language in the dialogues. I also liked that the storyline involved various landmarks and borders. Although I didn’t enjoy the kidnapping and smuggling of teenagers.
First Ten review added on May 23, 2020, at 12:01 pm by Caffrey_19.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Laura Lee
I will not be finishing reading this book but NOT because it's not well-written. It is. It's a very gripping tale, well-written, and professionally edited. It's just too intense, too dark for my taste. Combined with the fact that the story is based on real events, this is not something I wish to read. That said, the Amazon blurb summarizes the book well and the book review was also enlightening and interesting. If you like dark thrillers, or even if you like true crime, give the book a try. I'll be taking a pass on this one but, without a doubt, it is well-written. Just too dark and intense for me.
First Ten review added on May 23, 2020, at 11:25 am by Laura Lee.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Melisa Jane
I wouldn't have sampled the book based on its cover. This is because the cover was too dark and unattractive. After sampling the book, I'm not going to finish reading it because I feel that it's too slow. I read the first ten pages but still, I couldn't grasp the flow of the story. For this reason, I can't really tell what I liked about the book. I didn't find any grammatical errors. I suggest that the author find a more colorful cover. I saw the official OBC review, but it didn't affect my decision.
First Ten review added on May 23, 2020, at 10:54 am by Melisa Jane.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Emy Katherine
After one of her patients has been wrongfully accused of murder, Dr. Clare Cordingley is on a mission to solve the mystery and find out the real killer. Without The First Ten program, I would have read the book based on the genre and OBC review. Sadly, I changed my mind after reading the first ten pages. Although I am a huge fan of psychological thriller novels, I did not feel invested in the story. The writing style, however, was descriptive, and I liked the story was told from multiple perspectives. I also found the dialogues engaging and realistic; the author included some Spanish words that made the story more believable. I would suggest another round of editing, though; I found some distracting punctuation errors throughout the first ten pages. For example, there should be a comma after "intensified" in the following sentence: "As the strength of the wind and might of the sea intensified the pilot’s fingerless-gloved grip tightened on the controls." (Page 1 of 572 • 1%)
First Ten review added on May 23, 2020, at 10:27 am by Emy Katherine.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Theresa Moffitt
This book has an intriguing title that makes me curious about the subject of the book. I also like the cover art. I would have picked this book up based on the cover alone. I haven’t read a customer review of this book, but I did read an Online Book Club review. The OBC review was very positive and gave the book a rating of 4 out of 4 stars. It provided additional information about the overall themes of the book that I wouldn’t know from reading the first ten pages. The OBC review increased my interest in reading this book. The first ten pages were interesting and well-written. They describe a global smuggling operation that includes drugs and diamonds. A man is being recruited for a job in the smuggling empire. I didn’t see any area that the author could improve upon. I also didn’t see any errors in the first ten pages, so I believe the book was professionally edited. The first ten pages and the OBC review make me want to finish reading this book.
First Ten review added on May 23, 2020, at 10:10 am by Theresa Moffitt.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Total ~ 34%
Pity the Devil's Wife earned a score of 34%.
In other words, out of the top-level reviewers who read at least the first 10 pages of this book, 34% plan to read the whole book.
IMPORTANT: Any score over 10% is considered very good. And any score above 0% is acceptable.
Over a million books are published each year. Any given person could not even read .0001% of the books out there. This means readers have to be very selective. Even taking the time to look over reviews and blurbs, let alone read samples, is more time than most readers can afford for most books. The First Ten is a powerful focus group that addresses those issues. It creates a helpful tool for authors, publishers, and other readers.
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