What do you think?
Rate this book
Conscience: Always let your conscience be your guide
Twenty people, twenty lives and thousands of thoughts with every genre crashing together. Always let your conscience be your guide. It may save your life. Things are not always as they seem. We hide our secrets by what we don't say. We often think what we can't bring ourselves to say. Every action has a consequence and so does every thought. Conscience takes you on a journey through the thoughts of twenty very ordinary individuals - individuals just like you. As we delve into the thoughts and actions of these people you cannot help but question yourself and imagine yourself in their position. How would you act? What would you think? A tragedy. A young girl has died. Was she killed or was she really saved? An angry housewife, a disorientated groom, a distraught Mum, an impatient shopkeeper, a randy husband, a lazy but caring priest, a feisty invalid and a couple of bickering pensioners. These are just a few of the characters in this tight knit thriller that bring this intricate, roller coaster of a novel alive and keep you guessing until the very end. 'Conscience' is the story of how thoughts can trigger a chain of disturbing, funny and outrageous events. And when twenty very different people are involved the consequences are frightening. As we get to know the varied and complex characters, we are sucked into a tale of mishap, misunderstanding, malice and murder. Always let your conscience be your guide.
190 pages, Paperback
First published April 19, 2011
2 people are currently reading
10 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 1, 2017
Twenty random voices and thoughts fill the pages of this entertaining and unusual story.
There is a brilliant mix of characters, from an ordinary street cleaner to a husband with a wandering eye, from a nervous rookie police officer to a grieving mother. And all sorts of others in between.
The thoughts of these people began slowly as I started to get to know them, their quirky ways and cynical views of the world - many of their thoughts echoed my own - who hasn't looked in the next person's shopping basket while waiting in a supermarket queue and wondered about them and their lifestyle!
Some of the voices were loud, some quiet, some funny, some sad, some thoroughly dislikeable, some sympathetic but all quite different. I liked that some were not very nice people, they weren't perfect, they had flaws, but they were just ordinary normal people like us, caught up in an extraordinary situation.
I felt it dragged too slowly about halfway through when nothing seemed to be happening and my attention wandered. I feel it would benefit from moving along quicker at that point.
There is no narrative, the peoples' thoughts moved the story along, which I thought worked really well. As the story gradually evolved , I did wonder where it was all going and when it would all start to make sense, and when it eventually did all come together it was in a quite unexpected direction. And it was then that I found myself eagerly turning the pages.
Overall I enjoyed this unusual story and If you're looking for a read that's slightly different from the norm I would recommend Conscience.....it's all about intuition and knowing what is the right thing to do and it certainly makes you think and wonder whether you would do the same in those circumstances.
There is a brilliant mix of characters, from an ordinary street cleaner to a husband with a wandering eye, from a nervous rookie police officer to a grieving mother. And all sorts of others in between.
The thoughts of these people began slowly as I started to get to know them, their quirky ways and cynical views of the world - many of their thoughts echoed my own - who hasn't looked in the next person's shopping basket while waiting in a supermarket queue and wondered about them and their lifestyle!
Some of the voices were loud, some quiet, some funny, some sad, some thoroughly dislikeable, some sympathetic but all quite different. I liked that some were not very nice people, they weren't perfect, they had flaws, but they were just ordinary normal people like us, caught up in an extraordinary situation.
I felt it dragged too slowly about halfway through when nothing seemed to be happening and my attention wandered. I feel it would benefit from moving along quicker at that point.
There is no narrative, the peoples' thoughts moved the story along, which I thought worked really well. As the story gradually evolved , I did wonder where it was all going and when it would all start to make sense, and when it eventually did all come together it was in a quite unexpected direction. And it was then that I found myself eagerly turning the pages.
Overall I enjoyed this unusual story and If you're looking for a read that's slightly different from the norm I would recommend Conscience.....it's all about intuition and knowing what is the right thing to do and it certainly makes you think and wonder whether you would do the same in those circumstances.
September 10, 2021
Never before have I read a book and then read it a second time, as I was so invested, to create a character map and family tree.
This book caught my intrigue from the very first page and kept it going until the last. I loved finding all of the little connections and relationships between the characters and how they weaved into the final few chapters of the book.
It is a cleverly written book with a twist I never saw coming.
The story would make an amazing movie and there are two scenes in particular which I imagined in movie format as I read - the first at the quiz night and the second at the airport.
Without a doubt, the 2nd best book I have read in 2021 - 2nd only to the authors 2nd novel ‘Once Upon a Time There was a Man’.
I’m really hoping there will be a part 2 as I’m intrigued to find out what happens next with some of the characters.
Peter Scholes is definitely an author to watch out for.
This book caught my intrigue from the very first page and kept it going until the last. I loved finding all of the little connections and relationships between the characters and how they weaved into the final few chapters of the book.
It is a cleverly written book with a twist I never saw coming.
The story would make an amazing movie and there are two scenes in particular which I imagined in movie format as I read - the first at the quiz night and the second at the airport.
Without a doubt, the 2nd best book I have read in 2021 - 2nd only to the authors 2nd novel ‘Once Upon a Time There was a Man’.
I’m really hoping there will be a part 2 as I’m intrigued to find out what happens next with some of the characters.
Peter Scholes is definitely an author to watch out for.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews