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There can’t be many users who haven’t given their iPad a whirl as an eBook reader, even if it’s only to enjoy Winnie-the-Pooh for free via iBooks; and we would imagine that the majority have found it to be a pleasant reading companion.  However, books on the iPad don’t begin and end with iBooks, as the App Store has some innovative apps to tempt you away.

Watchlist is one such application and is bought to us by Vook, a company whose name is a portmanteau of video and book, and it’s best described as a ’smart book’.  As the company name suggests, each Vook uses video and audio to compliment the eBook, offering everything from short featurettes on the author to excerpts being read to you, just like an audiobook.

In this case, the eBook is Watchlist, a collaborative thriller with two parts, The Chopin Manuscript and The Copper Bracelet (iTunes links).  Each part is opened and closed by acclaimed thriller writer Jeffrey Deaver, with subsequent chapters written by a total of 22 other well-known writers including Jim Fusilli, Lisa Scottoline and Lee Child.  Both books follow Harold Middleton, a former war crimes investigator, as he first tries to uncover the secret behind a mysterious and previously unknown piece of music by Chopin that has come into his possession, before returning in Part II to help foil a potentially devastating international terrorist plot.

While we’re primarily interested in the application, we do want to say a few words about Watchlist the book first.  Jeffrey Deaver sets up the character of Harold Middleton in the opening chapter with his usual flair, and although he’s perhaps not as charismatic as Deaver’s best known creation, Lincoln Rhyme, his relative ordinariness makes him likable and accessible.   As the story’s reigns are handed over to a new author with each chapter, you’d be forgiven for expecting some confusion, but thankfully it never comes – a tribute to the abilities of every writer involved.  The Chopin Manuscript has action, international travel and a suitably exciting plot, while The Copper Bracelet takes all of those and amplifies them even further.  Personally, I found The Chopin Manuscript to be more enjoyable, thanks to its slightly more cerebral plot.

On to the app itself.  Both Chopin and Copper have 17 chapters plus an introduction, many of which contain audio or video content.  For example, on chapters one and 17, Jeffrey Deaver is interviewed and he provides his thoughts on how the story started and how he planned to close it, while on chapters two, five, 12 and 15 of Chopin, Alfred Molina reads the opening few paragraphs in content taken from the audiobook version.

The videos last for between one or two minutes and total up to around 10-15 minutes, so it feels like you’re watching a featurette on a DVD, where the cast a crew speak about their roles and experiences.  The idea of creating a collaborative thriller is fascinating and these brief insights show not only how much of a challenge it was, but how much the writers relished it too.

The Watchlist Vook has some basic customisation features too, where you can alter the size of the font, switch between a light or dark background and share some of the content via Facebook or Twitter.  Each chapter is laid out as a scrollable page, which although neat, does present a couple of problems.  Firstly, there is no indication bar to show where you are on the ‘page’, therefore you don’t know how long before the chapter ends.  Now, this wouldn’t be a problem if you could add a bookmark, but you can’t, so you must read an entire chapter in one sitting or lose your place.  I like to read before sleeping and was often too tired to finish the quite long chapters all in one go, and this was very frustrating.

This said, I liked the Twitter-app-style option of ’scroll and hold’ to move on to the next chapter, which was faster than pressing the Next button and didn’t require me to shift my hold on the iPad.  It was also good to hear Alfred Molina speak a little about reading the audiobook, and his two interviews are particular standouts.

I was almost predestined to like Vook’s Watchlist, as I’m already a fan of Jeffrey Deaver’s writing and of behind-the-scenes movie documentaries, so a pairing of the two would automatically be something that interested me.  I wasn’t disappointed either, as both Chopin and Copper are good reads and the interviews with the authors provide insight into the writing process where there is usually none.

They’re good value too at $6.99 each, seeing as Amazon charge $19 for the Kindle edition.  The lack of bookmarking is a problem, but otherwise we would recommend choosing to read a book Vook-style in the future, provided the option was there.

Overall: 4/5

Additional:  Parts I and II of Watchlist are just two of the Vooks available, so take a look at their website to see what else they have on offer. Watchlist is also available as an iPhone app too.