I am happy to be on the Orenda Blog Tour to celebrate the launch of Matt Wesolowski's latest Six Stories Episode, Deity. I have reviewed the first four in the series and you can read my reviews here: Six Stories | Hydra | Changeling | BeastI also have a great giveaway with the chance for you to win a print copy of Deity. Details on how to enter are at the foot of this post. (UK only)
When pop megastar Zach Crystal dies in a fire at his remote mansion,
his mysterious demise rips open the bitter divide between those who adored his
music and his endless charity work, and those who viewed him as a despicable
predator, who manipulated and abused young and vulnerable girls.
Online
journalist, Scott King, whose ‘Six Stories’ podcasts have become an internet
sensation, investigates the accusations of sexual abuse and murder that were
levelled at Crystal before he died. But as Scott begins to ask questions and
rakes over old graves, some startling inconsistencies emerge. Was the fire at
Crystal’s remote home really an accident? Why was he never officially charged?
Are reports of a haunting really true?
Dark, chillingly topical and deeply
thought-provoking, Deity is both an explosive, spine-chilling thriller and a
startling look at how heroes can fall from grace and why we are willing to turn
a blind eye to even the most heinous of crimes...
My Thoughts
The fifth in Matt Wesolowski's Six Stories series has all the hallmarks of its predecessors. As well as the format of the podcast which is told through six instalments, you are given an isolated and mysterious setting, a collection of characters who somehow seem on the edge of society and hints of magic or the supernatural. You are given the story in chunks as each character is brought forward with their testimony. You have to make your own mind up as to how dependable each character is.
Added to the podcast interviews, you are also given parts of Zach Crystal's final television interview and also are privy to a largely unknown character's thoughts. This adds up to a tantalising mixture of impressions which are hard to pin down. When fame and celebrity raise someone up to almost god-like status in the eyes of his fans, you have to decide what effect that might have on a character. Would they be tempted to manipulate and abuse, or is this just a false picture? It is possible to see where real-life models for Zach's character might exist but the truth is dark and murky. With a great sense of the macabre, and elements of folklore and legend, this is an atmospheric but contemporary read.
In short: a dark thriller with a touch of horror
About the Author
Matt Wesolowski is
an author from
Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the
UK. He is an English tutor for young people in care. Matt
started his writing career in horror, and
his short horror
fiction has been
published in numerous
UK- and US-based
anthologies, such as Midnight Movie Creature, Selfies from the End of
the World, Cold Iron and
many more. His
novella, The Black
Land, a horror
set on the
Northumberland coast, was
published in 2013.
Matt was a
winner of the
Pitch Perfect competition
at the Bloody
Scotland Crime Writing
Festival in 2015.
His debut thriller, Six Stories,
was an Amazon bestseller in the USA, Canada, the UK and Australia,
and a WHSmith
Fresh Talent pick,
and film rights
were sold to
a major Hollywood studio. A
prequel, Hydra, was published in 2018 and became an international bestseller.
Changeling, the third book in the series, was published in 2019 and was
longlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. His fourth
book, Beast, won the Amazon Publishing Readers’ Independent Voice Book of the
Year award in 2020
Thanks to Karen Sullivan, Anne Cater and Orenda Books for a copy of the book and a place on the Blog Tour!
Check out these great bloggers!
Giveaway (UK only)
To win a print copy of Beast, just Follow and Retweet the pinned Tweet at @bookslifethings and good luck!
Closing Date is 28th February 2021
and there is one winner.
*Terms and Conditions –UK only. The winner will be selected at
random via Tweetdraw from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter
and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right
to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the
competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with
third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed
to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize. I am not
responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
Thanks so much for the blog tour support x
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