Demon by Matt Wesolowski #SixStories #Review#Giveaway

I am delighted to be on the Orenda Blog Tour to celebrate the launch of Matt Wesolowski's latest Six Stories Episode, Demon. I have reviewed the first five in the series and you can read my reviews here:  

Six Stories  |  Hydra  |  Changeling   |  Beast 

  |  Deity

I also have a great giveaway with the chance for you to win a print copy of Demon. Details on how to enter are at the foot of this post. (UK only)

In 1995, the picture-perfect village of Ussalthwaite was the site of one of the most heinous crimes imaginable, in a case that shocked the world.

Twelve-year-old Sidney Parsons was savagely murdered by two boys his own age. No reason was ever given for this terrible crime, and the ‘Demonic Duo’ who killed him were imprisoned until their release in 2002, when they were given new identities and lifetime anonymity.

Elusive online journalist Scott King investigates the lead-up and aftermath of the killing, uncovering dark stories of demonic possession, and encountering a village torn apart by this unspeakable act.

And, as episodes of his Six Stories podcast begin to air, and King himself becomes a target of media scrutiny and the public’s ire, it becomes clear that whatever drove those two boys to kill is still there, lurking, and the campaign of horror has just begun...

 My Thoughts

Readers of the Six Stories series will be familiar with the format. Told through six characters who all contribute to a podcast which is investigating a cold crime, there are elements of horror which swirl around the scene. Set in an isolated setting there is danger and foreboding in buckets and each podcast contributor adds to a slowly unfolding picture which leaves the reader feeling unsettled. The subject of Demon concerns child murder in which the perpetrators are also children. It therefore forces you to consider how such children should be treated and rehabilitated.

     I found the variety of the characters to be one of the strengths of this novel. They each had their own back story and all shared the sense that their pasts had not been forgotten and were continuing to have a profound effect on their lives. You are also shown how childish perception can be fed by their imagination and their treatment by others. Disconnected from the mainstream, they are looking for acceptance in their own way. There is something quite disturbing about the juxtaposition of childhood and the supernatural. Unsettling and dark, you know that you are reading a great story written by a great storyteller.

In short: dark and disturbing

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

You can follow Matt here  Twitter, |  Facebook|   Goodreads 

 

Book link: Amazon UK

 

Thanks to Matt Wesolowski, Karen Sullivan, Anne Cater of 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 Demon, just Follow and Retweet the pinned Tweet at @bookslifethings and good luck!

 Closing Date is 23rd January 2022 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.