Beast (Six Stories 4) by Matt Wesolowski

Next up today I'm just thrilled to be taking part in the blog tour for Beast by Matt Wesolowski, one of my most anticipated books for this year. Thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for inviting me. I read and reviewed my own bought copy.

The Blurb:

In the wake of the ‘Beast from the East ’ cold snap that ravaged the UK in 2018, a grisly discovery was made in a ruin on the Northumbrian coast. Twenty-four year old vlogger, Elizabeth Barton, had been barricaded inside what locals refer to as ‘The Vampire Tower’, where she was later found frozen to death.

Three young men, part of an alleged cult, were convicted of this terrible crime, which they described as a ‘prank gone wrong ’. However, in the small town of Ergarth, questions have been raised about the nature of Elizabeth Barton’s death and whether the three convicted youths were even responsible.

Elusive online journalist Scott King speaks to six witnesses – people who knew both the victim and the three killers – to peer beneath the surface of the case. He uncovers whispers of a shocking online craze that held the young of Ergarth in its thrall and drove them to escalate a series of pranks in the name of internet fame. He hears of an abattoir on the edge of town, which held more than simple slaughter behind its walls, and the tragic and chilling legend of the Ergarth Vampire…

Beast was published by Orenda Books as an eBook on 20th December 2019 and in paperback on 6th February 2020. You can buy it from the publisher and all usual retailers. Why not visit your local independent bookshop? Or online you could try Bert's Books, The Big Green Bookshop, or Hive (which will link to the nearest participating indie bookshop).


My Review:

Regular visitors to this blog may recall that I read and reviewed the first three books in this series, Six Stories, Hydra and Changeling, at the beginning of last year and pretty much ran out of superlatives to describe Matt's writing. Six Stories was was one of my books of 2019 but, in reality, all three could have been on the list - I just picked Six Stories because of the impact it had on me, having read nothing like it before. So it was fair to say there was a lot of anticipation for Beast. I downloaded it on the day it came out (I prefer real books but just couldn't wait for the paperback release) and it was my first read of the year. And did Wesolowski deliver again? Oh yes, he certainly did.

Beast is the fourth book in the Six Stories series. There are some references in this book to things that happened in Changeling, but it can certainly be read as a standalone. However, you should read the previous books in the series because they are freaking awesome (you can read my reviews by clicking through on the book titles above).

As with the previous books, this is presented as a podcast looking at a true crime. The podcast consists of six episodes - stories - each with a different interviewee, who had some connection with the crime. After the aforementioned events in the previous book, presenter Scott King isn't as elusive as he used to be, and now visits the crime scene and his interviewees personally.

Young upcoming vlogger Elizabeth Barton was apparently murdered, by three men she knew, during the cold spell known as the 'Beast from the East' in 2018. Ergarth is a town on the coast in the North East of England which doesn't seem to have much going for it, particularly in winter. Elizabeth was well known and popular, encouraged charitable acts and was on the verge of launching a foundation to help those less fortunate. But was she all that? And is there a connection between her killers and the Ergarth Vampire?

As with Matt's previous books this is so real. I went to Google  many times to check things out. Ergarth is so typical of a crumbling seaside town - there are very few jobs, no investment, empty buildings, nowhere for the kids to go, and the people living there feel abandoned - it could be so many places. And the descriptions of Tankerville Tower and the woods surrounding it are hugely atmospheric and creepy - I certainly wouldn't want to visit. I think having Scott King visit the places discussed and meeting folk face to face has really  added to the sense of place - it's allowed the author to be even more descriptive. For example,

'... the wind is even stronger and colder than on the high street, where it screams around the boarded-up shops with a sharpened blade.'
'... a stream that gurgles beside us, its voice carrying above the skeletal shopping trolleys sitting in the water.'

I have never watched anyone talking on YouTube about their shopping, gifts they've been sent or challenges they've accepted, but Matt's portrayal here strikes me as scarily accurate - excerpts from Elizabeth's vlog are presented between episodes. I could be watching them, they are so real. The same with the episodes themselves and the interviewees - the voices all sound different. Wesolowski writes dialogue so well - the pauses, stumbling over words, correcting as we go, the emotion in our voices - we all do it, and it's done here so it feels authentic. I can hear the voices, I am listening to the podcast. I find reading Matt's books a totally immersive experience.

As with previous books, Matt has weaved in folklore into a very contemporary and cautionary tale. I loved the story of the Ergarth Vampire. As we progress through the episodes we learn that perhaps not all is as it first seemed as the tale, and some people's reputations get twisted around. The story is a disturbing one with a hint of horror, and there are some tense moments. Shocking ones too.

This is a sober reflection on our society and our obsession with, and addiction to, social media. The importance we place in the number of followers we have. The desperate need for likes and shares. There are some political statements here too, I think - the abandonment of small towns miles away from Westminster, the lack of mental health care. Things that are happening all over the country now.

Once again, Wesolowski has delivered a stunning book - original, gripping, creepy, thought provoking and relevant. He is just going from strength to strength, and I can't wait to see what's next!


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 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.