Demon by Matt Wesolowski

I'm so excited to be on the tour for one of my most anticipated reads of the year. I always look forward to a release from Matt Wesolowski. Huge thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for inviting me and to Orenda Books for my review copy. I will be buying a paperback copy to go with the rest of  the set. 

 

The Blurb

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 and fanciful 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, King himself becomes a target, with dreadful secrets from his own past dredged up and threats escalating to a terrifying level. It becomes clear that whatever drove those two boys to kill is still there, lurking, and the campaign of horror has just begun…

Demon is published by Orenda Books and was released a week ago today on 20th January 2022. 

My Review

Before I even start, can we just take a moment to share the love for this cover? Isn't it brilliant? Orenda's cover designer, Mark Swan, is a wizardy genius. 

Anyway, to business! This is the sixth book in the fantastic Six Stories and features six episodes. 666. I suspect this isn't a coincidence given the title of the book and the crime it details. It follows Six Stories, Hydra, Changeling, Beast and last year's Deity. You don't need to have read any of all of the previous books to enjoy this one but I do recommend you catch up with them at some point because they're brilliant. For those of you not familiar with the series, it follows online journalist Scott King's Six Stories in which he investigates (fictional) true crimes interviewing six people close to the crime across six episodes (chapters). Demon looks at the horrific murder of 12 year old Sidney by two boys of the same age he thought were his friends. The crime took place over 25 years ago but it's clear there's still a lot of darkness surrounding Ussalthwaite to this day. 

Matt is a master world builder. The towns, villages and communities he creates seem so real I Google them every time, utterly convinced they must be actual places. But they're not, they just feel that way. And they really do. The same with the characters he creates. Every one of them is a fully formed, fleshed out person with a whole history and a future. The podcast format is brilliant because we 'hear' some of the characters speak. For me it's a completely immersive experience - I really feel like I'm listening to the voices of the interviewees telling their stories. I defy you not to feel heartbroken for Terry in Episode Four looking back as an adult on some of his behaviour as a child and or passionate for change when thinking about vilification by the press and public of anyone who is accused of a crime despite knowing nothing about them. But all of the episodes help build up very full pictures of our three main characters, and I felt sorry for them all at various points throughout the book but particularly Sidney. And there are letters shared between every episode, along with other relevant pieces of media, which nearly broke me. It was interesting to see how this case, as others have done, touched our host himself. 

As with all of the previous books there is an element of horror, otherworldliness, and I felt that was really strong in Demon, stuff that simply can't be explained, happening to all sorts of people. Real shiver down the spine stuff - especially for me who gets spooked easily! And the crime being discussed is, at least on the surface, truly horrific. But Matt has also delivered thoughtful, passionate and sometimes blistering comment on  justice, rehabilitation, vilification by the press, the power of social media, education, social services and politics. Demon is an absolutely cracking, totally absorbing, dark and atmospheric read which shows us that we don't have to look to the spiritual or ghostly to find the horror in the world. There was a hint this might be it for Scott King, at least for a while - I'm keeping everything crossed that Matt Wesolowski brings Scott back soon but looking forward to whatever comes next from Matt! 

 

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 story 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 a bestseller in the USA, Canada, the UK and Australia, and a WHSmith Fresh Talent pick, and TV rights were sold to a major Hollywood studio. A prequel, Hydra, was published in 2018 and became an international bestseller, Changeling (2019), Beast (2020) and Deity (2021) soon followed suit.

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