Matt Wesolowski – Demon

The sixth book from the Six Stories series, Demon, is published by Orenda Books. If you haven’t read this series, you really don’t know what you are missing. A series in which every book can be read on its own but read as a series it is phenomonal! Let’s have a peek at the synopsis before I tell you my thoughts on Demon.

Scott King’s podcast investigates the 1995 cold case of a demon possession in a rural Yorkshire village, where a 12-year-old boy was murdered in cold blood by two children. Book six in the chilling, award-winning Six Stories series.

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…

A series that is as original as they get. The Six stories are all expertly woven stories of mystery blended with as close to horror as you can get without actually being horror.

Matt Wesolowski has outdone himself with Demon. For me, he is a master storyteller. He intricately creates a novel that brings moral dilemmas and issues that are so current and sensitive. A book that got my mind into overdrive. I questioned my own thoughts and thought about how modern-day social media and 24/7 reporting affects how we see things these days.

This is a devastating book in one way and in another, a genius one. The author brings characters that tear you apart internally. The complexity of the case in hand does echo real life, but it’s not as simple as that. He challenges the reader to see beyond ‘The facts’, and in doing that, you find yourself faced with the human side of the story.

I experienced so many emotions reading this. I, on one hand, empathised with the children involved, then, on the other, I almost hated them. Matt Wesolowski’s characters are again so real I could see them in my mind. This made the experience of Demon so much more intense. I did find it a hard story to read, but this happens when one is challenged. Questions such as Nature or Nurture are raised and what is justice for a victim of a heinous crime? Hard questions but a rewarding book.

Teeming with tension and atmosphere, this is a story that is Matt Wesolowskis most emotionally draining book as yet, and it’s worth every single minute it took me to read it. The sixth book in the six stories series, I shall wait with trepidation…you never know.

Massive thanks to Anne Cater and Orenda Books for allowing me to be a part of the blog tour for Demon and for my gifted copy of the book.