Review: Demon, by Matt Wesolowski

THE BOOK
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…

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 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 WH Smith 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.

My Review

Thanks to Anne Cater for arranging this blog tour and to Karen Sullivan at Orenda Books for sending me a copy of the book.

I’ve been ill, and it’s taken me a few days to get to reading this book. I tried on the 6th but was too ill to focus. I’m feeling a bit better today, and I’ve spent a few hours this afternoon (10th) reading the book. I’ve read one of Matt’s other books, Beast, and was looking forward to Demon.

This book doesn’t disappoint. Wesolowski mixes strong plotting with a story that is a mix of crime and horror. There’s always a hint of the supernatural with a plausible explanation. He usually makes a point about society at the same time. This time it’s about how we judge people, about whether we want to rehabilitate people or just punish them, and the nature of evil. Whether we think before we speak or type, whether we make informed judgements or jump to conclusions based on our prejudices.

I enjoy the format as a podcast transcript, with letters, emails and increasingly vitriolic newspaper articles between episodes. Each episode reveals more about events, and the characters in it. The ending is quite unexpected. The articles are interesting and frustrating as they make assumptions and distort the facts for their own interests. Internet ignorance at its finest.

I highly recommend this book. It keeps you reading even as horrible events are described.