A family massacre. A deluded murderess. Five witnesses. Six Stories. Which one is true? One cold November night in 2014, in a small town in the northwest of England, 21-year-old Arla Macleod bludgeoned her mother, stepfather and younger sister to death with a hammer, in an unprovoked attack known as the Macleod Massacre. Now incarcerated at a medium-security mental-health institution, Arla will … institution, Arla will speak to no one but Scott King, an investigative journalist, whose Six Stories podcasts have become an internet sensation.
King finds himself immersed in an increasingly complex case, interviewing five key witnesses and Arla herself, as he questions whether Arla’s responsibility for the massacre was as diminished as her legal team made out.
As he unpicks the stories, he finds himself thrust into a world of deadly forbidden ‘games’, online trolls, and the mysterious black-eyed kids, whose presence seems to extend far beyond the delusions of a murderess… Dark, chilling and gripping, Hydra is both a classic murder mystery and an up-to-the-minute, startling thriller that shines light in places you may never, ever want to see again.
For fans of Serial.
‘Matt Wesolowski is the next Stephen King…’ Antti Tuomainen
‘A complex and subtle mystery, unfolding like dark origami to reveal the black heart inside’ Michael Marshall Smith
“Wesolowski evokes the ominous landscape and eerie atmosphere of the area with sharp, direct prose …There is more than a whiff of modern horror here, and The Blair Witch Project feels like a touchstone … impeccably crafted and gripping from start to finish’ Doug Johnstone, Big Issue
‘Bold, clever and genuinely chilling with a terrific twist that provides an explosive final punch’ Deidre O’Brien, Sunday Mirror
‘A genuine genre-bending debut’ Carla McKay, Daily Mail
‘A new style of mystery, one that encapsulates the twenty-first century, the Internet, and social media … a dazzling fictional mystery’ Foreword Reviews
.‘A slim volume rich in nuances and filled with deep passion for folklore and myths. In this spooky and eerie debut Matt Wesolowski introduces a very interesting contemporary concept of narrative structure which keeps the readers on their toes’ Crime Review
‘This is one of the best novels I’ve read this year, perhaps in memory’ Nudge Books
‘With a unique structure, an ingenious plot and so much suspense you can’t put it down, this is the very epitome of a must-read’ Heat
‘Wonderfully horrifying … the suspense crackles’ James Oswald
‘Wonderfully atmospheric. Matt Wesolowski is a skilled storyteller with a unique voice. Definitely one to watch’ Mari Hannah
‘Dark, mysterious and definitely not without elements of horror, I was more than a little unsettled while I read it. A genre-bending book, with some hauntingly threatening prose … I could not put it down. Highly recommended!’ Bibliophile Book Club
‘A stunning piece of writing – chock full of atmosphere, human insight and beautiful writing. Take a note of this guy’s name. He’s going to be huge!’ Michael J. Malone
‘Sharp as a butcher’s knife, cutting straight through to the nerve of its reader. A read-in-one-sitting experience that will surely inspire many authors to explore new methods of narration’ Bleach House Library
‘Origina
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Hydra is the second book in the Six Stories series and can be read as a complete standalone. First and foremost, I want to say that this book BLEW ME AWAY! I don’t know if it was the authors intention or not but not only was I enthralled in the savagery of the story, but I was also completely creeped out. It takes a lot to scare me and I’ve read my share of horror books throughout my lifetime but this one set me on edge. I got the chills, goosebumps, and my heart RACED. It was fantastic! Now, I don’t think this book is meant to be a horror novel, it is after all, a
“podcast” type story about a murder. However, the underlying things discussed in the podcast (the urban legends, and black-eyed children, and things like that set me on edge). So, while it may not be a traditional horror novel, it packs the punch of one of the scariest I’ve ever read. Bravo!
Okay. So, this book (and its processor; Six Stories) is written as a podcast. I don’t list to audiobooks, but I would certainly make the exception for these books because I think they would make for great listens. I may even go back and listen to this one via audio because I am so intrigued with how it would play out in that format. This review though will focus on the reading material from the book.
Did I ever think a podcast styled novel would ACUTALLY be good in print format? Nope. Doesn’t seem like it would work but it totally does. Within this novel we have the narrator; Scott King, who dives back into crime scenes via his podcast, Six Stories. This one focuses on a girl named Arla who killed her mom, dad, and sister with a hammer. Arla was clearly the killer, there was never any doubt that she did it, but his podcast sets to look at WHY she did what she did. Is it paranormal? Psychological? Or was she just born bad. That’s what you’ll find out as you are reading. Each chapter focuses on a different narrative from someone close to the story/perpetrator. You get an inside look at the psychological mechanisms of her through these people and come to your own conclusions as to WHY she committed this heinous act. You’ll also discover some very creepy things that will make you feel uneasy as I did. So, beware of that! This book is CHILLING. It’s insanely well written, completely interesting, and downright PERFECT in every way. I hope the author writes many more books like this because I will be reading every single one!
I couldn’t put this book down—literally, I read it in two days. It was really original, skirting the genre line between thriller and horror but mostly on the thriller side. I admit I’m always attracted to fiction that reads like true crime. It would make a great book club book because I can think of a hundred aspects of the story I’d love to discuss with someone.
Terrifyingly beautiful. I can’t wait to read more.
Definitely not what I thought it was going to be. It was a very good book. Fascinating what the mind can do.
It was hard to read. I didn’t like the writing style. I was surprised by the ending though.
Tough read but I struggled to the end which was the best part of the entire book. Would have been easy to miss as it was getting boring.
This was a very original approach to writing a book and I really liked it. Towards the end I thought I might know the “who” of who was behind it, but there was still a twist I didn’t see coming. I really enjoyed the book, although it was so realistic it is kind of sad, and I highly recommend it.
This book was not very easy to read. It skips around a lot and I didn’t like it.
Not impressed at all. The idea was great but the deliver was sad. I was looking forward to reading this but after only a few pages I gave up due to the grammatical errors making it hard to read.