Hydra
4/5
()
About this ebook
'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
'Impeccably crafted and gripping from start to finish' Doug Johnstone, The Big Issue
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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 north west of England, 21-year-old Arla Macleod bludgeoned her mother, father 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 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 witnesses and Arla herself, as he questions whether Arla's responsibility for the massacre was a 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.
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Praise for the Six Stories series
Matt Wesolowski brilliantly depicts a desperate and disturbed corner of north-east England in which paranoia reigns and goodness is thwarted ... an exceptional storyteller' Andrew Michael Hurley
'Beautifully written, smart, compassionate – and scary as hell. Matt Wesolowski is one of the most exciting and original voices in crime fiction' Alex North
'Wonderfully horrifying ... the suspense crackles' James Oswald
'Original, inventive and dazzlingly clever' Fiona Cummins
'A complex and subtle mystery, unfolding like dark origami to reveal the black heart inside' Michael Marshall Smith
'Endlessly inventive and with literary thrills a-plenty, Matt Wesolowski is boldly carving his own uniquely dark niche in fiction' Benjamin Myers
'Disturbing, compelling and atmospheric, it will terrify and enthral you in equal measure' M W Craven
'Readers of Kathleen Barber's Are You Sleeping and fans of Ruth Ware will enjoy this slim but compelling novel' Booklist
'A relentless and original work of modern rural noir which beguiles and unnerves in equal measure. Matt Wesolowski is a major talent' Eva Dolan
'The very epitome of a must-read' Heat
'Haunting, horrifying, and heartrending. Fans of Arthur Machen, whose unsettling tale The White People provides an epigraph, will want to check this one out' Publishers Weekly
'For those who like the book they curl up with in their favourite slipper socks to generate a powerful sense of unease, and impel them to check all doors are locked and as many lights turned on as possible, Matt Wesolowski has just the formula to meet your self-scaring needs… ‘ Strong Words
Matt Wesolowski
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- an 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, the third in the Six Stories series, will be published in 2019.
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Reviews for Hydra
31 ratings4 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5There were a few things that distracted me in this one -- the conceit of the podcast format sometimes was a bit thin (though sometimes it was spot on with the things I find irritating from actual true crime podcasters of this ilk), and some characters used the same descriptions of things as other characters, which I found unlikely (such as "like being abroad" for a certain vacation feel... but it's highly possible that these are common Britishisms).Overall, sucked me in just as much as the first one though.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is the second book in the Six Stories series (I'm currently reading the third-when my library system and interlibrary loan system couldn't get a copy, I just went and bought it on my Kindle, which I never do, because I had to read it immediately!), and it did not disappoint.The Six Stories series centers around a (fictional) podcast that looks at (fictional) crimes. In Hydra, the case is that of Arla Macleod, who beat her family to death with a hammer and is institutionalized for the murders. Each "episode" is with a different person who can hopefully shed light on what happened that night, and, perhaps, even more crucially, what brought about the horrific murders.The tension is almost unbearable, the twists and turns expertly plotted, and the ending once again left me with my jaw dropped open from the brilliant reveals. Wesolowski weaves horror, mystery, and the supernatural together so well that you feel you are experiencing a real podcast about a real crime. I absolutely recommend this series, it deserves more readers!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hydra – A Complex while Subtle MysteryHydra, is the excellent follow up to Six Stories by Matt Wesolowski, while following the same format as the previous boo. Following the format of six podcasts, one will conclude that Hydra is very much an apt title while looking at a very modern online phenomenon and the darkest places online.On the cover we are given a flavour of what we are about to read, in a family massacre, a deluded murderess, five witnesses and six stories. We just have to work out which one is true, and that is the tough nut to crack.Scott King, our narrator, an investigative journalist and podcast host finds himself immersed in what seems to be a simple cold case, becomes increasingly complex. Arla Macleod killed her parents and her sister, she does not deny that in what became known as the Macleod Massacre. Arla is now a patient at a medium-security mental health facility, and for some unknown reason will only talk to Scott King.As King slowly unpicks the Arla’s story and looks at those people who had spent some time with her to try and gain some insight into her psychological make-up. It does not help that Arla is not the most sympathetic of subjects to investigate, but with the investigation one might find that more a case of nurture than nature.While King investigates the murders and broadcasts his findings, he finds himself increasingly in the sights of the internet trolls. Where these online trolls try to bully him and threaten him with being doxed amongst other things. Wesolowski shines a light into some of the darkest area of the modern internet. While one could argue that light is like a mirror on modern life and we all need to ask how easily it is to become a troll, if you are angry enough.The podcasts intertwined with the recorded thoughts of Arla makes for a fascinating mystery, that slowly unfolds and leaves the reader trying to put the jigsaw together, without the picture to guide them. The writing is once again original, clever and inventive, making this a true page turner. Once again Matt Wesolowski has written a truly excellent literary mystery that is gripping from beginning to end.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'm one of those very few book bloggers who haven't read Six Stories yet (although I do have it on my Kindle). So, whilst I knew there was a podcast style to the writing, I didn't really know what to expect.In Hydra, Scott King, the journalist behind the Six Stories podcasts, looks into the infamous massacre in 2014 of the Macleod family (mother, father, younger daughter) by Arla Macleod, the elder daughter. In each of the six episodes he interviews a different person and gains a different perspective on what happened and why Arla did what she did.This is one creepy story. One of dangerous games and rituals, one of black-eyed kids, one of eerie events and mixed-up people. I made the mistake of reading it in bed at night and getting it into my head that the black-eyed kids were going to pop their scary faces round the door any minute. Whilst it didn't give me nightmares, it definitely disturbed my dreams. It's quite freaky in places and very dark.The story is plotted well as Scott learns more about Arla's life and hears from people who knew her at various times, as well as the woman herself. As the whole thing unfolded it drew me in and I wanted to find out why. Why did this young woman kill the people closest to her? What were the circumstances that led up to the horrific events.I did struggle a bit with pretty much the whole book being in interview style, and the answers being like a conversation. I think it's not a style that particularly suits me as a reader. But that doesn't take away the fact that this is a clever, accomplished and unique book with a very current theme and I strongly suspect Wesolowski is an author to watch in the future.