Orenda Blog Tour - Deity

 

TITLE: Deity (Six Stories #5)

AUTHOR: Matt Wesolowski   

PUBLISHER: Orenda Books

PUBLISHING DATE: February 18, 2021

PAGES:320    

SOURCE: ARC

FROM GOODREADS: 

Online investigative journalist Scott King investigates the death of a pop megastar, the subject of multiple accusations of sexual abuse and murder before his untimely demise in a fire … another episode of the startlingly original, award-winning Six Stories series.  

When pop megastar Zach Crystal dies in a fire at his remote mansion, his mysterious demise rips open the bitter divide between those who adored his music and his endless charity work, and those who viewed him as a despicable predator, who manipulated and abused young and vulnerable girls. 

Online journalist Scott King, whose ‘Six Stories’ podcasts have become an internet sensation, investigates the accusations of sexual abuse and murder that were levelled at Crystal before he died. But as Scott begins to ask questions and rakes over old graves, some startling inconsistencies emerge: Was the fire at Crystal’s remote home really an accident? Whose remains – still unidentified – were found in the ashes? Why was he never officially charged? 

Dark, chillingly topical and deeply thought-provoking, Deity is both an explosive thriller and a startling look at how heroes can fall from grace and why we turn a blind eye to even the most heinous of crimes…

MY THOUGHTS: First of all, I think this cover is stunning, and if it doesn't scream "horror" than the author's promotional pick does!  And you know how much I love horror.  I was a tad hesitant going into this one because it is part of a sequel but seriously, that didn't create any reading problems for me. Well, maybe that isn't true because now I need to go to back and read his previous works.  

I adored the concept of this novel. It focuses on a podcast investigator which is an element I love to see in books.  It also has the celebrity connection I also enjoy.  Zach Crystal, a huge popstar, dies when his mansion burns.  This is all fresh upon allegations of abuse of young girls.  Scott King, opens an investigation on his podcast in which he interviews six people, and then leaves the listerer/reader to determine what they thing really happened.  

This book really showed the dark side of fame and how people can sometimes be the biggest monsters of all.  In addition, it takes a real hard look at how people in the public eye can often get away with things because of who they are and their standing in society.  I can't stress enough how much you should pick up this book.  I will definitely be going back and starting at the beginning of this series and Wesolowski is definitely an author to watch.  I see great things in his future and I'm so glad I was able to participate in the blog tour for this one!

RATING: 5 PAWS

ABOUT 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 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 an Amazon bestseller in the USA, Canada, the UK and Australia, and a WHSmith Fresh Talent pick, and film rights were sold to a major Hollywood studio. A prequel, Hydra, was published in 2018 and became an international bestseller. Changeling, the third book in the series, was published in 2019 and was longlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. His fourth book, Beast, won the Amazon Publishing Readers’ Independent Voice Book of the Year award in 2020.