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ana988's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
greggles_93's review
2.0
Not the best Wesolowski I have read. Found the story line very predictable and disengaging. Hopefully Deity will be better!
billymac1962's review against another edition
4.0
Beast is the fourth entry in this fun series. And while it was enjoyable, I'd say this has been my least favourite in the series so far.
I still love the format (although I will say that I don't much care for reading pages of italic font; going back and fourth to it makes the eyes a bit wonky), and I enjoyed how the story played out. I wasn't all that enamoured with the resolution, but it's not that big a deal.
What's most fun about all of these novels is wondering who his next guest is going to be and what their perspective on the case brings.
This is what has made every book irresistible to me. And they're very quick reads.
Two more to chew on, and they'll be going down soon.
3.5 stars for this one, and excitement has not dimmed.
I still love the format (although I will say that I don't much care for reading pages of italic font; going back and fourth to it makes the eyes a bit wonky), and I enjoyed how the story played out. I wasn't all that enamoured with the resolution, but it's not that big a deal.
What's most fun about all of these novels is wondering who his next guest is going to be and what their perspective on the case brings.
This is what has made every book irresistible to me. And they're very quick reads.
Two more to chew on, and they'll be going down soon.
3.5 stars for this one, and excitement has not dimmed.
debtat2's review
4.0
Seductively dark and compulsively gritty, this is a glimpse into todays society and the social media obsessed generation.
Told in a series of podcasts it takes a cleverly unique way of story telling as it follows the narrator of these podcasts, Scott King, as he takes his own investigation to the small seaside town of Ergarth and the murder of local internet star, Elizabeth Barton. The body of Elizabeth was discovered locked inside a derelict building known to the locals as the vampire tower. Her assailants, three local lads, are currently serving their sentence for her murder, but not everyone is as convinced as the authorities that the right people are behind bars.
Each episode of his pod cast Scott King interviews some of the locals who knew the victim and her killers and who knew about the online craze that was rife at the time of her death.
Will his investigation lead him to the truth of what really happened that night or will it only result in creating more questions and speculations?
This is the fourth book in the Six Stories series but I wasn't aware of the previous books when I began this book but it read perfectly well as a stand-alone novel but now the first three have been added to my tbr pile!
With a small cast of memorable characters, a relatable small seaside town and its stark dig into the darker side of social media and the internet this will be one book that will appeal to a wide range of readers and leave everyone with pause for thought.
Told in a series of podcasts it takes a cleverly unique way of story telling as it follows the narrator of these podcasts, Scott King, as he takes his own investigation to the small seaside town of Ergarth and the murder of local internet star, Elizabeth Barton. The body of Elizabeth was discovered locked inside a derelict building known to the locals as the vampire tower. Her assailants, three local lads, are currently serving their sentence for her murder, but not everyone is as convinced as the authorities that the right people are behind bars.
Each episode of his pod cast Scott King interviews some of the locals who knew the victim and her killers and who knew about the online craze that was rife at the time of her death.
Will his investigation lead him to the truth of what really happened that night or will it only result in creating more questions and speculations?
This is the fourth book in the Six Stories series but I wasn't aware of the previous books when I began this book but it read perfectly well as a stand-alone novel but now the first three have been added to my tbr pile!
With a small cast of memorable characters, a relatable small seaside town and its stark dig into the darker side of social media and the internet this will be one book that will appeal to a wide range of readers and leave everyone with pause for thought.
oldenglishrose's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
henrymarlene's review
4.0
I had not read any of Matt Wesolowski’s book previously so I read through ‘Beast’ with open eyes that I had to shut few times – wow! The book is in six parts/episodes called Six Stories by Scott King. Scott unravels cold cases in seek of the truth, whatever that may be. In this book, the truth to be exposed centres around the Ergarth Vampire, and the death of Elizabeth Barton. Loved the way in a very short amount of pages (the book is tiny!), the author build up so much mystique around Elizabeth, and all of the characters. The book touches very directly on several issues – bullying and exclusion - and also the way the recent internet challenges can take insidious turns, including peer pressure to join in. All I will give away is that we know Elizabeth dies, but now how or by whom and the book delves into six episodes to expose it all.
The town of Ergarth seems also cut off from the world: alone, not fitting in, as many of the characters too. So many themes overlay each other, including the muddying of waters between myth, urban legend, gruesome murder details and the impact of social media that makes all of the events seem like a sordid internet crime. The way that the media has infiltrated our lives made it feel like I was part of the story - I was reading it as it happened (like a real cold case), as well as reading a fictional tale, but it wasn’t real. The talent in the writing made me believe, and want to question more just how much our reliance on social media to illustrate our life stories for fortune and glory.
The town of Ergarth seems also cut off from the world: alone, not fitting in, as many of the characters too. So many themes overlay each other, including the muddying of waters between myth, urban legend, gruesome murder details and the impact of social media that makes all of the events seem like a sordid internet crime. The way that the media has infiltrated our lives made it feel like I was part of the story - I was reading it as it happened (like a real cold case), as well as reading a fictional tale, but it wasn’t real. The talent in the writing made me believe, and want to question more just how much our reliance on social media to illustrate our life stories for fortune and glory.
kellyvandamme's review
5.0
I’m pretty sure the format is fairly well known by now, but for those of you who are new to the series: Six Stories is a fictional podcast hosted and created by Scott King. Beast is Scott King’s fourth outing, and I’m here to tell you: I’m ready for however many more Matt Wesolowski can come up with! As always, Scott King talks to six people who each tell him (and us) their story, their side of the events. The case at hand seems pretty cut and dried, rather black and white, a girl is dead and her killers are in prison, but each story adds more and more shades of grey, until the sixth and final episode of the podcast is done and dusted and you’re some place completely different than where you started out, feeling exhilarated and bereft in equal measure and more than a little flabbergasted.
If you want to read Beast because you have a thing for vampires or whatever, but you haven’t read Six Stories, Hydra or Changeling, go right ahead! It can be read as a standalone, there’s some hinting at a reveal in Changeling, but there are no actual spoilers to ruin the fun should you want to go back to any of the previous three novels. No judgement of any kind, but you really REALLY should!
As usual there’s a supernatural element, in Beast it’s a vampire. The little town of Ergarth has its own vampire legend and everybody knows somebody who knows somebody else whose cousin / babysitter / granny has had a chance encounter with said vampire. Legend has it this vampire is female and originally from Siberia, so with the ‘Beast from the East’ snow storms and everything it’s not that difficult to imagine that the Ergarth vampire is back with a vengeance. To that backdrop, Ergath vlogger Lizzie B is entering the Dead in Six Days Challenge: the new internet craze where you get a challenge from an unknown phone number, supposedly the vampire’s, and you take the challenge, film it and post it online. Afterwards you get a next challenge which you’re supposed to set to someone else, but Lizzie has decided to carry out all six challenges herself, after which she’ll meet the vampire and die! Well not really. Except that she does die. She’s found naked and frozen to death in the infamous Ergath ‘Vampire Tower’. The vampire? A prank gone wrong? Things are never quite what they seem in Six Stories but if anyone can get to the bottom of it, it’s Scott King.
In whatever format, this is a fantastic series, I always go in with the highest expectations and still each new novel manages exceed them. Novel after novel, Matt Wesolowski succeeds in grabbing my attention from the very first page and keeping me at the edge of my seat throughout. Like its predecessors, Beast got under my skin, it set its claws into me and hunkered down. With the audiobooks I kept making up chores to do so I could keep listening. This Beast paperback had the opposite effect: I went out of my way to escape any kind of adulting, I wanted the world and everyone in it to leave me alone with the Beast from Orenda Books.
Beast is a flawless thriller but once again Matt Wesolowski does not hesitate to turn the spotlight on human flaws: the need for attention, to be liked and to get likes, the total disregard for other people’s feelings, and snowball effect that may have.
Creepy, edgy and dark, Beast is another must-read and a fabulous addition to your Orenda collection and/or any decent thriller collection!
If you want to read Beast because you have a thing for vampires or whatever, but you haven’t read Six Stories, Hydra or Changeling, go right ahead! It can be read as a standalone, there’s some hinting at a reveal in Changeling, but there are no actual spoilers to ruin the fun should you want to go back to any of the previous three novels. No judgement of any kind, but you really REALLY should!
As usual there’s a supernatural element, in Beast it’s a vampire. The little town of Ergarth has its own vampire legend and everybody knows somebody who knows somebody else whose cousin / babysitter / granny has had a chance encounter with said vampire. Legend has it this vampire is female and originally from Siberia, so with the ‘Beast from the East’ snow storms and everything it’s not that difficult to imagine that the Ergarth vampire is back with a vengeance. To that backdrop, Ergath vlogger Lizzie B is entering the Dead in Six Days Challenge: the new internet craze where you get a challenge from an unknown phone number, supposedly the vampire’s, and you take the challenge, film it and post it online. Afterwards you get a next challenge which you’re supposed to set to someone else, but Lizzie has decided to carry out all six challenges herself, after which she’ll meet the vampire and die! Well not really. Except that she does die. She’s found naked and frozen to death in the infamous Ergath ‘Vampire Tower’. The vampire? A prank gone wrong? Things are never quite what they seem in Six Stories but if anyone can get to the bottom of it, it’s Scott King.
In whatever format, this is a fantastic series, I always go in with the highest expectations and still each new novel manages exceed them. Novel after novel, Matt Wesolowski succeeds in grabbing my attention from the very first page and keeping me at the edge of my seat throughout. Like its predecessors, Beast got under my skin, it set its claws into me and hunkered down. With the audiobooks I kept making up chores to do so I could keep listening. This Beast paperback had the opposite effect: I went out of my way to escape any kind of adulting, I wanted the world and everyone in it to leave me alone with the Beast from Orenda Books.
Beast is a flawless thriller but once again Matt Wesolowski does not hesitate to turn the spotlight on human flaws: the need for attention, to be liked and to get likes, the total disregard for other people’s feelings, and snowball effect that may have.
Creepy, edgy and dark, Beast is another must-read and a fabulous addition to your Orenda collection and/or any decent thriller collection!
pickwickthedodo's review
4.0
Really thoroughly enjoyed this! Another excellent installment in the series.
There's a bit at the very end that didn't gel super well for me, which is why it's 4 stars and not 5, but I cannot wait for more in this series. It's genuinely one of my favourites.
There's a bit at the very end that didn't gel super well for me, which is why it's 4 stars and not 5, but I cannot wait for more in this series. It's genuinely one of my favourites.
sarah_mcmullan_nz's review against another edition
3.0
Called it
Again. Ridiculously early. Hmmm.
Still enjoying the true crime podcast format, and the subtle changes each book.
Really hoping for some twisty turns goodness though!
Again. Ridiculously early. Hmmm.
Still enjoying the true crime podcast format, and the subtle changes each book.
Really hoping for some twisty turns goodness though!
btpbookclub's review
5.0
I have been waiting for so long for this book I just couldn’t wait to read it and had to sneak it in before the end of the year. Boy I was not disappointed. Kept me up late into the night reading it. I am absolutely loving this series, it just gets better and better doesn’t it? Very happy. Very impressed. The perfect book to end the year on.
As usual brilliantly written, gripping, thrilling and chilling. A real page turner. I was hooked. I needed to know the answers as much as Scott. The outcome I could not see coming at all, a true shocker. Unexpected. Truelly. Shocking. A brilliant look back into the death of Elizabeth Barton. We get a glimpse into all sides of this character and some ain’t pretty. As they say not as they appear or seem.
A well deserved five stars from me and another late one slipping into my top twenty of the year. Cannot recommend this enough. I could say so much more but know a lot of my followers plan to read this or are currently reading it. Enjoy.
So when’s the next one coming Matt? I think I may have a long wait…
As usual brilliantly written, gripping, thrilling and chilling. A real page turner. I was hooked. I needed to know the answers as much as Scott. The outcome I could not see coming at all, a true shocker. Unexpected. Truelly. Shocking. A brilliant look back into the death of Elizabeth Barton. We get a glimpse into all sides of this character and some ain’t pretty. As they say not as they appear or seem.
A well deserved five stars from me and another late one slipping into my top twenty of the year. Cannot recommend this enough. I could say so much more but know a lot of my followers plan to read this or are currently reading it. Enjoy.
So when’s the next one coming Matt? I think I may have a long wait…