This book was different from anything I have read. It tells the "same" story from six different perspectives of a murder that happened over 20 year ago. It is amazing how everyone has a different perspective on one set of events but at the same time can be completely different. It is told in a transcript type style, and once I got used to that I flew through this book. I think this is on book that might have actually been doable for one such as myself who get "squirrel brain" when listening to audio books, but this one seems like it would be a good audio book, if all the characters got their own voice. Anyways....


I would definitely recommend this to my friends who enjoy a good mystery.

Six Stories packs a lot of punch in a short novel. Told in the form of podcasts, Six Stores sets out to unravel the mysterious death of Tom Jeffries 20 years after the body is found. Tom goes missing on an outdoors weekend in the murky woodlands of Scarclaw Falls, and a year later, his body is found in the swamp. Shrouded by legends and teen angst, his death is ruled an accident until the truth is uncovered, podcast style.

This novel is a slow burn – the first podcast absolutely freaked me out (and I don’t scare easily). The next few interviews held a bothering ambiguity – would we find out the truth behind Tom’s death? Do monsters really exist? There are a few twists towards the end but nothing shocking or new in the thriller-esque genre.

Overall, a solid read – I think it could have been edgier and perhaps a touch more complex, but it certainly offered a unique and modern perspective and delivery.

This book has a very interesting format which really made it a compelling read. It is written as a podcast interview series with 6 people about the mysterious death of a boy. I absolutely love this format the format. It made it feel like the story was being told me like in an audio book.

The writing was a bit awkward at times, especially in the very beginning. It could be very wordy in a way that made it hard to get into the story and made it drag a bit. However, once I got into it, I couldn’t get out. I was reading this during a very busy week of work but somehow I found ways to sneak in a few pages here and there. The format of it being written in 6 different short sections made it fly by.

The setting and the characters were so good and so realistic, it felt like this could have happened in real life. The author perfectly captured how friends groups during adolescence can form and the wondeful things and heartbreaking moments that go along with being young and trying to find your place in the world.

I hadn’t read a thriller in a while and I think that this was an amazing one to get me back into the genre. I will definitely be looking out for more books by this author in the future.

Copy furnished by Net Galley for the price of a review.

Up from the depths of the murky muck of the marshland in Scarclaw Woods, a shambling figure emerges. All claws and teeth and long grasping fingers, and she is hungry. Is Nanna Wrack real or just the product of a stoner's wild imagination?

A group of bored teenagers encounter a childlike man, Haris Novak. He likes to watch the animals in the woods. He misinterprets the interaction between he and the teens, thinking he has found some friends. His naivete is played upon, a couple of the boys start picking at him, bullying him. When one of the group goes missing, Haris is suspected. Scapegoat or prime suspect?

This is a fine murder mystery that merely plucks at the strings of horror. It will take only six stories to get to the truth.

This book was so different than anything else I have read! It is told in a series of podcasts, by a journalist who investigates cold cases. This being the story of the disappearance & murder of a 15 year old boy, whose body was found 20 years prior in a creepy wooded area called Scarclaw fell! There are 6 episodes to the podcast, each interviewing the other teens (now adults) who were there that night!
Very cleverly written & original...also VERY spooky at times.

This was mostly an inoffensive read for me - I was intrigued, but only mildly so - but my god, did it go out with a bang. Though it starts out slow, it gradually gathers steam, and then that final, satisfying denouement brings it all together in a way I hadn't been expecting. Fantastic. But let's back up.

Six Stories is a novel constructed as a series of podcasts, in which an investigative journalist looks into the mysterious death of 15-year-old Tom Jeffries, which occurred twenty years ago. By interviewing people who knew Tom, podcast host Scott King attempts to paint as clear a picture as possible of the circumstances surrounding his death.

I actually picked up this book right after finishing Are You Sleeping by Kathleen Barber, and I had to put it down almost immediately because the premises were just too similar. Are podcast murder mysteries the hot new trend? Anyway, so I put down Six Stories, read a different book, and returned, ready to give this style murder mystery another try. And I'm glad I did, because Six Stories blows Are You Sleeping out of the water, in my opinion. Of course, they're completely different narratives and the novels are formatted rather differently, but while I felt that Are You Sleeping suffered and lost some of its intrigue for each new information reveal, I thought Six Stories only became stronger with each successive chapter.

Part true crime investigation, part character study, and part ghost story, Six Stories balances each of these elements satisfactorily, creating an uneasy atmosphere, and you can't help but to wonder what's lurking beneath the surface of each of the six stories that are told. Matt Wesolowski does a fantastic job at playing with themes of perception and subjectivity, as each character's perspective alters the story in some fundamental way. The dynamics amongst Tom's friend group are also fascinating. There's Charlie, the 'leader,' wild and reckless; Eva, the second in command; Anyu, the sensible one; and Brian, the outsider. Where does Tom fit in? It's a compelling and intricate dynamic that Scott King does his best to untangle in his podcast.

Because of its format - interviewing six people about the same series of events - this book does undeniably suffer from an excess of repetition. The interviews really do read like podcast transcripts, so kudos to Wesolowski for nailing that format, but unfortunately, this isn't always a good thing. While interrupting interviews partway through to fill the reader in on background information and constantly reminding 'listeners' of information that was revealed in the last 'episode' seems like a realistic approach, it makes for rather tedious reading at times. Fortunately it's a short novel, coming in at 225 pages, so you won't get too bored. But I still feel that it could have been edited down to be a bit more concise.

Overall, an unexpectedly satisfying read. Though it's not the most original story ever told, the modern twist (or gimmick, you could argue) of the podcast breathes new life into this genre. I do wonder if we're going to start getting an excess of these Serial-inspired podcast murder mystery books, which I worry could become quite tedious - but for one of the pioneering novels in this unique subgenre, Six Stories is original, well-crafted, and after a certain amount of initial exposition, compelling. It takes a while to get going, but if you pick it up, you owe it to yourself to stick with it until the very end.

Raking through the earth of old graves..........

You know the thrill of it. The creep that slithers in from drawing out ancient tales of the undead. The inability to turn away when the whispers begin to ooze out of mouths recanting stories of those dark, gnarly figures that walk soundlessly through the night. Searching, clawing their way out to encompass the unsuspecting.........

Matt Wesolowski presents a story that will have you checking under your bed for more than just those ol' dust bunnies who have long taken residence there. He creates this telling within the brillance of six podcasts focusing on the murder of a teenage boy in the countryside of Northumberland twenty years ago. The body had not been found until now. Scott King, the investigative journalist, manages the episodic series quite deftly while drawing the reader into the macabre events.

Scott King interviews the now adult teenagers, the chaperones, and a village man with special needs involved in the unfolding of events that took place in Scarclaw Fell that fateful night. Their stories almost form a literary escarpment in which the reader forms the uncertainty of those actions on the edge of reality. What actually happened so long ago? Will one ever really know?

Matt Wesolowski crafts his story with descriptors imbued with a deep physical sense. You seem to hear the crunch underfoot and experience the rawness of the swampy woodland that holds a death knell for the abandoned mine shafts hidden in the choke of winding growth.

This is a dark study in characterization like no other. Wesolowski almost forces you to walk around inside the heads of these people who hold onto their secrets like the sap adhering to those well-worn trees. But it is in the telling that Wesolowski reveals just enough with each podcast to have you perplexed......perplexed with the inability to fit the puzzle pieces together.......and the fear that they just might.

I received Six Stories through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Matt Wesolowski and to Orenda Books for the opportunity.

Simply stunned! Just go buy this book. When you read as much as I do, uniqueness becomes extremely important. Six Stories is told in an extremely innovative manner and it works so well. 15 year old Tom Jeffries is found dead in Scarclaw Fell in 1997 after going missing a year earlier. His death is ruled as "misadventure". 20 years later, journalist Scott King hosts 6 podcasts interviewing those around Tom at the time of his death. The story is told through these podcasts.

This novel has everything; creepy atmosphere, haunting legends, and great character studies. We get great insight into the teens who were in Tom's group at Scarclaw Fell. As each person is interviewed, I gained a different perception of the group dynamics. Sometimes one person would contradict another, leaving it up to the audience to decide who was being more truthful. "Six Stories" is compulsively readable and building an intricate web to a surprise ending. I absolutely loved it and can't wait to see what Matt Wesolowski has in store for us next.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a copy to review in exchange for an honest opinion.

Dark… Twisted… Creepy… Crazy… Fantastic!!!

Matt Wesolowski is a natural born writer! It is very hard to believe that this is his debut novel.

This mind blowing novel is told in present day, 2017, through podcasts about the murder of a teenage boy, Tom Jeffries, that took place 20 years ago in 1997. With six podcast interviews and six transcripts of those interviews, Wesolowski’s story-telling is original, pure genius and works on so many different levels. He draws you in from the very first sentence on the very first page. Be prepared for a wild ride!

I could go on and give you more details about this story, but I’m not, you will know way too much. I urge you to go and buy this book… you won’t regret it!!!

An absolute winner that I highly recommend!

*I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

Unique structure and plot that I am not used to seeing from a book in this genre. Will keep readers engaged and engrossed to the very last page.

I love the cover, the inside not so much. It was okay.

3.5/5

Good, but not great.

When I read some great chatter about a new book written as a podcast I was all over that! I'm a big fan of podcasts, including Serial, which is mentioned a few times in the book and, I'm guessing, the author's inspiration for the podcast format. Unique premises don't always pan out, but I had read some glowing reviews so I was really excited to get my hands on this one.

To be honest I was a little let down, but I guess that happens to me frequently when I get really excited to read a book after reading intriguing chatter about it. I did enjoy the podcast format, I really think it worked and was a unique element that I appreciated. The writing was good and the story is definitely a worthwhile read, but nothing especially wowed me.

Twenty years ago, a fifteen year old boy named Tom disappeared from a nature outing. His decomposing body was found a year later and deemed an accident by authorities. But was it really an accident? In 2017, a podcast started by Scott King aims to uncover the truth by interviewing each of the members of Tom’s camping party – all six of them. Readers are there for the whole story, from the beginning of the camping trip to the discovery of Tom’s body, and as all six tell their stories, readers will uncover one very big secret. The ending of this one took me by surprise – I never saw it coming