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.

My thanks to Karen at Orenda Books for my Audible books review copy.

I have seen early copies of Changeling reaching readers this week.  Changeling is a Six Stories thriller from Matt Wesolowski and I am very much looking forward to seeing what it will bring (mainly because of this review by Kate at Bibliophile Book Club).

Why am I so excited about Changeling? Well recently I had the pleasure (a chilling pleasure) of listening to Matt’s second Six Stories book Hydra.  If ever a series should be enjoyed as an audiobook then it must surely be this one.

Six Stories is a podcast produced by Scott King. He revisits a crime or an event and over a six part series of podcasts he interviews guests who will cast new light onto the known/established facts and listeners are challenged to reconsider the “official” findings or outcome of events.

As the books in the Six Stories series are each recreating a podcast show it makes complete sense that Wesolowki’s books are best enjoyed as an audiobook listen. It also helps that the actors/narrators who contributed to Hydra were exceptional and brought this creepy tale to life in a way I don’t normally experience with an audiobook. It is possibly more accurate to consider the Hydra audiobook as a dramatization than a reading.

How to do Hydra justice without spoiling the story?  Hydra focuses on a family murder – Arla Macleod killed her mother, step father and her sister.  There is a suggestion that her fascination with supernatural may have influenced her actions – Arla suggests that on the night of the murders she opened the door to mysterious Black-Eyed Kids.  Could these ghostly children have brought about the death of three innocents?

Arla’s story (and that of her fellow contributors) are chilling, tragic and desperate tales. I got too involved in the stories and became enraged at stories of bullying, frustrated at the ignorance of children and happy when the underdogs tried to stand up for themselves.  The author has done a fantastic job of capturing the best and the worst of human behaviour.

Hydra was wonderfully interlaced by dramatic events away from the podcast too.  No spoilers, however, the Six Stories host will come to realise that not everyone appreciates his work.  The local community does not like three brutal murders being brought back to the attention of a wider audience and a mysterious stranger certainly does not welcome the nature of discussions which are being broadcast.

Hydra is a wickedly chilling read. It takes a very clever narrative style and delivers a dramatic punch.  I urge you to try the audiobook but you really should ensure you read this story. A five star score from this reader.

Hydra is available in paperback, digital and (my recommendation) audiobook format.  You can order your copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_10?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=hydra+matt+wesolowski&sprefix=hydra+matt%2Caps%2C151&crid=2LDXHENNPTBB3