Review- Demon by Matt Wesolowski

In 1995, the picture-perfect village of Ussalthwaite was the site of one of the most heinous crimes imaginable, in a case that shocked the world.

Twelve-year-old Sidney Parsons was savagely murdered by two boys his own age. No reason was ever given for this terrible crime, and the ‘Demonic Duo’ who killed him were imprisoned until their release in 2002, when they were given new identities and lifetime anonymity.

Elusive online journalist Scott King investigates the lead-up and aftermath of the killing, uncovering dark stories of demonic possession, and encountering a village torn apart by this unspeakable act.

And, as episodes of his Six Stories podcast begin to air, and King himself becomes a target of media scrutiny and the public’s ire, it becomes clear that whatever drove those two boys to kill is still there, lurking, and the campaign of horror has just begun…

Review

When you open one of Matt Wesolowski’s books you know that you are going to be reading a novel that thrills, excites and is impossible to put down. I had high expectations when I started Demon and they were met a thousand times over.

If you have read the other books in the series, you will be aware of the format they take. Set out like a series of podcasts, Scott King retrospectively investigates a crime that haunts the present. In this case why two young boys murdered another child. Now young men, the possibility that they are living a new life, hidden from view, continues to plague those that lived through the events.

Once again it works because King as a character is as much an enigma as the events he is investigating. He seeks answers, but remains as closed off to the viewers as the events he is investigating. I find him fascinating, because of his instinctive ability to burrow beyond the obvious, giving a voice to those who would otherwise remain hidden from view. He holds the story together and his mysterious, closed off world is as fascinating as the events he is looking into. What drives him to uncover why the boys committed such an awful act, why does he rake up the past? Does he believe in justice or is he simply driven by his own inner demons?

What made this, the latest installment in the Six Stories series so incredible to read beside King himself, was the way you never know if the Demon is some kind of demonic possession that drives the madness enveloping the villagers of Ussalthwaite, or if those affected, are simply suffering from some form of mental psychosis. Your mind tries desperately to reason with itself, but there is no denying that somewhere deep in your mind, he taps into the thought that out there in the dark, our worst nightmares are lurking. Matt Wesolowski teases you with your own fears, then reasons with you, until you like the characters, question the balance of your own mind. This is not simple horror, that seeks to just scare you witless with cheap shocks, but a cleverly written story that insidiously buries it’s way into your very being and is all the more delicious and dazzling as a result.

He users landscape to create the backdrop of his story. The caves where evil lurks, the hills where darkness threatens and then the recording studio where light and logic holds sway against our darkest nightmares. We feel safe in Kings world, then he plunges us into houses where darkness pushes against the light and we feel a shiver against the onslaught of the horror that has plagued the village for hundreds of years.

Will King’s investigations bring them peace, you are going to have to read to find out. But if I was you, I would keep the light on!

You can purchase this book from Amazon and Waterstones or directly from the publisher at Orenda Books.

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- 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.

Pilates Express by Lynn Robinson

Suitable for all fitness levels, these 10-minute mini workouts are each designed for a different part of your day – morning, noon and evening.

Starting with The New Fundamentals, Lynne Robinson’s programme features more than 100 illustrated step-by-step exercises, many of which are brand new to Pilates. As well as increasing your strength and flexibility, there are dedicated exercises to boost your immune system and improve the efficiency of your breathing. You’ll also discover how Pilates can benefit both your mental and physical health, helping you to reset your lifestyle, cope with stress and restore balance in your body.

Whether you want to lose weight, improve your fitness or tone up, this essential guide will help you integrate Pilates into your daily life and achieve your goals.

Review

Well this is a new type of review for me, because Pilates Express is not a book you read in the traditional sense! You interact with it, read the instructions and hopefully gain a healthier lifestyle as a result.

On the cover is the rather inspiring sentence – GET MAXIMUM RESULTS IN MINIMUM TIME- but is this possible and for the fitness shy like me, can I gain even a modicum of benefit to my mental and physical health?

I am happy to say that I think I can and so can you!

The book is broken down into handy and easy to follow sections and hints on how you can get maximum benefit from easy to manage workouts. Importantly it doesn’t just go straight into the different types of movements like Hip Hinge or Spine twirls, but gets to the roots of the fundamental part of any exercise program, preparation and understanding. With sections about the importance of controlled breathing, mediation, which is an integral part of the Pilates ethos.

How to eat properly to compliment exercise, how diet and exercise affects your immune system and most importantly of all how to prepare before you start. There is a section of handy tips, which I found very helpful and they gave me a lot of confidence. Exercise tends to overwhelm my disorganized mind, but these helped me gain a clearer understanding of what the author was trying to do, make Pilates accessible to all. I loved how you can learn about good technique away from the pressure in a class, or because there is no class near you. It is all written in clear and concise language, that is accessible to both the beginner and the more experienced.

Best of all, all the exercise come with details instructions and photo’s that you can compare yourself to and your know-how. I am quite a visual person and so I rely on these, to help me get each part of the movement right and I found them easy to follow. Besides the photo’s and instructions there are sections that contain, challenges and benefits, which helped me focus on I am trying to achieve, how my health will be improved by each workout. The watchpoints aim to guide you on the more intricate element of each movement, improving technique and ensuring you gain the greatest benefit from this program.

Lynne Robinson wants this to become a part of your everyday and so broadens her book to include really good advice on how to fit exercise into your day, whether that is the morning, afternoon or evening. You can even consider integrating it into your working life, by following the advice about breathing technique or correct posture, and area I need to work on and which I found really well explained. So much so that rather than being daunted, I felt this is something I can achieve.

Whether you want to become a devote of this form of exercise or make it part of an overall fitness and lifestyle change, Pilates Express is a handy, inspiring and easy to use instruction book.

You cam purchase this book from Amazon and Waterstones.

About the author

Lynne Robinson is one of the world’s most respected Pilates teachers. She is the founder of Body Control Pilates, which is seen as an international benchmark for safe and effective teaching. Her bestselling books include The Pilates Bible, Pilates for Life and Pilates for Pregnancy. She has also produced highly popular DVDs. In demand internationally, she frequently lectures at conferences throughout the world and has
taught Pilates in countries as varied as the US, Japan, South Africa, Thailand and Australia.

Life Behind the prison walls in fiction and non-fiction books. The Prison Doctor by Dr Amanda Brown.

Horrifying, heartbreaking and eye-opening, these are the stories, the patients and the cases that have characterised a career spent being a doctor behind bars.

Violence. Drugs. Suicide. Welcome to the world of a Prison Doctor.

Dr Amanda Brown has treated inmates in the UK s most infamous prisons first in young offenders institutions, then at the notorious Wormwood Scrubs and finally at Europe s largest women-only prison in Europe, Bronzefield.

From miraculous pregnancies to dirty protests, and from violent attacks on prisoners to heartbreaking acts of self-harm, she has witnessed it all.

In this eye-opening, inspirational memoir, Amanda reveals the stories, the patients and the cases that have shaped a career helping those most of us would rather forget.

Despite their crimes, she is still their doctor.

Review

I wanted to read and review this book because Prison Service Staff are rarely remembered when we thank our public servants and prisoners rarely thought of, when we turn our attention to the most vulnerable members of our society.

In The Prison GP she details how she came to work in prison’s after becoming dissatisfied with the direction community practices were going in. Less time to see patients and the loss of the relationship she had developed with them over the years.

Now it can’t be under estimated how brave the decision was to quit the world she was familiar with and plunge into life as a prison GP. Life behind the walls of any jail is at the best of times challenging, it noisy, stressful, the humour is dark and the personalities complex. Yet as the book reveals, she made a career choice that was as rewarding as it was tiring. She settles into life dealing with violent and deeply disturbed people, comes to terms with the prison environment and yet never loses her sense of humanity and the reasons she became a Doctor in the first place. She never seeks to judge the patients, refusing to know their charges, so that the care she offers is never compromised by the crimes they have committed.

I liked that there is no political subtext to her writing, she is simply telling her story and that of the prisoners and fellow staff she came into contact with. It has a sense of understanding that life behind those walls is often deeply miss understood and judged from a place of ignorance. She acknowledges that working in the prison estate changes a person. She talks of the pressure staff are under, of the terrible lives most prisoners have lived and the often harrowing path that led to a prison sentence. This is not a rose tinted tale, but she never loses sight of the humanity of all those she comes into contact with.

The Prison Doctor by Dr Amanda Brown is an honest, often shocking look of healthcare provision behind the walls of one of the countries most notorious jails. It gives an insight into the stresses, strains and human costs, for both the prisoners and staff of a life behind a prison wall. She never claims that it is a life suited to all and that often staff are not saints, but that if you look past the exterior they coat themselves in, you will find people who have had to develop a coat of armour to survive. This is balanced out by not assuming that prisoners are all misunderstood victims, nor are they all excessively violent, but a complex mix of both.

I would recommend this book to all looking for an easily accessible look at life behind the walls of a British prison.

You can purchase this book from Amazon or Waterstones. You can also order it from your local independent bookshop!

About the author

Dr Amanda Brown is a GP at the largest women-only prison in Europe, Bronzefield. Before transferring to work in prisons, Amanda was a regular NHS GP but gave up her practice because she disliked the way the job s focus has shifted.

My favorite non-fiction reads of 2021!

I read some stunning non fiction books in 2021 and it is still one of my favorite genres to settle down with. I have not limited myself to a set number of books to showcase, because picking a top ten is just impossible. So here are my very favorites of 2021 and they are not in any particular order.

Olive, Mabel and Me by Andrew Cotter.

Seven Kinds of People You Find in Bookshops by Shaun Bythell.

Written In Bone by Sue Black

The Wild Silence by Raynor Winn

A Tomb With A View by Peter Ross

On The Red Hill by Mike Parker

Catch Your Breath by Ed Patrick

Dear Reader- The Comfort and Joy of Reading Books by Cath Rentzembrink

Fingers In The Sparkle Jar by Chris Packham

Diary of A Young Naturalist by Dara Mcanulty

Dear Life by Rachel Clarke

I am looking forward to reading lots of non-fiction in 2022. I was lucky to be given so many books in this genre at Christmas and I can’t wait to delve into them.

Happy reading to all in 2022 ❤

My Favorite Fiction Reads of 2021

I read some stunning fiction books in 2021, the quality of books this year has been outstanding. What is more perfect that settling down with a beautifully written piece of fiction? I have not limited myself to a set number of books to showcase, because picking a top ten is just impossible. So here are my very favorites of 2021 and they are not in any particular order.

The Girl With The Louding Voice by Abi Dare

A Keeper by Graham Norton

The Hundred Years of Lenni & Margot by Marianne Cronin

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

Dog Days by Erika Walker

The Dog Who Dared To Dream by Sun-Mi Hwang

Dangerous Women by Hope Adams

Bound by Vanda Symon

Take Nothing With You by Patrick Gale

Together by Luke Adam Hawker

The Garden Of Small Beginnings by Abbi Waxman

One Last Time by Helga Flatland

Mary Jane A Novel by Jessica Anya Blau

This Is How We Are Human by Louise Beech

Hamnet By Maggie O’Farrell

A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

The Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohamed

The Rabbit Factor by Antti Tuomainen

Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Great Silence by Doug Johnston

We Begin At The End by Chris Whittaker

Black Reid Bay by Rod Reynolds

The Visitors by Caroline Scott

The Silence Of The Girls by Pat Barker

I’m looking forward to another year of reading. Of visiting the books that have been on my shelf for a while and the excitement of new books from some of my favorite authors.

Happy reading to you all in 2022.

My Wonderful Reading Year – December 2021 – The Journey Continues.

Christmas has come and gone, the world once again feels a very scary place and books continue to be a constant support. I still struggle to concentrate admin current events, but my reading slump has at least for now eased and it has been a month full of wonderful reads. This is my last wonderful reading year post of 2021 and it is a cracker!

The book that brought me out of my reading slump is the wonderful The Visitors by Caroline Scott. This is a moving story of how the trauma of World War One, was felt throughout the years that followed. It is also the story of how one women seeks to escape the debilitating grief that has dominated her life.

I have read some stunning non-fiction books this year and this beauty is another! Diary Of A Young Naturalist is a beautifully written story of a young autistic mans relationship with the natural world around him. About how it is both a sanctuary and a source of strength to him.

The Unwrapping of Theodora Quirke by Caroline Smailes is my kind of festive read. Funny, sweary and joyful.

Next came a series of short stories by Rachel Joyce. The stories with A Snow Garden and Other Stories are moving, sometimes bittersweet and always beautifully written.

Next came the wonderful The Silence Of The Girls by Pat Barker. I love fiction books set in and amongst the Greek Myths and this one, is one of the best I have read.

Dear Life by Rachel Clarke is deeply moving and shows us the best of humanity, at a time when we are all surrounded by the fragility of our existence.