What a cracker of a read to kick off 2019 with! Changeling by Matt Wesolowki gripped me straight away – it is a unique and powerful read with one hell of a twist. It is definitely not to be missed.
Changeling investigates the 30 year-old mystery of Alfie Marsden, a seven year-old boy who vanished from his father’s car on a dark, wet Christmas eve in 1988. With the car making weird tapping sounds, Alfie’s father Sorrel pulled over on the Wentshire Forest Pass to investigate. Alfie was fast asleep on the back seat but when Sorrel checked on him a few minutes later, the boy was tragically missing. Did Alfie wake up and wander off into the forest or was he taken? Alfie or his remains have never been found and in 1995 he was officially ‘presumed dead.’
Sinister folklore surrounds Alfie’s disappearance; tales involving a witch’s curse and hidden ‘fairies’ that live in the Wentshire Forest. The chilling tales are reinforced by strange sightings and a weird tapping noise within the forest.
Changeling is skillfully constructed fiction that pulls you in and grips you right to the very end. It is brilliantly structured as six podcast episodes involving separate stories, interviews and recordings all linked to Alfie’s disappearance. Scott King, the elusive journalist and host of the podcast series Six Stories interviews individuals connected in some way. This includes Alfie’s mother and father, a psychic and a former labourer who was working on a redevelopment site in the Forest at the time of Alfie’s disappearance. The labourer also recalls a strange tapping sound as well as seeing his Nan in the Forest – she had recently died.
.I loved the structure of this novel as I really felt that I was investigating this chilling mystery along with Scott King. Through all the interviews and recordings, I got a true insight into Alfie’s upbringing – an upbringing involving his parents separating, an alcoholic mother and a father working all hours.
The twist at the end is unbelievable and will take your breath away. It definitely puts a new and important perspective on horror fiction.
Changeling is actually the third book in the Six Stories bestselling series. However as I haven’t read the others yet, I read Changeling as standalone and I still absolutely loved it. I’m definitely buying the other two now (Six Stories and Hydra) but as they are also styled in the form of a podcast, I think buying them as audio books will be intriguing. I can’t wait!
Thank you Anne Cater from Random Things Tours for inviting me to be part of the Changeling blog tour. Also a massive thank you to Matt Wesolowski for writing such a brilliant read that is horror, but also emotional and sensitive. It is sheer brilliance.
If you’re interested in reading other reviews of Changeling, please take a look at what my fellow book bloggers have to say.
Changeling will be published on 24 January 2019. For those of you that have a Kindle, you can download your ecopy now from Amazon, as the Kindle ebook was released on 15 November 2018. However you chose to read this book, I would urge you to read it – you won’t be disappointed.
My rating:
Huge thanks for this Blog Tour support Kirsty x