Torment

by S.L. Mewse

It was huge. Tall and slender but muscular with it. Its fur was a tan colour, like dark blonde hair, and its eyes a cold shade of icy blue. Its arms were longer than its legs, and ended in furred hands with long slender fingers tipped with terrible claws. Its movement was hunched, similar to a gorilla, though its hands were splayed rather than curled into fists. As it moved with its head lowered its shoulder blades cut high above its back in savage points; mirroring the sharp angles of its hip bones set above a scraggy, limp tail. Most of all however he was transfixed by its head, it was handsome and terrible all at once. It looked so much like a wolf, and yet sharper somehow. Something about the angles of its muzzle and the look behind its eyes betrayed a savagery unlike any other. Its canines were that little bit too long, its ears set slightly low, and its eyes... they were human and cruel, unmistakably so. But Hunter simply saw a monster, like something out of a nightmare. - Hunter Dalton had not had an easy start to life after the murder of his parents, but after decades of existence untroubled by torment he thought he had left the past behind him. He was very wrong. Tortured by loss and arrested for crimes he did not commit, his life is turned on its head by the arrival of a very ancient enemy. Consumed by the need for revenge and thrown into a world he had no idea existed, he goes on the hunt for a monstrous killer aided by a band of strangers. Never sure who to trust and battling with his inner demons, his life will be changed forever. The beast has kidnapped his oldest friend; will he get the vengeance he deserves before it's too late?

353 pages, Paperback

First published April 8, 2015

About the author

Stacey Leah Mewse was born in 1987 in the old roman town of Chichester in West Sussex in the UK. She is a non-identical twin and is the younger of the two by just one minute. She spent her early years near the seaside town of Bognor Regis, and moved to Cambridge in her younger years.
By the time she was of school age she and her family had moved back to West Sussex and were living in a small village near the town of Bognor Regis.
Fiction and art have always been Stacey's passions. She Began drawing under the watchful eye of her mother when she was a child, and she began by writing in the fantasy genre when she was in her mid-teens. Unfortunately her first literary work was lost to a computer malfunction in the days of the floppy disk, and she was left with only a few scant chapters remaining of this first book. To this day it is an ambition of hers to re-start and finish that first book, but her horror writing is her primary focus. Her artwork began in traditional formats and to this day she still enjoys oil painting and working with pastels, though these days most of her artwork is digital.
Stacey was introduced to the world of horror at a young age thanks to the likes of R.L Stine, and then the accidental viewing of one of the halloween series at the age of 8 years old. She instantly developed a taste for horror and has never looked back. An avid reader of horror fiction, and watcher of horror films, she was introduced to the world of more adult horror writing by her mother lending her a copy of the magic cottage by James Herbert. After that fateful reading she avidly sought out his work, and he remains one of her favourite authors. Stacey also enjoys the writing of Dean Koontz, Richard Laymon and Stephen King. Primarily interested in supernatural horror, Stacey has a real love for 'creature feature' style books and films, and this comes across in her art and literature. She greatly enjoys blending the unreal elements of the supernatural with real human horrors. She also enjoys tackling taboo subject matter in her writing, and including day to day realisms to keep her stories and characters relatable despite the fantasy elements. Her artwork tends to revolve around horror, fantasy and animals, and she is working on a fantasy/horror based comic.
Not only is Stacey an artist and author, but also a keen animal lover and cancer survivor. She has a passion for unusual animals and is especially fond of hairless pets. She has even been on the committee of the UK Xoloitzcuintli club, and was a keen dog show attendee in her youth. She also thoroughly enjoys crafting and crochet is a particular favourite of hers, make of that what you will! She was diagnosed with cervical cancer and then treated in 2013, and is now thankfully in remission.

Reviews

[Nick Stead · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm always on the lookout for new werewolf stories and it's always great to find something a little different to the 'norm', whether it's a new take on the werewolf legend or a fresh look at the transformation from man to wolf. And the description of the transformation in this book was certainly very original, and gorier than I've come across before. Their bodies seemingly break apart and reform, with even the skin splitting and regrowing for these werewolves!

I also loved the idea of a werewolf serial killer; it reminded me of the likes of Peter Stubbe who was believed to have a wolf skin belt that let him transform to commit the horrific acts he was responsible for.

I found Torment to be an enjoyable read and would definitely recommend to other werewolf fans, and I look forward to finding out what book 2 has in store!