The Dark Matter of Natasha

Natasha stalks the quiet streets of dead-end Lunar Bay like doom in a denim jacket. She’s a grim reminder that some teenagers can never escape the ever-tightening noose of their lives. Burned out and benumbed by a traumatic past, dogged by scurrilous small-town gossip, she finds solace in drugs, sex and Slayer.

What horrors have her flat eyes witnessed? And how far will she go in pursuit of the one tiny spark of hope that still flickers in her haunted heart?

When a naïve transplant crosses her path, he's drawn into shadow and doubt. With his girlfriend ghosting him, Natasha’s fresh introduction to her half-lit world is darkly appealing. Now faced with confusing quandaries—connection or convenience, relationship or exploitation—can he help any of the women in his life? Or is he just helping himself?

The untold tragedies of Natasha's lonely life may be more than he can handle. And in a town whose history is littered with dead girls, there may be no happy ending for anyone.

Book source ~ TWR Tour

The Dark Matter of Natasha

Matthew R. Davis

21 June 2022

Dark Thriller

130 Pages

My Rating ~ 4 bites

Amazon

Horny teenage boy has a falling out with his girlfriend then unexpectedly meets up with the small town’s local outsider, Natasha. And that’s the moment when the course of his life changes - a pebble thrown carelessly into a pool of deep water that ripples outward in never-ending circles for the rest of his life.

This starts out as a new boy meets local girl in small town nothingville and they become an item, type of nice safe and heartwarming coming-of-age story. Then Caitlin abruptly stops talking to him and because of this he makes some questionable choices that will affect him for the rest of his life. It’s dark, it’s heart-wrenching, and it’s something that has stayed with me for days after finishing it. When we’re teens we have no idea that sometimes the choices we make will leave a long-lasting stain on our souls. If you’re lucky enough to have come out of those years relatively unscathed then count your blessings. Natasha’s story will crush you to dust because while she may be fictional, you just know there are those out there like her.

The author paints such a vivid picture with his words that the story doesn’t suffer from the brevity of it. A short story with a large message - one that will linger long after the last page is turned. If you like having your heart cut out and left for the crows then do not pass this up.

Matthew R. Davis is an author and musician based in Adelaide, South Australia.

His work has been shortlisted for, and sometimes won, the Shirley Jackson Awards, Aurealis Awards, Australian Shadows Awards, and the WSFA Small Press Award.

He plays bass and sings in heavy rock/metal bands such as icecocoon and Blood Red Renaissance, dabbles with poetry, video editing, and visual art, and works on projects with his photographer partner.

He is the author of Supermassive Black Mass (novelette, Demain Publishing, 2019), If Only Tonight We Could Sleep (horror stories, Things in the Well, 2020) and Midnight in the Chapel of Love (novel, JournalStone, 2021).

He loves all kinds of metal from Mötley Crüe to Pig Destroyer and his favorite Slayer album is Seasons in the Abyss.

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