David Mathew creates a world that's familiar but seen through adeviant lens. There are shades of Clive Barker and JG Ballard inthese stories - fiction that's all the more unsettling for having itsroots in the everyday - but Mathew has his own voice and vision forthe twenty-first century.
Julie Travis, Author of We Are All Falling Towards the Centre of the Earth
Characters' messy lives intersect with danger in this nervy, gritty, warped collection from David Mathew. These tales featureaphrodisiac bombs, illegal tritium deals, giant hedgehogs, dreamangels, and the impending anxiety of parenthood. The urbansprawl and rural dystopia reflect the sordid emotional and innerworld of the characters who are fighting, sometimes for their lives, sometimes to be understood, or sometimes for just a pint. Panic Soupis best served with shots, in a noisy neighbourhood pub where all thepatrons are insane.
Stephen Scott Whitaker, National Book Critics Circle, Managing Editor of The Broadkill Review
If you love stories with bite, brutality, wit and wonder, you willlove Panic Soup. As the title suggests, there is dread here, warmth, trepidation, a multitude of flavours. Drink deep.
Paul Meloy, Author of Adornments of the Storm
David Mathew has an eye for nudging characters from the everydayto the disturbing.
CC Adams, Author of But Worse Will Come
