This book was very long for the story it was trying to tell. The opening to this book is absolutely astoundingly good and there were some wonderful horror scenes splattered throughout the story it just took way too long to get there.
So the first chapter is about a woman desperately awaiting her companions to get to a chalet in a snowstorm. But falls asleep waiting. Awakened by the need for the toilet she hears something moving downstairs. What she sees (and we get to read about) is pure nightmare fuel. I thought I wa sin for a wonderful reading experience but instead I got lots of madness and fever dream transcripts instead. I felt like I had been shown the prize and then blindfolded and led away from said prize. Until right at the end the blindfold was taken off and I was led back to the same prize but I had taken such on such a long detour to get there. The 3 stars are for the original opening scene!

Echo by Thomas Olde Heuvelt is a haunting and unsettling novel that blends horror and fantasy to create a chilling and immersive reading experience.

Rock climber Nick Grevers tackles the imposing peak that is the Maudit, and fails. A serious accident leaves Nick horribly disfigured, and haunted. Nick's lover, Sam Avery, witnesses his descent into madness. But is it the madness of trauma, grief, and loss, or is it something more? Is the Maudit calling its own back, is Nick losing his mind? Or is it Sam who is?

Heuvelt's writing is taut and atmospheric, with complex characters. He expertly builds tension and suspense, and the horror elements of the story are genuinely terrifying. But what sets Echo apart is its underlying themes of fear, paranoia, and the danger of mob mentality. The novel is a commentary on the human psyche and the ways in which we can be driven to unspeakable acts of cruelty. In addition, the look at Dutch culture and folklore is fascinating.

Overall, Huevelt's Echo is a masterful work of horror fiction guaranteed to leave readers on edge long after they're done reading. A definite must-read for fans of Stephen King, Peter Straub, and H.P. Lovecraft, as well as anyone who enjoys a good scare.

*******Many thanks to Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

If you held a gun to my head and asked me to explain this story to you... I would be dead.
I get the general gist of what was happening - mountains and possession but I couldn't tell you any more than that, I enjoyed the writing and found Sam to be amusing but the structure of the book and convoluted movements of the characters baffled me but.... I really did enjoy the vibes,

Plot 0 - 1 Vibes

Ignore the rating! This book wasn’t for me so I DNFed it and don’t feel it’s right to give it a rating but I have to on here.

Writing style wasn’t for me and I couldn’t find myself engaged enough to continue.

I was a bit disappointed after Hex, if I’m honest. Sorry sorry sorry! The opening scene was great but the rest of the book didn’t quite live up to its promise. Not for me, this one.

Creepy, atmoshpheric and completely haunting.

This is a superb read and one that uou won't forget in a hurry. I have been kept up far too late by this book.

Absolute humdinger of a horror tale. Mountains have always been quite haunting. The proximity of death in every breath & the explorer insanity that often accompanies it. Written entirely differently from Hex & with a few translation niggles Huevelt takes on the icy heights & frights with Lovecraftian aplomb. Great job.

This book was super creepy. About a mountain climber who becomes possessed and inflicts gruesome death on people around him. It had lots of twists and was beautifully written.

Good premise but I didn't like the style of this one at all. Far too commercial and trashy - not for me I'm afraid!

This book terrified me in all the best ways. I was scared to turn the light out after the first chapter and it just got creepier after that.

I loved our two main characters Nick and Sam and the different ways the story was told was interesting and gripping. I love books that include possession and spooky themes.

I would love to read more from this author.

This is one of the strangest books I’ve ever read- but that’s not necessarily a bad thing!

Echo follows the lives of Sam and Nick after Nick is injured during a mountain climbing expedition. But Nick doesn’t just bring physical scars with him. Something is wrong the with the Maudit, and it seems to have changed something in Nick, triggering something dangerous.

I want to start by praising the structure of this book. Each chapter is linked to a book that the author loves, and starts with a quote from that book. The book uses various styles of writing in the different chapters, such as diary entries, emails and letters. It follows the points of view of Sam and Nick, with some input from other characters too. Each chapter made it very clear whose point of view was being used which I loved! I never struggled to keep up and really enjoyed this format, despite it jumping around in time a little.

This may be one of the creepiest books I’ve ever read. It takes a lot to scare me, but this book managed to make the hairs on my arms stand on end! I’m still not completely sure what I read, I feel you do have to suspend reality a little for this one. You just have to accept what is happening instead of trying to question it too much. My biggest complaint was that I struggled to follow some of the mountain climbing lingo sometimes. I ended up skimming it because I had no idea what was happening! I also felt the book dragged a little it times, it could have been slightly shorter. But I really enjoyed the last paragraph or two of the book. I found it really moving! This is a story of possession and horror, but it’s also a story of love!

I would recommend this to any thriller/horror fans but be prepared for a bit of an unusual and long ride at times! I want to thank NetGalley, Hodder & Stoughton and Thomas Olde Heuvelt for allowing me to read this book and give my personal thoughts.

I found this book to be very readable despite it being completely different from my usual choices. Perhaps a bit long-winded in places - I found the descriptions particularly on the mountaineering sections difficult at times - but I was intrigued enough to continue on through to the end - and I suspect the story will stay with me for some time.

Echo starts brilliantly , it grabbed me immediately with it’s extremely creepy start. A novel that gives you frights but is also a tragic love story between Sam and Nick.
To be honest horror is not a genre I normally read and after the brilliant start it would be hard to keep that tension going and, for me, it could have been a slightly shorter novel.

The storyline for this book is relatively straightforward. Man goes up mountain with friend, friend dies, man returns but brings something back with him which puts everyone in danger. However, this book is so sad, creepy and ominous and I actually found a lot of it exhausting in its relentlessness . I can't say that I enjoyed it, but I couldn't leave it unfinished either, I had to carry on until the end so it did grip me. Maybe if it had been shorter then it might not have felt so oppressive? Not sure. Overall 4 stars.

A chilling creepy book that starts off with an opening chapter that is both dark and compelling. Certainly a book to send shivers down your spine

The story unfolds with Nick and his boyfriend Sam and what really happened up in the Swiss Alps and what Nick discovered whilst up there. Great read. The author wrote a story that was interesting and moved at a pace that kept me engaged. The characters were easy to invest in.

Leer el primer capítulo de Echo justo antes de echarme a dormir no fue una buena idea. Lo que sin duda fue una buena idea es plantear un inicio de libro tan potente como este. Que te ponga los pelos de punta y te deje una sensación de agobio que haga que casi cualquier cosa que el autor te proponga en las siguientes paginas parezca un juego de niños. O, quizá, no sea una buena idea. Depende de las expectativas.

Vaya por delante que no he leído Hex (sí, lo sé…) pero con las buenas criticas que siempre he leído y oído al respecto creo que me pondré con ello más pronto que tarde. Este es la segunda novela de Thomas Olde Heuvelt que se traduce fuera de su idioma natal, el holandés. Hex fue todo un bestseller que se tradujo a un sinfín de idiomas y, por tanto, asumo que la traducción de Echo llegará más pronto que tarde a nuestro castellano. Asumo también que de la mano de Nocturna Ediciones, dado el éxito de la ópera prima de Heuvelt.

Más allá del primer capítulo, Echo es una novela de mal rollo casi continuo pero no demasiada “acción” como podría entenderse habitualmente. Un desarrollo que con un puñado de escenas impactantes consigue hilar toda una historia que bebe de muchos clásicos de la literatura de terror. Para ello solo hace falta ver los nombres de los capítulos en la novela, todos ellos títulos de grandes clásicos como H.P. Lovecraft o Shirley Jackson, por nombrar solo un par de ellos.

La obra arranca con Nick Grevers, uno de los protagonistas, postrado en la cama de un hospital. Apenas recuerda los detalles que le han llevado allí pero sí recuerda el ascenso al pico Maudit en los Alpes junto a su colega Augustin. Este ultimo se le ha dado por muerto dado que no se ha encontrado su cadáver, quedando únicamente las palabras de Nick antes de ser rescatado como testigo de lo que sucedió en esa montaña maldita. Este suceso lo ha cambiado completamente, tanto física (tiene la cara vendada por las heridas producidas) como mentalmente (Nick parece una persona sin alma, sin esperanza, sin razón para vivir).

Sam Avery es el novio de Nick. Tras varias dudas sobre como apoyar a su pareja, terminan por volver a un pueblo cercano al pico Maudit en un intento por hacer que Nick pierda el miedo a lo que allí sucedió y recobrar parte de la vitalidad perdida.

La novela es, principalmente, un estudio psicológico sobre dos lados de la balanza muy distintos. Por un lado está Sam, a medio camino entre la preocupación y el entusiasmo por intentar que Nick recupere su vida anterior. Sin embargo, por otro lado, tenemos a Nick, de cuyo trauma conoceremos el origen a través de los diarios que se alternan con los capítulos vistos desde el punto de vista de su pareja. El gran miedo de Sam es comprobar cómo lo sucedido en la montaña va a moldear su nueva personalidad. Nick esta extraño, poco hablador, taciturno. No es el Nick que Sam conocía.

Echo ha sido una novela con importantes altibajos. Tras un inicio potente llegan capítulos de descubrimiento tanto para el lector como para los protagonistas. Sucesos extraños empiezan a tener lugar pero, una vez pasado este primer tercio de libro, la novela entra en un bucle larguísimo donde los dos personajes se rallan la cabeza continuamente durante unas pocas horas de lectura. Sinceramente, durante este tramo, que vendría a suponer el segundo tercio de lectura, estuve a punto de abandonar el libro. A pesar de que oficialmente el volumen, en su edición física, “solo” tiene unas cuatrocientas páginas su tamaño de letra es notablemente pequeño, lo que hace que la lectura cunda como la de un libro de seiscientas. Algo que no favorece a ese tramo intermedio, donde apenas avanzamos en ningún sentido, que se me hizo muy pesado.

Sin embargo, en el ultimo tercio de la historia, que coincide temporalmente con el espeluznante inicio del que hablaba anteriormente, toda la trama que rodea a Nick y Sam remonta (y nunca mejor dicho, ya me entenderéis) para darle un final correcto y cerrado. Involucrar a todo el pueblo donde los personajes se encuentran también ayuda a ampliar la magnitud de esta historia. Empiezan a salir a la luz sucesos que ni los personajes ni el lector conocían dando una dimensión adicional a la novela. En este sentido, la estructura de la novela funciona perfectamente, con dos puntos de vista que se alternan y dan información que solo cada uno de ellos ve o ha visto.

Echo contiene muchos detalles técnicos sobre escalada y montañismo que demuestran que Heuvelt es un conocedor de la materia. De la misma manera, la radiografía psicológica de estos dos personajes es muy detallada a pesar de, con ello, llevarse por delante buena parte del ritmo de la historia durante su segundo tercio. Una novela que se cuece a fuego lento y que no puedo recomendar por completo. Que bebe de grandes y reconocibles clásicos para crear una historia entre lo cósmico y lo terrenal que gustará a los amantes de un terror más sugerente que explícito.

https://lynns-books.com/2022/02/10/echo-by-thomas-olde-heuvelt/
4 of 5 stars
My Five Word TL:DR Review : Oh my days, that start

Flipping heck this book starts with a total mind blowing scene – by which I mean you’ll need to sit behind a cushion. To be honest, having read Hex, I already knew that this author could write some creepy prose and Echo is no exception. What really stands out for me with both Hex and Echo is that although they’re both completely different stories they both rely on superstition and ever increasing fear. I will mention that this book is not a book to race through, it’s also not a slasher-type-in-your-face horror. What it is is a character focused tale involving a traumatic experience that is slowly revealed with insidious subtlety until the dramatic conclusion ends in a turbulent finale.

I will only briefly describe the plot. As the story begins we make the acquaintance of Nick Grevers a mountaineer who wakes up in hospital with horrific facial injuries, his climbing partner Augustin is missing presumed dead and all the evidence points to anything but an actual climbing accident. From here we meet Nick’s partner Sam and experience his struggle to come to terms with what’s happened and from there other accidents occur and things start to look bleak.

Okay, what I really liked about this book.

The attention to detail in terms of the mountain climbing, the cold, the snow and the physical danger are excellent. It’s atmospheric and then some.

There is a heavy play on superstition, the sort of elements that are woven into the story with such a deft hand that you could read this as hysteria, delusion or knee jerk reaction. It’s a brilliant touch because you’re never quite sure what’s really going on and it puts you on the edge of your seat reading furiously to find out.

On top of this there’s the mystery of what actually took place and this is kept under wraps and revealed little by little. The writing is well done and I loved the way the author uses references to other horror stories with opening chapters taken from well known books together with references to Prometheus and Frankenstein.

The other really clever element is the characters. Primarily Nick and Sam but also Sam’s sister, one of the medical staff who treated Nick originally and the people in the small village who really don’t like outsiders and any sort of upset in the balance. We jump back to an earlier trauma that Sam and his sister experienced and how this affected them both in later life – in particular in terms of misremembering things and how this leads to feelings of guilt.

However, the really winning element of the story is the mountain itself. Unfathomable, dangerous, elusive, ever changing, defying any attempt to conquer it. Dark, mysterious and foreboding.

In terms of criticisms. I think this is longer than I expected. There is an element of reinforcement of certain aspects that begins to feel a little repetitive and certainly some points are stretched out. Not enough to spoil my enjoyment but I think it’s good to be forewarned that this is a slow burn.

I don’t want to really give too much away here which is why this review will be necessarily short. This is a creepy and menacing story that relies heavily on exceptional characters, family ties and superstitions that have become so deep rooted that they almost feel like hysteria.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

The opening of this book had me really gripped, it was creepy and I wanted to know more. It’s a good horror story, told through first-hand accounts, notes and emails by the main characters. Nick had a climbing accident which left him facially disfigured and possessed by the mountain and also losing his climbing partner, and Sam, Nick’s boyfriend, who struggles with the fact that his beautiful lover is so badly disfigured and seemingly possessed. These characters alternate with their telling of the story, the horror and the love.
Whilst I enjoyed this book I did find it overlong and dragging in places.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

This was a book with a really creepy opening that then failed to completely reach that creepy tone again unfortunately. I enjoyed the narrative style, switching between point of views and diary entries and particularly enjoyed Sam's voice. I thought that the book was a bit too long and felt quite repetitive in the middle section, but overall, I did enjoy the reading experience and thought the author did a great job with the atmosphere of the mountains. I would also like to give the translator a big thumbs up because they did a superb job.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.