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Echo
It’s One Thing to Lose Your Life
It’s Another to Lose Your Soul
When climber Nick Grevers is brought down from the mountains after a terrible accident he has lost his looks, his hopes and his climbing companion. His account of what happened on the forbidden peak of the Maudit is garbled, almost hallucinogenic. Soon it becomes apparent more than his shattered body has returned: those that treat his disfigured face begin experiencing extraordinary and disturbing psychic events that suggest that Nick has unleashed some ancient and primal menace on his ill-fated expedition.
Nick’s partner Sam Avery has a terrible choice to make. He fell in love with Nick’s youth, vitality and beauty. Now these are gone and all that is left is a haunted mummy-worse, a glimpse beneath the bandages can literally send a person insane.
Sam must decide: either to flee to America, or to take Nick on a journey back to the mountains, the very source of the curse, the little Alpine Village of Grimnetz, its soul-possesed Birds of Death and it legends of human sacrifice and, ultimately, its haunted mountain, the Maudit.
It’s Another to Lose Your Soul
When climber Nick Grevers is brought down from the mountains after a terrible accident he has lost his looks, his hopes and his climbing companion. His account of what happened on the forbidden peak of the Maudit is garbled, almost hallucinogenic. Soon it becomes apparent more than his shattered body has returned: those that treat his disfigured face begin experiencing extraordinary and disturbing psychic events that suggest that Nick has unleashed some ancient and primal menace on his ill-fated expedition.
Nick’s partner Sam Avery has a terrible choice to make. He fell in love with Nick’s youth, vitality and beauty. Now these are gone and all that is left is a haunted mummy-worse, a glimpse beneath the bandages can literally send a person insane.
Sam must decide: either to flee to America, or to take Nick on a journey back to the mountains, the very source of the curse, the little Alpine Village of Grimnetz, its soul-possesed Birds of Death and it legends of human sacrifice and, ultimately, its haunted mountain, the Maudit.
416 pages, Hardcover
First published May 7, 2019
672 people are currently reading
20960 people want to read
About the author
Thomas Olde Heuvelt
47 books2,978 followersThomas Olde Heuvelt (1983) is the international bestselling author of HEX. The much-praised novel was published in over twenty-five countries around the world and is currently in development for TV by Gary Dauberman. Olde Heuvelt, whose last name in Dutch dialect means “Old Hill,” was the first ever translated author to win a Hugo Award for his short story "The Day the World Turned Upside Down".
His new novel ECHO will be out with Nightfire Books in the US and Hodder & Stoughton on February 8, 2022. International publication of his novel ORACLE, which topped all the bestseller charts in The Netherlands in March '21, will follow soon thereafter.
Thomas lives in The Netherlands and the south of France and is an avid mountaineer.
Praise for HEX:
“This is totally, brilliantly original.” —Stephen King
“Creepy and gripping and original.” ―George R.R. Martin
“Spielbergian in the way Olde Heuvelt shows supernatural goings-on in the midst of everyday life... It’s a fabulous, unforgettable conceit and Olde Heuvelt makes the most of it.” ―The Guardian
His new novel ECHO will be out with Nightfire Books in the US and Hodder & Stoughton on February 8, 2022. International publication of his novel ORACLE, which topped all the bestseller charts in The Netherlands in March '21, will follow soon thereafter.
Thomas lives in The Netherlands and the south of France and is an avid mountaineer.
Praise for HEX:
“This is totally, brilliantly original.” —Stephen King
“Creepy and gripping and original.” ―George R.R. Martin
“Spielbergian in the way Olde Heuvelt shows supernatural goings-on in the midst of everyday life... It’s a fabulous, unforgettable conceit and Olde Heuvelt makes the most of it.” ―The Guardian
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,443 reviews
February 22, 2022
The first 30% of the book, I was confused on what the hell was going on. I had to go back to make sure I was understanding what the author was trying to get across. By the time I got to 52% I was done trying. There wasn't anything happening, and I didn't care one whit about any mountain. I wanted them to die in a massive avalanche to relieve my suffering.
Why did the author keep using "cuz" instead of because? Was he trying to make the character hip and too cool for school? If so, he failed. It was annoying. Also, if I had to hear about Nick's pecs one more time, I was going to throw my Kindle.
Why did the author keep using "cuz" instead of because? Was he trying to make the character hip and too cool for school? If so, he failed. It was annoying. Also, if I had to hear about Nick's pecs one more time, I was going to throw my Kindle.
April 26, 2022
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.
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.
February 8, 2022
NOW AVAILABLE!!!!
"Anyone who goes into the mountains brings the mountains back with them."
that's an efficient summary of the book, but if you want to make a stew out of it, add that nietzsche/abyss quote, some lovecraftian themes and adjectives, and SO many birds—specifically DEATH BIRDS:
and now i have a new fear.
i am someone who loves horror novels that smoosh supernatural elements into the dangers of nature, because even without the things that go bump in the night, the natural world'll always find a way to rock-block the hubris of humans trying to cram themselves into nature's most intimate parts without consent—digging further, diving deeper, climbing higher, and nature has a very specific way of expressing that no means NO:
and now i have two new fears.
Echo is about a man named sam whose experienced-mountaineer boyfriend nick sets out with his even-more experienced companion augustin on an alps-scaling jaunt and comes back alone—physically, psychologically, and biologically changed. nick's former golden-boy beauty has been ravaged; the lower half of his face swathed in a mummy's worth of bandages holding what's left of his face in, but his personality, his aura has also been altered—he's brought back unspeakable horrors from the aptly-named Maudit; a stuff-of-legend tardis of a mountain where ancient forces scoff at human stuff like scale and logic and geometry, and are now clinging to him like psyche-rooted parasites, affecting everyone who comes into contact with him and unleashing The Morose on the valley below, along with—as i have mentioned—so many birds.
although at first sam is repulsed by nick's spooky new characteristics, love conquers all, and he finds that new-nick is not without a certain dark intoxicating quality—the allure of vertigo that the french call l’appel du vide (the call of the void), the yawning-abyss dizziness kierkegaard described as "the dizziness of freedom," the same that inspired an italian songwriter to declare: la vertigine non é paura di cadere, ma voglia di volare (vertigo isn’t the fear of falling, it’s the desire to fly).
none of those references are specifically in the text, although this book is absolutely a polyglot's delight, riddled with often-untranslated bibbits of evocative phrasings that forced me to dust off my slumbering frenchiness.
the shape is a multi-POV, time-slippy narrative, mostly linear but pockmarked with holes, where the structure contributes to the reader's discomfort—you kind of always feel like you're walking in mid-conversation, the missing plot-points feel like missing time after a seizure or fainting spell and it's all wonderfully eerie and uncomfortable.
it's a surreal and suggestive kind of book, and although i'm not usually a fan of this kind of incomprehensible, unfathomable, joseph-and-the-coat-of-many-cosmic-horror-descriptors style of horror, i was surprised and thrilled to find myself completely creeped out several times, which is a rare occurrence for me. that whole opening bit with the blink-encroaching wraiths:
as well as the thing that happens to the boy on the operating table and the smile nick draws on his bandages:
his fear is entirely justified, as was mine soon afterwards:
yeesh.
and the cold, i mean THE COLD, it's a monster all on its own:
the day i finished this book, winter finally dumped a bunch of snow on us, and since i can now participate in the instagram-experience even though i still stubbornly refuse to own a pocket-phone, i foolishly decided to photograph this book out in the blizzard i had to brave on my way to work. i posed it here and there, trying to find the perfect alps-looking background, whilst being buffeted by the wind, waist-deep in a snowdrift, and by the time i had taken way too many very average shots, my fingers were completely numb and i had to stop off at connor's so he could wrap my hands in a hairdryer-warmed scarf until i could feel them again and i have never felt such pain as the thawing of my fingies. needless to say, i was late to work, but once i was finally on the subway, i came across this passage and it made me laugh ever-so-ruefully:
all of that, and this is what i got:
oh, well. i did my best.
anyway, this book is spooky and i liked it very much.
that is my review. i did my best.
********************************
i am very grateful to tor/nightfire for sending me this ARC, and for caring about my safety enough to also send along a handy first-aid kit to protect me from life's quotidian scrapes, even though it would in no way protect me from the dangers of LE MAUDIT.
come to my blog!
"Anyone who goes into the mountains brings the mountains back with them."
that's an efficient summary of the book, but if you want to make a stew out of it, add that nietzsche/abyss quote, some lovecraftian themes and adjectives, and SO many birds—specifically DEATH BIRDS:
"Don't you know the stories? Death birds are said to guide the souls of fallen climbers out of this world. If you believe what the old guides and mountain folk say, at least."
"And do you?"
He smiles. "Did you know mountain rescuers often find fallen climbers without their eyes? By the time they find the bodies, the birds have already gotten to them. Ravens, jackdaws, crows; they pick out the eyes and swallow them up."
"Jeez, really?"
"Ask one of those guides. They say the birds do it so the soul is free to escape. Otherwise it's doomed to stay and haunt the place it was found in. But sometimes the soul doesn't want to leave and it lingers inside the bird for a while. They say that if you listen, you can hear their screams coming from the mountains at night."
and now i have a new fear.
i am someone who loves horror novels that smoosh supernatural elements into the dangers of nature, because even without the things that go bump in the night, the natural world'll always find a way to rock-block the hubris of humans trying to cram themselves into nature's most intimate parts without consent—digging further, diving deeper, climbing higher, and nature has a very specific way of expressing that no means NO:
Every year, climbers—sometimes entire teams—disappear into deep glacial voids and die in their frozen darkness. If the mountain is merciful, the drop is deep enough to smash them into silence in one go. Most victims, however, are trapped between blue, narrowing walls of ice, and as their body warmth melts the ice, they sink slowly deeper and deeper, until they die very consciously of asphyxiation.
and now i have two new fears.
Echo is about a man named sam whose experienced-mountaineer boyfriend nick sets out with his even-more experienced companion augustin on an alps-scaling jaunt and comes back alone—physically, psychologically, and biologically changed. nick's former golden-boy beauty has been ravaged; the lower half of his face swathed in a mummy's worth of bandages holding what's left of his face in, but his personality, his aura has also been altered—he's brought back unspeakable horrors from the aptly-named Maudit; a stuff-of-legend tardis of a mountain where ancient forces scoff at human stuff like scale and logic and geometry, and are now clinging to him like psyche-rooted parasites, affecting everyone who comes into contact with him and unleashing The Morose on the valley below, along with—as i have mentioned—so many birds.
although at first sam is repulsed by nick's spooky new characteristics, love conquers all, and he finds that new-nick is not without a certain dark intoxicating quality—the allure of vertigo that the french call l’appel du vide (the call of the void), the yawning-abyss dizziness kierkegaard described as "the dizziness of freedom," the same that inspired an italian songwriter to declare: la vertigine non é paura di cadere, ma voglia di volare (vertigo isn’t the fear of falling, it’s the desire to fly).
none of those references are specifically in the text, although this book is absolutely a polyglot's delight, riddled with often-untranslated bibbits of evocative phrasings that forced me to dust off my slumbering frenchiness.
the shape is a multi-POV, time-slippy narrative, mostly linear but pockmarked with holes, where the structure contributes to the reader's discomfort—you kind of always feel like you're walking in mid-conversation, the missing plot-points feel like missing time after a seizure or fainting spell and it's all wonderfully eerie and uncomfortable.
it's a surreal and suggestive kind of book, and although i'm not usually a fan of this kind of incomprehensible, unfathomable, joseph-and-the-coat-of-many-cosmic-horror-descriptors style of horror, i was surprised and thrilled to find myself completely creeped out several times, which is a rare occurrence for me. that whole opening bit with the blink-encroaching wraiths:
The people in the stairwell are still there.
They're closer now.
as well as the thing that happens to the boy on the operating table and the smile nick draws on his bandages:
He turned to look at me, and, man, chills up and down my spine. On the bandage strips, where his mouth shoulda been, he'd Sharpied a smiley mouth. A black, half-moon curve, crossed at the edges for round Cupid cheeks. Coulda been innocuous, but wasn't. Cuz his head was moving and the smiley wasn't, giving his face the grisliness of a puppet come to life.
But the top half was real, and that was Nick. He made a muffled sound, looked happy to see me.
He typed on his iPad:
Smile!
This way you'll always know it's me and never mistake me for someone else. When I smile, you don't have to be scared of me, okay?
I couldn't tell if he was joking or not. I smiled to be on the safe side and said, "I'm not scared of you."
But I was.
his fear is entirely justified, as was mine soon afterwards:
When I looked up, I saw him slowly swing his right arm and put his hand on his Sharpied smiley mouth.
yeesh.
and the cold, i mean THE COLD, it's a monster all on its own:
I hadn't even gotten halfway to the village before I wish I'd stayed home. The valley was on the verge of a panic attack. The mountains seemed to have been disjointed. The sky rocked. The cold unhinged. There are November mornings when the cold is clear, crackling, and crisp, but this cold was sticky, syrupy, clung to you. Like it was begging you for help. You, the first organism to have crossed its path, and would you please take it with you and protect it from what's about to happen, because that was much, much worse than the cold itself.
Jesus. The Morose hadn't even got started yet and my metaphors were already going haywire.
the day i finished this book, winter finally dumped a bunch of snow on us, and since i can now participate in the instagram-experience even though i still stubbornly refuse to own a pocket-phone, i foolishly decided to photograph this book out in the blizzard i had to brave on my way to work. i posed it here and there, trying to find the perfect alps-looking background, whilst being buffeted by the wind, waist-deep in a snowdrift, and by the time i had taken way too many very average shots, my fingers were completely numb and i had to stop off at connor's so he could wrap my hands in a hairdryer-warmed scarf until i could feel them again and i have never felt such pain as the thawing of my fingies. needless to say, i was late to work, but once i was finally on the subway, i came across this passage and it made me laugh ever-so-ruefully:
I stick my frozen hands under my Gore-Tex coat and in my armpits. The burning pain that takes over my fingers as the blood flows back into them pushes all my thoughts out of my head and I have to scream.
all of that, and this is what i got:
oh, well. i did my best.
anyway, this book is spooky and i liked it very much.
that is my review. i did my best.
********************************
i am very grateful to tor/nightfire for sending me this ARC, and for caring about my safety enough to also send along a handy first-aid kit to protect me from life's quotidian scrapes, even though it would in no way protect me from the dangers of LE MAUDIT.
come to my blog!
January 5, 2022
First, the usual caveat. Thomas Olde Heuvelt has been a friend for many years. And I received a free advance Reading Copy of the book. But, as usual, I don't feel this has impacted my reaction to this book.
It's really creepy. And it's a relentlessly building creepiness that both builds dread and makes it a page turner. It draws heavily on Thomas Olde Heuvelt's experience as a climber and what that stark beauty can mean.
Nick returns to his lover Sam with horrible physical injuries from a mountain-climbing adventure gone very wrong. Augustin, his climbing partner, did not return at all. Sam is resolute in trying to reclaim his now distant and badly disfigured Nick. But how can he reach someone who will neither discuss what happened, or let Sam see what is has become of his heavily bandaged face?
The horror slowly builds as peculiar events echo around Nick. Is he even Nick at all anymore? The reader will agonize with Sam as he tries desperately to recover his connection with the man he loves.
With a suspenseful book like this, even little spoilers are to be avoided. So do not let this brief review fool you. What I'm leaving unsaid is for the reader to experience first hand.
I will say that one of the bits that struck me as unusual in this story is Sam confronting that yes, Nick's physical beauty was important to their relationship. There is a stark honesty in this love story that one seldom encounters.
Translated by Moshe Gilula. And very well translated indeed!
It's really creepy. And it's a relentlessly building creepiness that both builds dread and makes it a page turner. It draws heavily on Thomas Olde Heuvelt's experience as a climber and what that stark beauty can mean.
Nick returns to his lover Sam with horrible physical injuries from a mountain-climbing adventure gone very wrong. Augustin, his climbing partner, did not return at all. Sam is resolute in trying to reclaim his now distant and badly disfigured Nick. But how can he reach someone who will neither discuss what happened, or let Sam see what is has become of his heavily bandaged face?
The horror slowly builds as peculiar events echo around Nick. Is he even Nick at all anymore? The reader will agonize with Sam as he tries desperately to recover his connection with the man he loves.
With a suspenseful book like this, even little spoilers are to be avoided. So do not let this brief review fool you. What I'm leaving unsaid is for the reader to experience first hand.
I will say that one of the bits that struck me as unusual in this story is Sam confronting that yes, Nick's physical beauty was important to their relationship. There is a stark honesty in this love story that one seldom encounters.
Translated by Moshe Gilula. And very well translated indeed!
November 14, 2023
Part of my Review Roundup on Before We Go Blog.
There's a great story hiding somewhere in Echo, but, wow, it's hard to find.
The novel starts off brilliantly with one of the most well-written, chill-inducing prologues that I've read in any horror book. It's genuinely terrifying.
Unfortunately, Echo is all downhill after that. Thomas Olde Heuvelt constructs Echo in an unnecessarily convoluted style that only gets in the way of reading/enjoying this book. The writing style in the main part of the book is obnoxious to say the least. Olde Heuvelt purposely misspells words and employs a ridiculous overly informal approach to narration. And what is his obsession with pecs?
As I mentioned, I'm pretty sure there is a good story in here somewhere. But Thomas Olde Heuvelt's writing gets in the way of finding it.
There's a great story hiding somewhere in Echo, but, wow, it's hard to find.
The novel starts off brilliantly with one of the most well-written, chill-inducing prologues that I've read in any horror book. It's genuinely terrifying.
Unfortunately, Echo is all downhill after that. Thomas Olde Heuvelt constructs Echo in an unnecessarily convoluted style that only gets in the way of reading/enjoying this book. The writing style in the main part of the book is obnoxious to say the least. Olde Heuvelt purposely misspells words and employs a ridiculous overly informal approach to narration. And what is his obsession with pecs?
As I mentioned, I'm pretty sure there is a good story in here somewhere. But Thomas Olde Heuvelt's writing gets in the way of finding it.
March 20, 2022
My thanks to Macmillan/Tor Forge, T.O.H.,.and Netgalley. In all honesty, I'm at a loss on reviewing this book! I liked it, then didn't like it at all. Then I loved it. Hated it. Loved and hated. To infinity and beyond! Thing is that this book was too long. It meandered. I thought of quitting this story a few times. Actually, that's a vast understatement! I couldn't go 20 pages without me saying "Lisa, why?" By the time I realized that it wasn't going to be a fairytale ending, I was in too deep. Did I love this book? No. It's a difficult story to like. Would I read more from this author? Again, no. Maybe? Until he or his publisher's can cut out the filler, then I've no interest in reading anything of Mr. Heuvelts again. Shame that, as I just bought his book Hex last week! Still, I stuck around until the end. It was at times maddening..But I actually liked this tale. "Mostly!"
November 28, 2021
Mountaineer Nick Grevers held a razor sharp piece of Gneiss in his hand, a keepsake from his climb to the summit of the Maudit, a mountain peak best left untouched. Warning: access forbidden! An enticement to the bold among us. Nick, and climbing partner Augustin, were hypnotized by the beauty and wildness of the Maudit, a remote, dangerous peak in the Swiss Alps. In the aftermath, Nick would carry guilt for Augustin's demise. The fatal expedition, made upon Nick's exuberant request.
Sam Avery and Nick Grevers were a loving couple. Sam disliked the mountains, was fearful of heights and of falling. His reservations about Nick's potential climb went unheeded. "Nick, or whatever was left of him...[was now] in a medically induced coma". In Nick's words, "It's dawning on me that I've woken up in a nightmare in which my life before seems to be that of a stranger, but in which I have become a stranger."
According to Sam, "Our lives would be defined by the moment the [facial] bandages came off...If I were to look into Nick's [eyes] I'd see the ocean that lay between our old life and our new one...I created a space for his imperfections...an entity was always hiding...".
Huckleberry Wall, the perfect cabin...the perfect sleepover at Grandpa and Grandma's. Grandpa telling ghost stories. Memories and secrets from a haunted childhood. "Better not look back...don't mess around with powers greater than yourself". Nick and Sam, a devoted couple determined to focus upon "fixed points in reality" while a spreading ink cloud...strew darkness, created an instinctive sense of doom.
"Echo" by Thomas Olde Heuvelt is a creepy, obsessive tale of horror. Told in alternating voices by Sam and Nick, the reader learns of damaged lives and determination to love and protect each other at all costs. The forces of nature and traumas, past and present, shape their relationship as well. This reader was entranced by the detailed account of mountain climbing. A tome of shorter length however, might have reduced some repetitive passages and added to the building tension and horror.
Thank you Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Nightfire and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Sam Avery and Nick Grevers were a loving couple. Sam disliked the mountains, was fearful of heights and of falling. His reservations about Nick's potential climb went unheeded. "Nick, or whatever was left of him...[was now] in a medically induced coma". In Nick's words, "It's dawning on me that I've woken up in a nightmare in which my life before seems to be that of a stranger, but in which I have become a stranger."
According to Sam, "Our lives would be defined by the moment the [facial] bandages came off...If I were to look into Nick's [eyes] I'd see the ocean that lay between our old life and our new one...I created a space for his imperfections...an entity was always hiding...".
Huckleberry Wall, the perfect cabin...the perfect sleepover at Grandpa and Grandma's. Grandpa telling ghost stories. Memories and secrets from a haunted childhood. "Better not look back...don't mess around with powers greater than yourself". Nick and Sam, a devoted couple determined to focus upon "fixed points in reality" while a spreading ink cloud...strew darkness, created an instinctive sense of doom.
"Echo" by Thomas Olde Heuvelt is a creepy, obsessive tale of horror. Told in alternating voices by Sam and Nick, the reader learns of damaged lives and determination to love and protect each other at all costs. The forces of nature and traumas, past and present, shape their relationship as well. This reader was entranced by the detailed account of mountain climbing. A tome of shorter length however, might have reduced some repetitive passages and added to the building tension and horror.
Thank you Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Nightfire and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
February 27, 2022
My thanks to Macmillan/Tor Forge, T.O.H.,.and Netgalley.
In all honesty, I'm at a loss on reviewing this book!
I liked it, then didn't like it at all. Then I loved it. Hated it. Loved and hated. To infinity and beyond!
Thing is that this book was too long. It meandered.
I thought of quitting this story a few times.
Actually, that's a vast understatement! I couldn't go 20 pages without me saying "Lisa, why?" By the time I realized that it wasn't going to be a fairytale ending, I was in too deep.
Did I love this book? No. It's a difficult story to like.
Would I read more from this author? Again, no. Until he or his publisher's can cut out the filler, then I've no interest in reading anything of Mr. Heuvelts again. Shame that, as I just bought his book Hex last week!
Still, I stuck around until the end. It was at times maddening..But I actually liked this tale. "Mostly!"
In all honesty, I'm at a loss on reviewing this book!
I liked it, then didn't like it at all. Then I loved it. Hated it. Loved and hated. To infinity and beyond!
Thing is that this book was too long. It meandered.
I thought of quitting this story a few times.
Actually, that's a vast understatement! I couldn't go 20 pages without me saying "Lisa, why?" By the time I realized that it wasn't going to be a fairytale ending, I was in too deep.
Did I love this book? No. It's a difficult story to like.
Would I read more from this author? Again, no. Until he or his publisher's can cut out the filler, then I've no interest in reading anything of Mr. Heuvelts again. Shame that, as I just bought his book Hex last week!
Still, I stuck around until the end. It was at times maddening..But I actually liked this tale. "Mostly!"
January 12, 2022
Scariest opening I’ve ever read.
February 27, 2022
This is not a haunted house, a haunted doll or even a haunted amulet. This is a haunted mountain.
A young adonis named Nick is injured during a mountaineering accident and his life will never be the same again. His partner Sam, (his partner in everything except mountain climbing), is trying his best to be there for Nick, even though Nick is now more like a mummy with bandages covering most of his face. There's more hiding under those bandages than a few broken bones and contusions, but you'll have to read ECHO to find out what!
I enjoyed reading about these characters, but I didn't like them very much, at least not at first. My emotions changed as I got to know them, and I was interested to see how they'd fare, which was why I continued reading. There were a few times when I thought might set this book down, because there was a lot of description and repetition. I learned a bit more about mountain climbing than I really wanted to, but by that time the characters weren't in a place where I could abandon them. Strong relationships like this one are what makes great stories work, even if there are slow parts about carabiner clips and pitons.
Over and above the main characters we have the mountain itself, and its town. Haunted by generations of people, there is a combination of folk horror and an "evil in a small town" narrative going on here as well as just plain ghosts, or...echoes. Whatever you call the genre or tropes, there are some downright creepy scenes in this book, most especially towards the denouement. I just wish there had been a few more of them.
Being that I was not all that impressed with HEX, I was a little wary of trying this author again, but I am so glad I did! ECHO is a completely different type of story and I was hypnotized by certain aspects of it. I was genuinely tense and in suspense during that last ride up the mountain and so overall, I ended up rating ECHO 4/5 stars. Recommended!
*Thanks go out to Tor/Nighfire for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it.*
A young adonis named Nick is injured during a mountaineering accident and his life will never be the same again. His partner Sam, (his partner in everything except mountain climbing), is trying his best to be there for Nick, even though Nick is now more like a mummy with bandages covering most of his face. There's more hiding under those bandages than a few broken bones and contusions, but you'll have to read ECHO to find out what!
I enjoyed reading about these characters, but I didn't like them very much, at least not at first. My emotions changed as I got to know them, and I was interested to see how they'd fare, which was why I continued reading. There were a few times when I thought might set this book down, because there was a lot of description and repetition. I learned a bit more about mountain climbing than I really wanted to, but by that time the characters weren't in a place where I could abandon them. Strong relationships like this one are what makes great stories work, even if there are slow parts about carabiner clips and pitons.
Over and above the main characters we have the mountain itself, and its town. Haunted by generations of people, there is a combination of folk horror and an "evil in a small town" narrative going on here as well as just plain ghosts, or...echoes. Whatever you call the genre or tropes, there are some downright creepy scenes in this book, most especially towards the denouement. I just wish there had been a few more of them.
Being that I was not all that impressed with HEX, I was a little wary of trying this author again, but I am so glad I did! ECHO is a completely different type of story and I was hypnotized by certain aspects of it. I was genuinely tense and in suspense during that last ride up the mountain and so overall, I ended up rating ECHO 4/5 stars. Recommended!
*Thanks go out to Tor/Nighfire for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it.*
February 10, 2022
3.5 stars.
ECHO, by Thomas Olde Heuvelt, is an atmospheric novel that left me thinking of a combination of Lovecraftian horror and modern day horrors combined. The story is told mainly in two POVs: Nick, a fit man who has an tragic accident while mountain climbing, and his partner Sam, who couldn't be LESS inclined towards that particular activity. The events begin with a bang, and then go back to when Nick is first rescued from the mountain--without his climbing partner.
"We all tell stories when we can't face the truth. . . "
The scars disfigure Nick's face completely, but that's far from the worst of it. The Maudit--the mountain he had his accident on--is dismissed by authorities, and another location given in its stead.
". . . No human is able to resist such a primal force. It opens doors in your head that are best kept shut . . . "
While alternating between Nick's recollections of that episode, and his and Sam's current situation--with Sam hunting for the truth he feels is being hidden from them, the story of the mountain and what it symbolized held me in thrall. Unfortunately, I felt that much of Nick's telling of the day was very technical in regards to mountain climbing expertise, etc, and got to be rather repetitive--especially to someone who has never been up a mountain.
"It's unfortunate that neither of us had a good command of French and therefore didn't know what Le Maudit means. . . "
Overall, if the story had been cut by at least a third, I feel I would have given it a higher rating, as the subject itself, characters, and locations were all fascinating and well written. The problem for myself was that the complexity of mountain climbing gear, and repetition of each and every step Nick took to climb it, got overwhelming quickly. I simply wanted to go back to Sam and his search for answers.
Still, a great idea, and one that lingers after that final page.
Recommended.
ECHO, by Thomas Olde Heuvelt, is an atmospheric novel that left me thinking of a combination of Lovecraftian horror and modern day horrors combined. The story is told mainly in two POVs: Nick, a fit man who has an tragic accident while mountain climbing, and his partner Sam, who couldn't be LESS inclined towards that particular activity. The events begin with a bang, and then go back to when Nick is first rescued from the mountain--without his climbing partner.
"We all tell stories when we can't face the truth. . . "
The scars disfigure Nick's face completely, but that's far from the worst of it. The Maudit--the mountain he had his accident on--is dismissed by authorities, and another location given in its stead.
". . . No human is able to resist such a primal force. It opens doors in your head that are best kept shut . . . "
While alternating between Nick's recollections of that episode, and his and Sam's current situation--with Sam hunting for the truth he feels is being hidden from them, the story of the mountain and what it symbolized held me in thrall. Unfortunately, I felt that much of Nick's telling of the day was very technical in regards to mountain climbing expertise, etc, and got to be rather repetitive--especially to someone who has never been up a mountain.
"It's unfortunate that neither of us had a good command of French and therefore didn't know what Le Maudit means. . . "
Overall, if the story had been cut by at least a third, I feel I would have given it a higher rating, as the subject itself, characters, and locations were all fascinating and well written. The problem for myself was that the complexity of mountain climbing gear, and repetition of each and every step Nick took to climb it, got overwhelming quickly. I simply wanted to go back to Sam and his search for answers.
Still, a great idea, and one that lingers after that final page.
Recommended.
June 10, 2019
Ik geef zeer zelden 1 ster, dus als ik het doe, moet het al heel erg zijn of, zoals in dit geval: omdat het zonde is dat iemand met zoveel schrijftalent als Thomas Olde Heuvelt niet beter zijn best heeft gedaan om een goed verhaal te pennen. Want deze man kan fantastische zinnen produceren en heeft flair te over, alleen gaat dit boek zo erg de mist in dat het zielig is. Dus geloof geen snars van die fangirl-reviews die zeggen dat dit een spannend boek is, laat staan griezelig, want het is oersaai en houdt voor geen meter steek. En dan ben ik nog met een reusachtig positief vooroordeel aan dit verhaal begonnen: eindelijk een horrorboek met homoseksuele protagonisten!
Hieronder waarom dit onding maar 1 ster kreeg, uiteraard spoilers, dus verder lezen op eigen risico.
* SPOILERS *
- Het begint goed: Julia in de berghut. Spannend, goed geschreven. Tikkeltje cliché, been there, done that, maar soit dat kijken we met plezier door de vingers.
- Nick in de bergen: Daar loop het al fout. Productplacement ten top. Iets wat trouwens doorheen het hele boek bijzonder storend was. Een koptelefoon, een smartphone, alle klimmateriaal, de auto... alles is een merknaam. De hele beschrijving is SAAI. Wie geen klimmer is kan er zich nauwelijks iets bij voorstellen. In een film kan dit werken, in een boek al veel minder. Hoe zo'n wand eruit ziet, of zo'n gletsjer, of zo'n afdaling, of zo'n ijsspleet, ik heb er het raden naar. Een vaag vermoeden, ja, maar daar stopt het. Na een tijdje ging ik dan ook vertikaal lezen omdat het me geen zier interesseerde en er ook nauwelijks iets gebeurde.
- De stem van Sam is fris en leuk! Zoals gezegd: Olde Heuvelt kan schrijven. Maar Sam als personage is compleet inconsistent. Begrijpelijk dat hij wegvlucht van zijn verminkte partner en even begrijpelijk dat hij terugkomt. Maar als er fysieke (!) vogels uit Nicks gezicht komen gevlogen dan denk ik dat er toch wel een belletje moet gaan rinkelen dat er iets niet pluis is. Hier wordt letterlijk NIETS mee gedaan. Als Nick op een bepaald moment, in Zwitserland, weerstand biedt tegen de dorpsbewoners, valt Sam bijna in zwijm voor Nick en aanbidt hem als een God. Ik dacht: mmmm, leuke twist. Blijkbaar gaan ze nu een powerkoppel vormen, gaat Sam de nieuwe krachten van Nick leren appreciëren en misschien zelfs gebruiken. Niets daarvan: Het volgende hoofdstuk is Sam weer zijn bange zelf, die compleet vreemde keuzes maakt: de morose komt, weet je wat? We verdoven mijn bezeten vriendje en leggen hem op bed, maar we binden hem niet vast. En terwijl die storm raast, laten we hem alleen achter en gaan we even bij onze voormalige poetsvrouw langs. En terwijl we terugrijden, worden we ook bijna bezeten door de echo's, kunnen maar net op tijd terug onze chalet binnen komen, waar mijn bezeten vriendje nog steeds op bed ligt en dan ga ik gewoon lekker koken terwijl mijn hulpje in bad gaat. Als dan toch de hel losbreekt, is het de dag erna terug alsof er niets gebeurd is. WTF? Of nog: Ik laat mijn zus alleen achter bij mijn bezeten vriendje waarvan ik nu wel zo goed als zeker weet dat er iets ernstig loos is, want ik ga 1000 km rijden om met iemand te spreken die me daarvan bewijs gaat geven Wat doet Sam trouwens om het probleem op te lossen? Ze gaan naar Zwitserland om wat te doen? Ze zoeken geen oplossingen? Ze zijn er gewoon en wachten af.
-Dit boek is oeverloos redundant: als we alle passages zouden schrappen waarin we hetzelfde lezen, dan blijft er maar een kwart over. Hele stukken zijn compleet overbodig. Het hele deel waarin Céciles hulp wordt ingeroepen en zij de eerste keer komt bijvoorbeeld. Zij doet letterlijk niets en alle mensen die zij spreekt dragen niets toe aan de plot. Ze dienen alleen maar om ons ervan te overtuigen dat de Maudit echt wel vervloekt is. Maar dat weten we al... zeg ons liever waarom en waarom de berg in Nick is gekropen, met welk doel en waarom hij mensen laat vallen...
- Een goed griezelverhaal staat of valt bij de suspension of disbelief: Ik ben bereid te aanvaarden dat er geesten in de chalet zitten bij Julia. Geen probleem mee. Maar niet dat er een Zwitsers dorp bestaat anno 2018 waar elke inwoner een vogelkooi voor zijn deur hangt met daarin een zwarte vogel. En dat er een compleet verlaten dorp is met overal WiFi waarvan de protagonist tevergeefs de inlogcode tracht te krijgen en dat er net op dat moment een begrafenisstoet passeert, is net iets te veel het spookhuis uit de Efteling. Ik ben bereid te aanvaarden dat een berg een man kan 'bezitten', maar niet dat in een stormnacht een broer en een zus elkaar toevallig tegenkomen aan de rand van een stuwmeer. Geen probleem mee dat je in een kamer binnenkomt en dat het lijkt alsof je in een weids landschap staat, maar maak me niet wijs dat er toevallig als je eindelijk na maanden niets doen toch wil beginnen aan een onderzoek net de dag ervoor een bericht is binnen gekomen van een neurochirurg die contact met je wil opnemen. Dat is gewoon LUI SCHRIJVEN
- Ik lees in recensies over het origineel concept van de verschillende vertelperspectieven, wat mij eigenlijk eerder stoorde dan aangenaam verraste. Dat Nick en Sam een eigen stem hebben is inderdaad best oké. Dat ze allebei literair schrijven in hun 'dagboek' doet al wat meer de wenkbrauwen fronsen. Zeker de stukken van Nick die ondanks zijn bezetenheid aardig wat kan pennen, compleet met dialogen en volzinnen, pagina's aan een stuk door. En nee, dat zijn laatste zinnetje wat de mist in gaat, laat het echt niet geloofwaardiger overkomen, eerder een tikkeltje knullig. En ik begrijp natuurlijk wel dat dat niet anders kan voor het 'boek', maar als je dat dan ook doet voor het document van Emily Wan, tja... Waarom niet gewoon een innerlijke stem? Waarom kiezen om er boven te zetten dat het écht geschreven is door de personages zelf?
- Het quoten van klassiekers is zo gevaarlijk als je zelf zo wankel op je benen staat. Ik heb ze zowat allemaal gelezen, de boeken die Olde Heuvelt als intro gebruikt voor zijn hoofdstukken. Dus weet wat goede horrorliteratuur is. Elke keer als hij naar de chalet refereert als Hill House of Castle Rock heb ik met mijn ogen gerold, letterlijk. Ik zie sommigen in hun recensies van dit boek Olde Heuvelt de Nederlandse Stephen King noemen: ten eerste schrijft King ieder jaar minstens een boek van deze lengte en ten tweede zou de grootmeester van het genre dit nooit laten verschijnen. De kracht van King en van de andere boeken die hier worden geciteerd is dat ze vertrekken van de personages, die geloofwaardige handelingen doen, die vertrekken vanuit een situatie die een reden heeft (wat hier ontbreekt, ik weet aan het einde nog altijd niet wat de Maudit is of het waarom van dit alles: waarom sprongen er 30 mensen van een dak in een ziekenhuis?) en waar er een catharsis is (dat is er hier ook wel min of meer, maar het zet geen zoden aan de dijk... wat is het verschil tussen het begin van het boek en het einde? Nick had evengoed in het ziekenhuis het loodje kunnen leggen door Cécile en het had niets uitgemaakt, behalve wat minder slachtoffers.).
Dit was de gevreesde tweede natuurlijk: Want na het succes van Hex (wat ik een zeer degelijk boek vond al kon het einde me niet echt bekoren - mijn review staat ook op goodreads), lag de lat erg hoog. Helaas is dit een misser van formaat. Door de immense promo-campagne en terend op het succes van Hex wordt het ongetwijfeld een bestseller, maar het boek hierna zal terug Hex-niveau moeten zijn om de échte lezers terug te winnen.
Hieronder waarom dit onding maar 1 ster kreeg, uiteraard spoilers, dus verder lezen op eigen risico.
* SPOILERS *
- Het begint goed: Julia in de berghut. Spannend, goed geschreven. Tikkeltje cliché, been there, done that, maar soit dat kijken we met plezier door de vingers.
- Nick in de bergen: Daar loop het al fout. Productplacement ten top. Iets wat trouwens doorheen het hele boek bijzonder storend was. Een koptelefoon, een smartphone, alle klimmateriaal, de auto... alles is een merknaam. De hele beschrijving is SAAI. Wie geen klimmer is kan er zich nauwelijks iets bij voorstellen. In een film kan dit werken, in een boek al veel minder. Hoe zo'n wand eruit ziet, of zo'n gletsjer, of zo'n afdaling, of zo'n ijsspleet, ik heb er het raden naar. Een vaag vermoeden, ja, maar daar stopt het. Na een tijdje ging ik dan ook vertikaal lezen omdat het me geen zier interesseerde en er ook nauwelijks iets gebeurde.
- De stem van Sam is fris en leuk! Zoals gezegd: Olde Heuvelt kan schrijven. Maar Sam als personage is compleet inconsistent. Begrijpelijk dat hij wegvlucht van zijn verminkte partner en even begrijpelijk dat hij terugkomt. Maar als er fysieke (!) vogels uit Nicks gezicht komen gevlogen dan denk ik dat er toch wel een belletje moet gaan rinkelen dat er iets niet pluis is. Hier wordt letterlijk NIETS mee gedaan. Als Nick op een bepaald moment, in Zwitserland, weerstand biedt tegen de dorpsbewoners, valt Sam bijna in zwijm voor Nick en aanbidt hem als een God. Ik dacht: mmmm, leuke twist. Blijkbaar gaan ze nu een powerkoppel vormen, gaat Sam de nieuwe krachten van Nick leren appreciëren en misschien zelfs gebruiken. Niets daarvan: Het volgende hoofdstuk is Sam weer zijn bange zelf, die compleet vreemde keuzes maakt: de morose komt, weet je wat? We verdoven mijn bezeten vriendje en leggen hem op bed, maar we binden hem niet vast. En terwijl die storm raast, laten we hem alleen achter en gaan we even bij onze voormalige poetsvrouw langs. En terwijl we terugrijden, worden we ook bijna bezeten door de echo's, kunnen maar net op tijd terug onze chalet binnen komen, waar mijn bezeten vriendje nog steeds op bed ligt en dan ga ik gewoon lekker koken terwijl mijn hulpje in bad gaat. Als dan toch de hel losbreekt, is het de dag erna terug alsof er niets gebeurd is. WTF? Of nog: Ik laat mijn zus alleen achter bij mijn bezeten vriendje waarvan ik nu wel zo goed als zeker weet dat er iets ernstig loos is, want ik ga 1000 km rijden om met iemand te spreken die me daarvan bewijs gaat geven Wat doet Sam trouwens om het probleem op te lossen? Ze gaan naar Zwitserland om wat te doen? Ze zoeken geen oplossingen? Ze zijn er gewoon en wachten af.
-Dit boek is oeverloos redundant: als we alle passages zouden schrappen waarin we hetzelfde lezen, dan blijft er maar een kwart over. Hele stukken zijn compleet overbodig. Het hele deel waarin Céciles hulp wordt ingeroepen en zij de eerste keer komt bijvoorbeeld. Zij doet letterlijk niets en alle mensen die zij spreekt dragen niets toe aan de plot. Ze dienen alleen maar om ons ervan te overtuigen dat de Maudit echt wel vervloekt is. Maar dat weten we al... zeg ons liever waarom en waarom de berg in Nick is gekropen, met welk doel en waarom hij mensen laat vallen...
- Een goed griezelverhaal staat of valt bij de suspension of disbelief: Ik ben bereid te aanvaarden dat er geesten in de chalet zitten bij Julia. Geen probleem mee. Maar niet dat er een Zwitsers dorp bestaat anno 2018 waar elke inwoner een vogelkooi voor zijn deur hangt met daarin een zwarte vogel. En dat er een compleet verlaten dorp is met overal WiFi waarvan de protagonist tevergeefs de inlogcode tracht te krijgen en dat er net op dat moment een begrafenisstoet passeert, is net iets te veel het spookhuis uit de Efteling. Ik ben bereid te aanvaarden dat een berg een man kan 'bezitten', maar niet dat in een stormnacht een broer en een zus elkaar toevallig tegenkomen aan de rand van een stuwmeer. Geen probleem mee dat je in een kamer binnenkomt en dat het lijkt alsof je in een weids landschap staat, maar maak me niet wijs dat er toevallig als je eindelijk na maanden niets doen toch wil beginnen aan een onderzoek net de dag ervoor een bericht is binnen gekomen van een neurochirurg die contact met je wil opnemen. Dat is gewoon LUI SCHRIJVEN
- Ik lees in recensies over het origineel concept van de verschillende vertelperspectieven, wat mij eigenlijk eerder stoorde dan aangenaam verraste. Dat Nick en Sam een eigen stem hebben is inderdaad best oké. Dat ze allebei literair schrijven in hun 'dagboek' doet al wat meer de wenkbrauwen fronsen. Zeker de stukken van Nick die ondanks zijn bezetenheid aardig wat kan pennen, compleet met dialogen en volzinnen, pagina's aan een stuk door. En nee, dat zijn laatste zinnetje wat de mist in gaat, laat het echt niet geloofwaardiger overkomen, eerder een tikkeltje knullig. En ik begrijp natuurlijk wel dat dat niet anders kan voor het 'boek', maar als je dat dan ook doet voor het document van Emily Wan, tja... Waarom niet gewoon een innerlijke stem? Waarom kiezen om er boven te zetten dat het écht geschreven is door de personages zelf?
- Het quoten van klassiekers is zo gevaarlijk als je zelf zo wankel op je benen staat. Ik heb ze zowat allemaal gelezen, de boeken die Olde Heuvelt als intro gebruikt voor zijn hoofdstukken. Dus weet wat goede horrorliteratuur is. Elke keer als hij naar de chalet refereert als Hill House of Castle Rock heb ik met mijn ogen gerold, letterlijk. Ik zie sommigen in hun recensies van dit boek Olde Heuvelt de Nederlandse Stephen King noemen: ten eerste schrijft King ieder jaar minstens een boek van deze lengte en ten tweede zou de grootmeester van het genre dit nooit laten verschijnen. De kracht van King en van de andere boeken die hier worden geciteerd is dat ze vertrekken van de personages, die geloofwaardige handelingen doen, die vertrekken vanuit een situatie die een reden heeft (wat hier ontbreekt, ik weet aan het einde nog altijd niet wat de Maudit is of het waarom van dit alles: waarom sprongen er 30 mensen van een dak in een ziekenhuis?) en waar er een catharsis is (dat is er hier ook wel min of meer, maar het zet geen zoden aan de dijk... wat is het verschil tussen het begin van het boek en het einde? Nick had evengoed in het ziekenhuis het loodje kunnen leggen door Cécile en het had niets uitgemaakt, behalve wat minder slachtoffers.).
Dit was de gevreesde tweede natuurlijk: Want na het succes van Hex (wat ik een zeer degelijk boek vond al kon het einde me niet echt bekoren - mijn review staat ook op goodreads), lag de lat erg hoog. Helaas is dit een misser van formaat. Door de immense promo-campagne en terend op het succes van Hex wordt het ongetwijfeld een bestseller, maar het boek hierna zal terug Hex-niveau moeten zijn om de échte lezers terug te winnen.
June 14, 2019
Na het lezen van Hex was ik gerustgesteld: het boek was niet zó eng dat het me slapeloze nachten opleverde. Vol goede moed begon ik dan ook aan Echo. Helaas had ik deze keer minder geluk.. Dit boek is gewoon walgelijk eng - ik zat echt luidop te gruwelen tijdens het lezen. Begrijp me niet verkeerd: ik vind het oprecht fantastisch dat een auteur me zo kan laten voelen. 613 pagina’s zat ik op het puntje van mijn stoel. Ik leefde mee met de personages, genoot van de quotes die ieder deel inleidden en moest lachen om de referenties naar Harry Potter, Twilight, LOTR, .. Maar angst en onbehagen overheersten. Echo is denk ik het engste boek dat ik ooit las - en stoot daarmee 172 Hours on the Moon van de eerste plek.
Mijn complete recensie lees je op Oog op de Toekomst.
Ps. Ik houd enorm van bergen en van vogels; laten dat nu net de boosdoeners zijn in Echo. Als ik nu nooit meer van deze twee zaken kan genieten, is Thomas Olde Heuvelt de boosdoener..
Mijn complete recensie lees je op Oog op de Toekomst.
Ps. Ik houd enorm van bergen en van vogels; laten dat nu net de boosdoeners zijn in Echo. Als ik nu nooit meer van deze twee zaken kan genieten, is Thomas Olde Heuvelt de boosdoener..
February 10, 2022
Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review.
So, I had an up and down experience with the last book I read by Heuvelt. That book, Hex, started off well and then just descended into confusion for me. And then I hated how some things were portrayed. I was hesitant with this book, but thought it was a very solid horror book that reminded me a lot of several other works by Lovecraft, James, Jackson, and other horror aficionados. Once you get into the book though, you realize that was by design. Even though this book is horror, in the end, I found it to be a love story at it's core. There are not a lot of gross out terrible moments, but the feeling of dread creeps through the book, goes away, and creeps back again. The main reason why I gave this 4 stars and not 5 stars is that parts of the book just get bogged down and are hard to push through. The flow was up and down (probably due to the different narrators and style).
"Echo" follows Sam Avery and Nick Grevers. The two men are in a happy relationship, with just one sticking point. Sam is not happy with Nick and his constant need to go mountain climbing. He's afraid that something out there may happen to him. His fears are proven right though when he's informed that Nick has been hurt climbing and his climbing partner, Augustin has gone missing while they were climbing Maudit in the Swiss Alps.
Sam becomes afraid of how Nick is going to look and react after he and Nick's family realize that his face will never be the same. But Sam realizes that it's not just Nick's face that has changed, something seems to have gotten a hold of him.
The book then switches back and forth between Sam's (manuscript), Nick's emails/letters to Sam and then Nick's journal (I guess?) as the two men work out what is happening to Nick and why.
I loved Sam's backstory and the love between him and his sister. And honestly, Sam's love of Nick too. Readers will catch on pretty quickly what is going on with Nick, but Sam refuses to believe it even when evidence is at one point left behind for him. I also love the parts of the book that delved into why Nick loved the outdoors so much, and what about the mountains grabbed him. I love hiking and being outdoors does make you think and feel primitive things.
But it also makes you feel close to something. I don't know how to describe it. Hiking always centers me and that's why I hate it when I can't go at least once a week.
The writing was very well done I thought. Each of the chapters includes an excerpt from a horror themed book which plays upon what readers are going to read next. We get "The Turn of the Screw", "The Great God Pan," and others. As I said earlier, the flow though was the main problem I had with this one. Sometimes certain chapters felt too full of information. And other times it felt like the chapter just flew by too fast and left me with more questions.
The setting of the book for the most part is the Swiss Alps. And apparently I was incorrect in thinking that place is like Christmas year round. There be some darkness in those mountains. I loved a lot of the callbacks to myths and other things in this one.
The ending I thought was true to the book, but also once again it reminds you. At its heart, this book is a love story.
So, I had an up and down experience with the last book I read by Heuvelt. That book, Hex, started off well and then just descended into confusion for me. And then I hated how some things were portrayed. I was hesitant with this book, but thought it was a very solid horror book that reminded me a lot of several other works by Lovecraft, James, Jackson, and other horror aficionados. Once you get into the book though, you realize that was by design. Even though this book is horror, in the end, I found it to be a love story at it's core. There are not a lot of gross out terrible moments, but the feeling of dread creeps through the book, goes away, and creeps back again. The main reason why I gave this 4 stars and not 5 stars is that parts of the book just get bogged down and are hard to push through. The flow was up and down (probably due to the different narrators and style).
"Echo" follows Sam Avery and Nick Grevers. The two men are in a happy relationship, with just one sticking point. Sam is not happy with Nick and his constant need to go mountain climbing. He's afraid that something out there may happen to him. His fears are proven right though when he's informed that Nick has been hurt climbing and his climbing partner, Augustin has gone missing while they were climbing Maudit in the Swiss Alps.
Sam becomes afraid of how Nick is going to look and react after he and Nick's family realize that his face will never be the same. But Sam realizes that it's not just Nick's face that has changed, something seems to have gotten a hold of him.
The book then switches back and forth between Sam's (manuscript), Nick's emails/letters to Sam and then Nick's journal (I guess?) as the two men work out what is happening to Nick and why.
I loved Sam's backstory and the love between him and his sister. And honestly, Sam's love of Nick too. Readers will catch on pretty quickly what is going on with Nick, but Sam refuses to believe it even when evidence is at one point left behind for him. I also love the parts of the book that delved into why Nick loved the outdoors so much, and what about the mountains grabbed him. I love hiking and being outdoors does make you think and feel primitive things.
But it also makes you feel close to something. I don't know how to describe it. Hiking always centers me and that's why I hate it when I can't go at least once a week.
The writing was very well done I thought. Each of the chapters includes an excerpt from a horror themed book which plays upon what readers are going to read next. We get "The Turn of the Screw", "The Great God Pan," and others. As I said earlier, the flow though was the main problem I had with this one. Sometimes certain chapters felt too full of information. And other times it felt like the chapter just flew by too fast and left me with more questions.
The setting of the book for the most part is the Swiss Alps. And apparently I was incorrect in thinking that place is like Christmas year round. There be some darkness in those mountains. I loved a lot of the callbacks to myths and other things in this one.
The ending I thought was true to the book, but also once again it reminds you. At its heart, this book is a love story.
January 23, 2024
Una premisa muy interesante y potente, pero se me hizo demasiado largo y el final…
Le pongo 3,5/5 ⭐️
Le pongo 3,5/5 ⭐️
May 13, 2019
+ extremely scary beginning
+ excellent character development
+ two storytellers which works like a charm
- German and French phrases without translation
- English phrases to emphasize, sometimes a little over the top
- no dragons
Warning: Do not open this book, unless you have at least two days ahead of you without commitments. Stock up on food and supplies. You will want to dig in and read. What a ride! Or climb, really...
+ excellent character development
+ two storytellers which works like a charm
- German and French phrases without translation
- English phrases to emphasize, sometimes a little over the top
- no dragons
Warning: Do not open this book, unless you have at least two days ahead of you without commitments. Stock up on food and supplies. You will want to dig in and read. What a ride! Or climb, really...
February 16, 2022
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.
My Review: I can't quite believe this is a translation (you rock, Moshe Gilad!). Its prose rings like a crystal wineglass.
I can't quite believe I have a son named Sam (he's so much like me it's scary) who lives in a novel. By a Dutch guy. Whom I've never met.
I can't quite write a real review yet...still stunned, too scared to go back and figure out why...but it's a week ago the book came out and honestly I'm still shook that all y'all ain't got it on your nightstands yet.
What is wrong with people?! Go get this terrifying, propulsive, exquisitely personal and depressingly universal horror-adjacent thriller. Go on! March, young scalawag.
My Review: I can't quite believe this is a translation (you rock, Moshe Gilad!). Its prose rings like a crystal wineglass.
Every year, climbers—sometimes entire teams—disappear into deep glacial voids and die in their frozen darkness. If the mountain is merciful, the drop is deep enough to smash them into silence in one go. Most victims, however, are trapped between blue, narrowing walls of ice, and as their body warmth melts the ice, they sink slowly deeper and deeper, until they die very consciously of asphyxiation.
I can't quite believe I have a son named Sam (he's so much like me it's scary) who lives in a novel. By a Dutch guy. Whom I've never met.
There are November mornings when the cold is clear, crackling, and crisp, but this cold was sticky, syrupy, clung to you. Like it was begging you for help. You, the first organism to have crossed its path, and would you please take it with you and protect it from what's about to happen, because that was much, much worse than the cold itself.
Jesus. The Morose hadn't even got started yet and my metaphors were already going haywire.
I can't quite write a real review yet...still stunned, too scared to go back and figure out why...but it's a week ago the book came out and honestly I'm still shook that all y'all ain't got it on your nightstands yet.
You’ve often asked me why I climb mountains. You’ve also often asked me (I wouldn’t say begged, though it’s not far off the mark) to stop. Our worst argument was about this, and it was the only time I was really afraid that I would lose you. I’ve never been able to fully explain it to you. I wonder if it’s at all possible to fully explain to someone who isn’t a climber. There’s an apparently unbridgeable gap between the thought that I risk my life doing something as trifling as climbing a cold lump of rock and ice…and the notion of traveling through a floating landscape, progressing with utmost concentration while having absolute control of the essential balance that keeps me alive and that, therefore, lets me live. Conquering that gap is possibly the most difficult climb in the life of any alpinist who is in a relationship.
What is wrong with people?! Go get this terrifying, propulsive, exquisitely personal and depressingly universal horror-adjacent thriller. Go on! March, young scalawag.
Read
June 20, 2022One book will not work for everyone. There is no shame in DNFing a book. In fact, skimming and trying to pass it off as 100% read does a disservice to everyone so I’m here to admit that I read 260 pages (the size of most books I read so yeah I’m counting it towards my challenge) and then I threw in the towel.
I adored Hex by this author and went into this one knowing it was, of course, going to be a different story and I love all kinds of things but apparently I do not love books that go into excruciating detail about ice/mountain climbing. But it wasn’t just that. Even the parts of the book about coming to terms with the aftermath of a life-altering disfigurement and the relationship issues surrounding it weren’t done in such a way that I could feel much for the characters which was so disappointing to me. The story jumped around so much and was bogged down with too much inconsequential stuff that it was hard for me to connect with any of it. And I tried. And tried again. I tried for 260 pages when I really should’ve quit at 50.
Anyhow, it starts out amazingly creepy but then it switched gears and never fulfilled that initial promise of a haunting read for me (at least for the 260 pages I read). I’m not skimming to the end to find out all the secrets because my free time is precious to me. So I’ll never know what that weirdness was going on beneath the bandages and I’ll just have to live with that.
I adored Hex by this author and went into this one knowing it was, of course, going to be a different story and I love all kinds of things but apparently I do not love books that go into excruciating detail about ice/mountain climbing. But it wasn’t just that. Even the parts of the book about coming to terms with the aftermath of a life-altering disfigurement and the relationship issues surrounding it weren’t done in such a way that I could feel much for the characters which was so disappointing to me. The story jumped around so much and was bogged down with too much inconsequential stuff that it was hard for me to connect with any of it. And I tried. And tried again. I tried for 260 pages when I really should’ve quit at 50.
Anyhow, it starts out amazingly creepy but then it switched gears and never fulfilled that initial promise of a haunting read for me (at least for the 260 pages I read). I’m not skimming to the end to find out all the secrets because my free time is precious to me. So I’ll never know what that weirdness was going on beneath the bandages and I’ll just have to live with that.
January 25, 2022
3.5 Stars
The best part of the novel for me was the love between these two men. I love horror with queer representation so I was delighted to discover that these men were not simply friends but partners. The story was very character focused with some heavy emotional moments.
Despite the premise, the story is more about the aftermath of the accident rather than the mountaineering so this is not much of a cold weather adventure horror. I liked the premise, but admittedly found the narrative too slow and too long. I feel this story would have been so much stronger in a shorter form.
This novel is quite different from the author's English debut novel. Whether or not you loved Hex should not influence your decision to pick up his newer novel.
I would recommend this novel to readers looking for a character driven story with some emotional, queer representation.
Disclaimer: I received an ARC copy from the publisher.
The best part of the novel for me was the love between these two men. I love horror with queer representation so I was delighted to discover that these men were not simply friends but partners. The story was very character focused with some heavy emotional moments.
Despite the premise, the story is more about the aftermath of the accident rather than the mountaineering so this is not much of a cold weather adventure horror. I liked the premise, but admittedly found the narrative too slow and too long. I feel this story would have been so much stronger in a shorter form.
This novel is quite different from the author's English debut novel. Whether or not you loved Hex should not influence your decision to pick up his newer novel.
I would recommend this novel to readers looking for a character driven story with some emotional, queer representation.
Disclaimer: I received an ARC copy from the publisher.
July 28, 2021
After reading Thomas Olde Heuvelt's Hex, I knew immediately that his upcoming USA release for
Echo
would be right up my alley. The story is a supernatural horror taking form and causing havoc upon a gay couple? SOLD.
This story focuses on Nick Grevers and his boyfriend Sam Avery. Nick is a major fan of mountain climbing, while his boyfriend Sam is apprehensive about this hobby of his. They met several years prior, with Sam moving from New York to Europe to be with him. However, Nick and his climbing partner Augustin reach trouble at a remove mountain peak in the Swiss Alps, specifically called Maudit. Unbeknownst to Nick, he wakes up in a coma and Augustin is dead. Nick's face, once beautiful and provided him the luxury of privileges he took for granted, is now completely scarred from the nose down. Nick's face is mutilated and even with reconstruction surgery, he will never be the same Nick again. Sam is scared about what that means for their relationship as they are still young and naïve about romance. Will Sam stay with Nick? The old Nick may not look the same anymore, but something else is also brewing inside of him, what exactly is Nick hiding from that night?
I want to be vague on the synopsis because I went in only knowing it was gay and horror, and I want you to go in knowing as little as possible as well. It's a bit longer than it should be, but ultimately its a powerful story about love and acceptance, mental health, and of course, all intertwined with supernatural horror. I really loved the main characters in their own specific ways and at the core of this book is a romance (in my opinion). This story is really dark and the first chapter in the book is one of the scariest pieces of fiction I've ever read in my life. I don't really know how to compare this book with anything else I've read, but I definitely got Insidious / Conjuring vibes, I guess?
This story isn't for everybody, but if you like slow burning suspense, mixed with deep character driven narratives, I say go for it. Echo is very much like Hex in a sense that at times, the author lets your mind come to your own conclusions to certain plot points. The scariest thing in the world is one's own imagination, and Echo reeks havoc on it. I hope to see more of these types of novels from Thomas Olde Heuvelt.
This story focuses on Nick Grevers and his boyfriend Sam Avery. Nick is a major fan of mountain climbing, while his boyfriend Sam is apprehensive about this hobby of his. They met several years prior, with Sam moving from New York to Europe to be with him. However, Nick and his climbing partner Augustin reach trouble at a remove mountain peak in the Swiss Alps, specifically called Maudit. Unbeknownst to Nick, he wakes up in a coma and Augustin is dead. Nick's face, once beautiful and provided him the luxury of privileges he took for granted, is now completely scarred from the nose down. Nick's face is mutilated and even with reconstruction surgery, he will never be the same Nick again. Sam is scared about what that means for their relationship as they are still young and naïve about romance. Will Sam stay with Nick? The old Nick may not look the same anymore, but something else is also brewing inside of him, what exactly is Nick hiding from that night?
I want to be vague on the synopsis because I went in only knowing it was gay and horror, and I want you to go in knowing as little as possible as well. It's a bit longer than it should be, but ultimately its a powerful story about love and acceptance, mental health, and of course, all intertwined with supernatural horror. I really loved the main characters in their own specific ways and at the core of this book is a romance (in my opinion). This story is really dark and the first chapter in the book is one of the scariest pieces of fiction I've ever read in my life. I don't really know how to compare this book with anything else I've read, but I definitely got Insidious / Conjuring vibes, I guess?
This story isn't for everybody, but if you like slow burning suspense, mixed with deep character driven narratives, I say go for it. Echo is very much like Hex in a sense that at times, the author lets your mind come to your own conclusions to certain plot points. The scariest thing in the world is one's own imagination, and Echo reeks havoc on it. I hope to see more of these types of novels from Thomas Olde Heuvelt.
October 22, 2022
4 ⭐️ // CAWPILE rating 7.6
This book 🤯😵
I feel like reading this book is equivalent to climbing the Maudit 😅😵 Holy f*%k. 400 pages my ass. There’s no way! I would read for an hour then look at my kindle percentage and I’d seriously only be like 2% more in. 😂 So, I’m convinced this book is like the Maudit. It warps time and changes size as your in it 😆 I loved so much of it but man….
That aside, this book was pretty tremendous. The atmosphere 10/10. I felt the cold in my bones. It was gripping and unnerving and absolutely wild.
Liked the dual perspective between Sam & Nick. I liked experiencing the story from both sides. I mean, Sam was super annoying but still a really interesting character. Appreciated the queer representation. I loved that not only their relationship but them as individuals read flawed and real. The talk of what it would be like to be in that situation, paranormal stuff aside, in the first quarter of the book was SO good.
I will say that from 50-80ish percent of the book, if felt a bit repetitive and drawn out. So much happened so fast that, for me, it felt like a huge chunk of the book was spent just waiting for Sam to accept the situation and DO something. I remember being around 40% in and thinking HOW do I still have 60% left of this book?! Because of that I started getting really fatigued reading through that section and my intrigue level started dropping off. I just think that whole bit could have been condensed down and still been just as effective. Either that, or the pacing adjusted so that not so much was unloaded early on.
But overall, I really liked this. My enjoyment went up and down while reading but reflecting on my experience, I’m happy with it. The imagery I got from the writing is cemented into my brain. Such a unique story and a wild ride. For everything that this book is, I feel like the way I feel after reading it is appropriate 😂😵⚰️
Thank you SO much to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the digital arc 🖤
The new English translated version of Echo by Thomas Olde Heuvelt is available on February 8th, 2022
This book 🤯😵
I feel like reading this book is equivalent to climbing the Maudit 😅😵 Holy f*%k. 400 pages my ass. There’s no way! I would read for an hour then look at my kindle percentage and I’d seriously only be like 2% more in. 😂 So, I’m convinced this book is like the Maudit. It warps time and changes size as your in it 😆 I loved so much of it but man….
That aside, this book was pretty tremendous. The atmosphere 10/10. I felt the cold in my bones. It was gripping and unnerving and absolutely wild.
Liked the dual perspective between Sam & Nick. I liked experiencing the story from both sides. I mean, Sam was super annoying but still a really interesting character. Appreciated the queer representation. I loved that not only their relationship but them as individuals read flawed and real. The talk of what it would be like to be in that situation, paranormal stuff aside, in the first quarter of the book was SO good.
I will say that from 50-80ish percent of the book, if felt a bit repetitive and drawn out. So much happened so fast that, for me, it felt like a huge chunk of the book was spent just waiting for Sam to accept the situation and DO something. I remember being around 40% in and thinking HOW do I still have 60% left of this book?! Because of that I started getting really fatigued reading through that section and my intrigue level started dropping off. I just think that whole bit could have been condensed down and still been just as effective. Either that, or the pacing adjusted so that not so much was unloaded early on.
But overall, I really liked this. My enjoyment went up and down while reading but reflecting on my experience, I’m happy with it. The imagery I got from the writing is cemented into my brain. Such a unique story and a wild ride. For everything that this book is, I feel like the way I feel after reading it is appropriate 😂😵⚰️
Thank you SO much to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the digital arc 🖤
The new English translated version of Echo by Thomas Olde Heuvelt is available on February 8th, 2022
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 10, 2022
I'm too exhausted from the effort it took to try to follow along for over 800 pages. My eyes are going to be glazed over after taking on this monstrosity. Monstrosity as in Epic. Epic as in this specific definition: "Surpassing the usual or ordinary, particularly in scope or size."
Surpassing the number of necessary pages and length of a functional novel. I'd say 2 times over.
Arghhh-hhhhhhh. I'm too annoyed at the hours and more hours it took to get through this. I'm too annoyed about authors editor's, I think they were ghosts or hallucinations, because there was no such thing as editing this big boy down some 400 pages.
Ugh. You can't stay scared when the book is confusing and so long you can't even read it in one day.
I apologize.. I'm cranky, I'm tired and I'm pissed off. I stayed up late again for this.. whatever this was.
I'm going to bed and hopefully will be less cranky tomorrow and can update this review properly...
P. S. I just saw Goodreads puts it at 412 pages. I hope it's a typo. But even if that's accurate. I can still tell you that my experience did not add up to 412 pages. It felt never ending. Lol. I honestly thought it was about 800 pages give it take. Utterly shocked by that. Lol.
P. P. S. I hope someone else reads it and let's me know if they felt similar.
Surpassing the number of necessary pages and length of a functional novel. I'd say 2 times over.
Arghhh-hhhhhhh. I'm too annoyed at the hours and more hours it took to get through this. I'm too annoyed about authors editor's, I think they were ghosts or hallucinations, because there was no such thing as editing this big boy down some 400 pages.
Ugh. You can't stay scared when the book is confusing and so long you can't even read it in one day.
I apologize.. I'm cranky, I'm tired and I'm pissed off. I stayed up late again for this.. whatever this was.
I'm going to bed and hopefully will be less cranky tomorrow and can update this review properly...
P. S. I just saw Goodreads puts it at 412 pages. I hope it's a typo. But even if that's accurate. I can still tell you that my experience did not add up to 412 pages. It felt never ending. Lol. I honestly thought it was about 800 pages give it take. Utterly shocked by that. Lol.
P. P. S. I hope someone else reads it and let's me know if they felt similar.
October 6, 2022
I bought this book for my husband's birthday, figuring that a gay horror novel set in the Swiss Alps would be right up his alley. We decided to read the Kindle version together.
The story is about two gay lovers: Nick Grevers, a Dutch travel writer and mountain climber, and his boyfriend Sam Avery, an American expatriate. Nick experiences a horrible disfiguring accident while climbing the Maudit peak, and his climbing partner Augustin dies by falling into a crevasse. Worse still, Nick’s trauma in the mountains appears to have awakened a malevolent force inside him. Is he possessed by the mountain?
This book is a turgid mess. Heuvelt alternates points of view between Nick and Sam and other minor characters. Sam's narration is childish and uses frequent colloquialisms (e.g., 99 instances of “cuz" and seven instances of “dunno"). Nick’s narration, on the other hand, is impersonal and robotic, perhaps due to his possession. The narrative often shifts to different epistolary formats, such as diary entries, text messages, manuscripts, and letters. While these shifts achieve variety, they also impede any buildup in narrative tension.
Chapters are named after famous horror novels (for example, "Something Wicked This Way Comes," "The Invisible Man," "Misery," "At the Mountains of Madness," and "The Haunting of Hill House") which seems like a cheap gimmick (although it's impressive that Heuvelt was able to secure permissions for all those books). I kept wishing this book would achieve half the power of those earlier classics, but I was disappointed.
Echo is reportedly only 379 pages, but it felt three times longer, longer than other horror doorstoppers such as Stephen King's The Stand (the uncut version) or Robert McCammon's Swan Song. It's a tedious slog. When I had read 25%, I asked my husband, who was halfway done, if anything ever happens. Nope, he said, equally bored. Frustrated, I skipped ahead to 60%, and the story was still stuck in a hole.
Tip: You can safely skip over the middle half of this book and not worry about missing anything. All the action occurs in the last quarter.
Since the book is devoid of action, whether it engages readers rests solely on depth of characterization. Of the two protagonists Sam and Nick, only Sam is well-drawn. Nick is like an amnesiac Frankenstein monster, unable to articulate his feelings and prone to lengthy, monotonous journal entries. Whenever Nick becomes too tiresome, Sam suddenly flees to New York or Amsterdam with very little justification, allowing Heuvelt to introduce another unimportant character (his sister, a nurse, and a doctor, for instance) to pad the book without furthering the story.
Toward the end, this flabby book's frustrating vagueness finally pays off with some gripping mountain climbing scenes and a really creepy hospital scene. Heuvelt is genuinely talented when he gets down to it. Problem is, by the time he finally got down to it, he’d already lost me. There's not enough action in this weird novel to justify its length.
Echo is an exercise in endless riffing on classic works of horror: the parallels with Frankenstein; chapter titles that reference other books; old-fashioned epistolary format; the climax, featuring an angry mob with pitchforks, evoking Universal classic monster movies. It's all a bit much. Rather than enhance the story, these cheap tricks load it with unnecessary baggage.
Deep within Echo lies a chilling 100-page novella; I wish Heuvelt published that instead.
P.S. Months after reading Echo, I stumbled upon a story by Guy de Maupassant called "The Inn," which is also set in the Swiss Alps, has a similar premise, and may have inspired Heuvelt's novel. "The Inn" is short, evocative, and creepy, qualities that I wish Echo shared. You can read it here.
The story is about two gay lovers: Nick Grevers, a Dutch travel writer and mountain climber, and his boyfriend Sam Avery, an American expatriate. Nick experiences a horrible disfiguring accident while climbing the Maudit peak, and his climbing partner Augustin dies by falling into a crevasse. Worse still, Nick’s trauma in the mountains appears to have awakened a malevolent force inside him. Is he possessed by the mountain?
This book is a turgid mess. Heuvelt alternates points of view between Nick and Sam and other minor characters. Sam's narration is childish and uses frequent colloquialisms (e.g., 99 instances of “cuz" and seven instances of “dunno"). Nick’s narration, on the other hand, is impersonal and robotic, perhaps due to his possession. The narrative often shifts to different epistolary formats, such as diary entries, text messages, manuscripts, and letters. While these shifts achieve variety, they also impede any buildup in narrative tension.
Chapters are named after famous horror novels (for example, "Something Wicked This Way Comes," "The Invisible Man," "Misery," "At the Mountains of Madness," and "The Haunting of Hill House") which seems like a cheap gimmick (although it's impressive that Heuvelt was able to secure permissions for all those books). I kept wishing this book would achieve half the power of those earlier classics, but I was disappointed.
Echo is reportedly only 379 pages, but it felt three times longer, longer than other horror doorstoppers such as Stephen King's The Stand (the uncut version) or Robert McCammon's Swan Song. It's a tedious slog. When I had read 25%, I asked my husband, who was halfway done, if anything ever happens. Nope, he said, equally bored. Frustrated, I skipped ahead to 60%, and the story was still stuck in a hole.
Tip: You can safely skip over the middle half of this book and not worry about missing anything. All the action occurs in the last quarter.
Since the book is devoid of action, whether it engages readers rests solely on depth of characterization. Of the two protagonists Sam and Nick, only Sam is well-drawn. Nick is like an amnesiac Frankenstein monster, unable to articulate his feelings and prone to lengthy, monotonous journal entries. Whenever Nick becomes too tiresome, Sam suddenly flees to New York or Amsterdam with very little justification, allowing Heuvelt to introduce another unimportant character (his sister, a nurse, and a doctor, for instance) to pad the book without furthering the story.
Toward the end, this flabby book's frustrating vagueness finally pays off with some gripping mountain climbing scenes and a really creepy hospital scene. Heuvelt is genuinely talented when he gets down to it. Problem is, by the time he finally got down to it, he’d already lost me. There's not enough action in this weird novel to justify its length.
Echo is an exercise in endless riffing on classic works of horror: the parallels with Frankenstein; chapter titles that reference other books; old-fashioned epistolary format; the climax, featuring an angry mob with pitchforks, evoking Universal classic monster movies. It's all a bit much. Rather than enhance the story, these cheap tricks load it with unnecessary baggage.
Deep within Echo lies a chilling 100-page novella; I wish Heuvelt published that instead.
P.S. Months after reading Echo, I stumbled upon a story by Guy de Maupassant called "The Inn," which is also set in the Swiss Alps, has a similar premise, and may have inspired Heuvelt's novel. "The Inn" is short, evocative, and creepy, qualities that I wish Echo shared. You can read it here.
February 12, 2022
Break the dynamics between two people and you’re both left alone, staring wide-eyed out into your own darkness.
Two young men, so in love, a perfect couple, but what if one of them loses his face, his beauty? What if he might not be the person who you thought he was? What if there’s something really dark inside him since he was rescued from those mountains you’re afraid of?
Mountains, when I think of them, I imagine those beautiful green meadows covered with tiny flowers. Or pristine crispy white snow on the hills. Placards of snow against those dark rocks. Waterfalls plunging with a tremendous force. Or slow streams over the rocks. Mighty birds of prey high in the sky. Beauty in all its guises. I love being in the mountains, and I’ve been to Switzerland many times. Its peaks are incredibly impressive, rough, capricious, unruly. They make me feel small and insignificant. But next to beauty, there’s another side of those mountains as well. Destructive avalanches. Dangerous crevasses. Narrow paths next to ravines. And what if there’s even a more darker side?
Echo is about this darker side and is written in a chaos of structures (multiple POVs, past and present tense, a manuscript, notes, digital diary fragments, emails) but never felt messy. From the moment I started reading, I was immersed in the story. It’s spine-chilling and sinister and terrifying. While reading, an oppressive feeling crept up on me. Nick showed so much darkness at times. And simultaneously, I rooted for Sam and Nick. I liked them as a couple and wanted to know so badly if they would be alright in the end. So I just read on and on and on. The middle of the story dragged a bit, and in my opinion, the book could have been a bit shorter, but overall I loved it!
Thomas Olde Heuvelt is a talented author, and I have no clue why I’ve never read one of his books before. Maybe because I merely read books in English these days. But I’m so glad I read this one in my native language! I love the US cover the most, though! Highly recommended in each language available!
Two young men, so in love, a perfect couple, but what if one of them loses his face, his beauty? What if he might not be the person who you thought he was? What if there’s something really dark inside him since he was rescued from those mountains you’re afraid of?
Mountains, when I think of them, I imagine those beautiful green meadows covered with tiny flowers. Or pristine crispy white snow on the hills. Placards of snow against those dark rocks. Waterfalls plunging with a tremendous force. Or slow streams over the rocks. Mighty birds of prey high in the sky. Beauty in all its guises. I love being in the mountains, and I’ve been to Switzerland many times. Its peaks are incredibly impressive, rough, capricious, unruly. They make me feel small and insignificant. But next to beauty, there’s another side of those mountains as well. Destructive avalanches. Dangerous crevasses. Narrow paths next to ravines. And what if there’s even a more darker side?
Echo is about this darker side and is written in a chaos of structures (multiple POVs, past and present tense, a manuscript, notes, digital diary fragments, emails) but never felt messy. From the moment I started reading, I was immersed in the story. It’s spine-chilling and sinister and terrifying. While reading, an oppressive feeling crept up on me. Nick showed so much darkness at times. And simultaneously, I rooted for Sam and Nick. I liked them as a couple and wanted to know so badly if they would be alright in the end. So I just read on and on and on. The middle of the story dragged a bit, and in my opinion, the book could have been a bit shorter, but overall I loved it!
Thomas Olde Heuvelt is a talented author, and I have no clue why I’ve never read one of his books before. Maybe because I merely read books in English these days. But I’m so glad I read this one in my native language! I love the US cover the most, though! Highly recommended in each language available!
April 14, 2020
Heb dit 600 pagina’s tellende boek op amper drie dagen verslonden, ik kon gewoon niet stoppen. Lang geleden dat ik nog zoiets spannends én onvoorspelbaars heb gelezen. Weet je waarom dit boek magistraal goed is? Omdat je je vanaf pagina één midden in een supermysterieus verhaal bevindt dat je bij je nekvel grijpt en meesleurt. Je volgt trouwens graag, ademloos en in volle spanning, ook al wéét je dat alles wat verteld wordt onmogelijk is. Je neemt alles voor waar aan en net die geloofwaardigheid is de sterkte van dit horrorboek. De structuur is top, de hoofdstukken worden vanuit een wisselend perspectief geschreven en ook de taal en stijl vind ik sterk. Vooral in het eerste deel zijn de beschrijvingen van de bergtocht en de verschrikkelijke weersomstandigheden prachtig en volgt metafoor op metafoor. Ik lees nu Dolores Dolly Poppedijn, vanaf morgen Hex. Deze Stephen King-adept heeft er een fan bij.
October 29, 2022
Added to my TBR October 2021
This had to be the longest 400 page book I have ever read. It was so dense and there was so much going on throughout the book that it really required focus while reading it. At least, that was my impression.
I brought this book on vacation to the Blue Ridge Mountain with me and that cabin in the woods was the perfect setting to creep me out. It did not help that there were lots of crows in those mountains.
I found the characters to be incredibly realistic. Although I might have not always cared for the characters, I empathized with all of them. I spent the first third of the book trying to figure out just what the heck was going on. I spent the last two thirds of the book wondering how there was ever going to be resolution.
One thing I know for sure is that I have no interest in mountain climbing!
This had to be the longest 400 page book I have ever read. It was so dense and there was so much going on throughout the book that it really required focus while reading it. At least, that was my impression.
I brought this book on vacation to the Blue Ridge Mountain with me and that cabin in the woods was the perfect setting to creep me out. It did not help that there were lots of crows in those mountains.
I found the characters to be incredibly realistic. Although I might have not always cared for the characters, I empathized with all of them. I spent the first third of the book trying to figure out just what the heck was going on. I spent the last two thirds of the book wondering how there was ever going to be resolution.
One thing I know for sure is that I have no interest in mountain climbing!
January 18, 2022
I received a copy of this from Netgalley and Macmillan/Tor-Forge in exchange for a review.
What if mountain climbing but haunted? Sign me up please! This story is at its best when it's all about Nick Grevers' epistolary report to his boyfriend Sam of his ill-fated trip climbing trip on the Maudit, which left his climbing partner dead and his face mutilated; Heuvelt writes good alpinism and I loved every bit of Nick and Augustin's misadventures on the scary as hell cursed-Swiss-peak on which the locals refuse to search for missing climbers because, well, it's probably just better to pretend the whole mountain doesn't exist, okay? But unless he was learning about Grimentz ghosts or the Morose, my interest waned whenever I was hearing notes from Sam's perspective. While I understood by the end of the book where Heuvelt was going with his backstory, I wouldn't have missed it if it had been edited out or tightened up. His sections were also stylistically annoying, which may have been a function of the translation - startling tense changes from line to line, such as " ... My left wheel ricocheted off a bump and shot to the left. I take my foot off the gas ...", Sam's weird propensity to refer to himself as I but also you, switching it up from paragraph to paragraph, and many, many instances of him saying 'hadda' and 'woulda' and 'cuz' all grated on my nerves because I knew I could have been reading instead about what happened to Julia (yikes!) or holes in the ice that look like eyes where the water inside freezes and thaws, freezes and thaws. But on the whole, this was a good scary romp that could've used some fine tuning that gives me one more reason to never, ever take up mountain climbing.
What if mountain climbing but haunted? Sign me up please! This story is at its best when it's all about Nick Grevers' epistolary report to his boyfriend Sam of his ill-fated trip climbing trip on the Maudit, which left his climbing partner dead and his face mutilated; Heuvelt writes good alpinism and I loved every bit of Nick and Augustin's misadventures on the scary as hell cursed-Swiss-peak on which the locals refuse to search for missing climbers because, well, it's probably just better to pretend the whole mountain doesn't exist, okay? But unless he was learning about Grimentz ghosts or the Morose, my interest waned whenever I was hearing notes from Sam's perspective. While I understood by the end of the book where Heuvelt was going with his backstory, I wouldn't have missed it if it had been edited out or tightened up. His sections were also stylistically annoying, which may have been a function of the translation - startling tense changes from line to line, such as " ... My left wheel ricocheted off a bump and shot to the left. I take my foot off the gas ...", Sam's weird propensity to refer to himself as I but also you, switching it up from paragraph to paragraph, and many, many instances of him saying 'hadda' and 'woulda' and 'cuz' all grated on my nerves because I knew I could have been reading instead about what happened to Julia (yikes!) or holes in the ice that look like eyes where the water inside freezes and thaws, freezes and thaws. But on the whole, this was a good scary romp that could've used some fine tuning that gives me one more reason to never, ever take up mountain climbing.
March 15, 2025
I’m currently reading ‘Hex’ by TOH and it’s reminded me about how I read Echo and was left speechless because I had ALL THE FEELS but none of the wordage to say how effing brilliant it was! Anyway, I’m back here just to say, FABULOUS AUTHOR. He has this way of writing that makes you relaxed but also FULL OF FEAR. How can that be done?! This book is INCREDIBLE, so that’s why I’m back here writing this (very late!) review. Right, back to the second half of Hex. I might be able to review it, then again, I may not!
Addendum: Hex upset me so much. Weird how the same author can give such different emotions! 😭
Addendum: Hex upset me so much. Weird how the same author can give such different emotions! 😭
February 11, 2022
I’m really surprised there aren’t more reviews discussing how distracting Sam’s POV is. It reads very strangely, a 24 year old man using words and phrases like “diddly squat”, “hoot”, “what’s the diff?”, “out-for-the-count noggin”, etc. I get that he’s from New York too, but it’s weird how many words are substituted to indicate that, like “cuz”, “hadda”, “shoulda” as if he’s constantly thinking in dialect. It comes off more caricature than real and took me out of the immersion of the novel, so much so that I’m going to DNF it (that, and Sam is obnoxious and shallow, so I don’t think I can endure being in his head, even if it’s not all the time).
Honestly, the prologue was the best part and after that the writing style feels very amateur. I’m disappointed because Hex was genuinely creepy to me, but I can’t force myself to continue when I’m already this disconnected from the story.
Honestly, the prologue was the best part and after that the writing style feels very amateur. I’m disappointed because Hex was genuinely creepy to me, but I can’t force myself to continue when I’m already this disconnected from the story.
April 7, 2023
I had no idea that Echo by Thomas Olde Heuvelt was a translated novel, and clearly, I missed that at the beginning of the book. Sometimes translation can cause me to struggle with a book, but I don't think that was my issue here. This reminded me a bit of Quietus if only for the fact that it was another rather long book that had some very unique and odd story elements. There are a few pretty gross parts in the story, but I felt like the horror was actually fairly light, and it was a strange journey to get to the end. I was satisfied with the way it ended but I also don't think it had to be so long to get to it. There isn't a ton happening throughout the story although there was enough to keep me interested, and the supernatural elements weren't really quite my cup of tea.
I was a little thrown off when I saw the audiobook was almost 19 hours long because I didn't even think the book was that thick when I first saw it. That my friends is in thanks to the teeny tiny print, so even though it is technically only 400 pages, it would probably be more like 600 if the print were larger. I was really glad I listened to the audio, and I quite enjoyed David Wayman, Greg Lockett & Lauryn Allman as the narrators. They did a great job with their parts and characters, and I may honestly have given up if it weren't for them carrying me through. I definitely would have skimmed if I had been reading it and overall, this wasn't the book for me. That being said, if you enjoy slow burns, some horror, and mountaineering you just might like it!
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
I was a little thrown off when I saw the audiobook was almost 19 hours long because I didn't even think the book was that thick when I first saw it. That my friends is in thanks to the teeny tiny print, so even though it is technically only 400 pages, it would probably be more like 600 if the print were larger. I was really glad I listened to the audio, and I quite enjoyed David Wayman, Greg Lockett & Lauryn Allman as the narrators. They did a great job with their parts and characters, and I may honestly have given up if it weren't for them carrying me through. I definitely would have skimmed if I had been reading it and overall, this wasn't the book for me. That being said, if you enjoy slow burns, some horror, and mountaineering you just might like it!
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
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