Beneath the Mountain

D'Andrea's Beneath the Mountain may not be for every reader of suspense, but I thought it was absolutely breathtaking.

Full of atmosphere and mystery, as well as believable characters who pull the story along just as much as the plot, this is a masterfully crafted novel of literary suspense. It's not the typical suspense novel, it's true--much of the tension comes and goes, and it's undeniably tied to the struggling protagonist, but D'Andrea does such a gorgeous job of building the novel's peaks and allowing the characters to breathe their own lives, I found the book impossible to put down.

For readers who want character-driven suspense and mystery, that characters as much about subtleties of character as it does high-octane drama (though show more it's got that to spare also), I'd absolutely recommend this book. It kept me guessing, and it's made me a fan of the author for life.

Absolutely recommended. show less

BENEATH THE MOUNTAIN by Luca D'Andrea is a magnificent piece of suspense writing. Set in the Dolomites, that portion of the Alps that stretch through northern Italy, not only does this book offer an exotic location that I can't remember reading about before, but a high quality thriller wrapped around a mystery.
Jeremiah Salinger is the writer half of the hottest documentary film team currently in the public's eye. With their show about the life of rock band roadies, he and his partner Mike have made enough money to allow Salinger to leave New York and settle in the small town in the Dolomites where his wife, Annelise, is from. There, along with their daughter, the precocious 5 year old Clara, he hopes to have a quiet life. But when Mike show more calls telling Salinger their contract calls for more documentaries, he has an idea. Why not profile the Mountain Rescue Team his father in law, Werner, started thirty years before. Great idea they agree, but due to complications, Salinger has to fill in for Mike who normally is behind the camera. During the filming a horrible accident occurs, destroying the rescue team, leaving Salinger the only survivor.
And we haven't even gotten to the mystery yet.
There was a triple murder on the mountain years before, a killing that has haunted the four members of the rescue team that found the mutilated bodies. It is an event that shades everything that has happened in the region since. And it is something that Salinger feels compelled to solve because finding the truth may help him destroy the mountain demons that plague his sleep and haunts his days.
This is a rich psychological novel, deep in the horrors that linger from failed rescue attempts, but written in such a manner that the darkness slowly envelopes you, forcing you onward in the convoluted rationals and the ultimate truth. Fast paced and alluring from the first page, you may be stunned to find the first hints of the real story hidden almost a third of the way into the book. Up to then you will learn about the history and nature of a seldom viewed corner of the world that is both beautiful and deadly all by itself.
This is a powerhouse first novel and I hope it id just the start of a long series of thrillers from this gifted writer. show less

When a debut thriller appears that sold to thirty countries within a month, became a bestseller in the author’s home country of Italy and in Germany, and was greeted with breathless praise like “can be compared (with no fear of hyperbole) to Stephen King and Jo Nesbø,” you know you’re in for quite a ride.
D’Andrea delivers. The Mountain is set in the northern Italian province of South Tyrol, in the village of Siebenhoch, whose Italian residents speak German. Siebenhoch is near the end of the eight-kilometer Bletterbach gorge in the jagged Dolomite mountains. Hikers are warned they enter the steep terrain “at their own risk,” because of rockfalls, mudslides, freezing water, and flash floods. The geological characteristics show more and history of the gorge are essential to D’Andrea’s story, anchoring it to a reality that could not have existed anywhere else.
Thirty years before the novel begins, three experienced hikers—Kurt, Evi, and Marcus—trekked deep into the gorge and were set upon first by an unusually powerful storm, then by one or more unknown assailants who hacked their bodies into pieces. By the time a four-man rescue team arrived, any forensic evidence was washed away or lost in the mud.
The deaths of these three young people reverberated through the community, affecting, disastrously, not only the men who found them but also their families. One time or another suspicion has fallen on a disappeared paleontologist with some bizarre theories that Evi thoroughly discredited, on a wealthy developer who built a visitor center on land her analyses had shown was unstable, on various members of the insular community, even on the rescuers themselves.
Now, American television and filmwriter Jeremiah Salinger, his wife Annelise, and their five-year-old daughter Clara have relocated to Siebenhoch. The fresh location inspires a new television series about the work of Dolomite Mountain Rescue. As its name implies, the rescue service comes to the aid of stranded tourists, injured hikers, and others in distress among the precipitous peaks. Jeremiah is party to a disastrous helicopter crash that kills four rescuers and a tourist, but his physical injuries are nothing compared to a serious case of PTSD, compounded by guilt and fear, that impairs his judgment. The booze doesn’t help. To distract himself, he starts investigating the 1985 Bletterbach murders, a deeper, more dangerous rabbit hole than the one he’s already in.
D’Andrea frequently introduces new information through the device of a community member offering to tell Jeremiah a story, which is a powerful enticement for the reader as well. Especially engaging is Jeremiah’s relationship with daughter Clara. Their word game—she loves to spell—is a theme throughout, which becomes ironic when, despite his obvious devotion to her, he puts his off-the-books investigation before even her. show less

“Beneath The Mountain” by Luca D’Andrea is an atmospheric and at times disturbing novel. Set in a remote German speaking town in northern Italy where the mountains themselves become a eerie character and the towns people are alternately folks and murderous.
The story tells of an American Documentary filmmaker married to a woman from the area and his investigation of a decades old unsolved triple murder. The book starts with a accident he endures while filming his latest piece in the surrounding mountains, and then his obsession with the unsolved case as he recuperates there with his family an father in law. D’Andrea is from the area in question and imbues his novel with wonderful descriptions of the area and the people that live show more there. The claustrophobia of the ice mountains and the town itself were fantastic. The characters so well written that you were generally concerned about what was happening to them. But the final act where he reveals the solution of the unsolved case left a little to be desired, the culprit seemed wrong and a sub plot vaguely written that involved prehistoric animals haunting the mountains seemed unnecessary.
I still would recommend the book, as he is a wonderful writer. show less

Note: I received an uncorrected proof of this novel at Bouchercon 2017.

****

Fresh off the success of his reality show about roadies, Jeremiah Salinger moves to the small town of Siebenhoch, in the Dolomites, with his wife and daughter. For his next project, he pitches a series about the town’s mountain rescue team. The idea is a good one; however, the mission he goes on is caught in an avalanche and he is the only survivor. Wracked with guilt and post-traumatic stress, he ends up being drawn to the story of the triple murder in Bletterbach Gorge, taking on the investigation as a form of coping with his new circumstances. But Siebenhoch is a small town and won’t give up its secrets easily, even to one married to one of its show more daughters.

Overall, this story was OK. It had an interesting setting, and I particularly liked the use of the local dialect in dialogue. But I didn’t particularly warm to Salinger, thinking him a bit of a selfish idiot for consistently lying to his wife and making excuses for it. In terms of the story, a patient reader could probably figure out who the killer is, but if you’re just going along for the ride you might not guess (and that’s OK). The ending is somewhat bananas and I’m not sure I bought one particular element of it.

My uncorrected proof could certainly have used correction, and I hope the copyeditors gave it a good going-over before publication. That said, I did try to not let the typos and wonky formatting distract me from the story. In a way it was quite instructive to read a proof at this stage of publication, because it highlights just how much work editors do. If you find a couple of typos in a finished book, imagine how many other things they managed to catch!

I’m not sure whether I’d recommend this to others. Let’s just say I wouldn’t actively dissuade you. show less

Es un thriller, lento, contenido, que se va liberando página a página, poco a poco, Esto podría sonar a que es lento, pero es que en realidad no lo es, la palabra adecuada es contenido, te exige paciencia; bien escrito y delineado, lo mejor de todo es la forma de estar escrito, que te va dando poco a poco, a gotas la información sobre un asesinato ocurrido mas de 20 años antes.
Es verdad que la historia contiene hechos y situaciones que no tienen mucho sentido con el quid de la historia, la pisque del protagonista, la forma de investigar, la obsesión que me pareció sin sentido, mas bien las razones de esa obsesión, la investigación con connotaciones absolutamente irreales que pueden no venir al caso, en fin que podría show more encontrarle muchos fallos a la historia, pero no puedo evitar decir que esta escrita de tal modo que es una delicia, me mantuvo atrapada, todo el tiempo, en ningún momento me sentí aburrida o cansada de esperar a que se me revelara que es lo que había sucedido, la historia me mantuvo inmersa en ella.
Lo mejor de este libro, su estilo narrativo y si lo recomiendo porque a pesar de los pesares lo he disfrutado mucho y me ha tenido completamente enganchada. show less

This is a twisty thriller set in a small alpine village. Just when you think you’ve got it all worked out, there’s another twist. The setting is a character in itself, sinister and dangerous. The writing is engaging and praise is also due to the translator. There were times when I’d wonder where the story was going and if we’d ever get there, but looking back, it’s clear that all of the events were necessary for the finale.