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2000s: Dare you enter the Bletterbach? The mountains here hold secrets which can kill…
The Mountain
What you need to know before your trail
Jeremiah Salinger takes his daughter Clara to the Bletterbach – a canyon in the Dolomites rich in fossil remains. It’s an amazing place and of great interest to both fossil experts and tourists. When there, he overhears by chance a conversation brings back memories of a dark secret which the mountain has never ever given up. It is the stuff of legends and worse – In 1985 three students were murdered there, their bodies savaged, limbs severed and strewn by a killer who was never found.
Salinger is far from home, and these Italian mountains harbour a close-knit, tight-lipped community whose mistrust of outsiders can turn ugly. A mountain overlooks a community, overshadows everything in its path and stands robust to any attempt to conquer the secrets within.
Travel Guide
The Dolomites
This is the Dolomites as you have never seen them before. Some of the places are understandably fictional but the grandeur and awe inspiring views which appear in your mind’s eye are true and vivid. This was the fictional tourist leaflet which came with the proof copy reads as follows:
The Mountain Promotional leaflet
The Mountain Promotional leaflet
Booktrailer Review
Susan @thebooktrailer
This is one of the most thrilling novels I’ve read this year. This is a real adrenaline fuelled rush that appealed to the traveller in me. Moving to a new place in a new country is bound to be unsettling but moving from New York to the Dolomite mountains must be more unsettling than most. Then to delve into an old mystery of dead people on the mountains that no – one els wants to revisit. Gripped me right there.
The scene setting and the overall atmosphere in the book was awe inspiring. This author must have climbed mountains or be familiar with the landscape and the emotions you get trying to master nature. The mountain really was the main character for me, the place so clearly and cleverly drawn in the book and with the leaflets and newspaper feature which came with the proof. You really get a feel for the mountain landscape and this giants of nature via the characters eyes. How it makes them feel and act. And this is a very clever way of bringing them alive.
And boy did these mountains come alive. The tension was raw and palpable throughout, the danger in nature, the unexpected and unstable nature of these huge colossal tomes of stone. The raw energy of this wild, untamed world was exciting and fresh. with the added storyline of mystery and murder, I lapped this up as fast as I could. I love walking and climbing rugged landscapes myself although I’ve never been to the Dolomites, it’s given me the taste to explore some more and to really delve into the emotions that only this level of adventure can bring.
It’s all very inspiring, the story of nature’s beasts and their human invaders, the sense of tension is palpable through and the Italian Dolomites tower over one heck of an adventure down below. I’m quite breathless having read this now!
The writing is of a very unique style (was this the translation but it jumped around was shaky in places – however this added to the overall scope of the story for me) Not sure the ending was as dramatic as I expected but the overall package is one I want to open again and again.
Booktrail Boarding Pass: The Mountain
Author/Guide: Luca D’Andrea Destination:Italy, Alto Adige, Dolomites Departure Time: 2000s
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