Echo

The novel’s prologue demonstrates Heuvelt’s (Hex) deftness in the genre and is sure to draw listeners in with perfectly eerie events that precede a maddening cliff-hanger. What follows blends a psychological exploration of a man coping with his boyfriend’s face being destroyed in a mountaineering incident and uncanny events centering on that boyfriend and his bandaged face. Throughout the novel, tensions continuously elevate and listeners will be sure that they’ve reached breaking point. But, much like the mountain peaks this novel centers upon, there’s another rise just out of sight. The skillful writing and narration ensure that each new spike of horror or line of creeping dread anchors the reader in the characters’ journeys. The three narrators, David Wayman, Greg Lockett, and Lauryn Allman, are excellent in their own right and would have been able to carry the story on their own, but together they provide distinct voices and styles that immediately orient listeners in what could have been a convoluted experience.