Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

This book was a brilliant mix of mystery, thriller, psychological, horror and survival.
I really enjoyed the setting, the mystery upon mystery and the fight to survive.

This certainly was the best book I have ever read but I did enjoy the overall plot and the unexpected place it took us to,

I really loved THE MOUNTAIN and was eager to read more from this author, but found this story to be vastly different in both topic as well as style and very difficult to engage with. After several attempts to read it, I concede that I am just not the right audience for it at this time.

I read this some time ago, and to be honest I’m still not entirely sure what to make of it. It’s a very strange story, somewhat reliant on coincidence, but there is something I can’t quite put my finger on that made it very readable. I’m not helping am I? Maybe, I’ll start with what I definitely liked, which was the isolated mountain setting of Marlene’s place of safety, and the slowly building relationship between her and the incredibly odd Simon Keller- a man at one with nature, with unsettling mystical healing powers and a frankly alarming sty of quite terrifying pigs- yep, said it was strange. Anyway, aside from this quite bizarre aspect to the story, there is all the tension of woman pursued by hitman with unlikely saviour, and there are some genuinely perilous moments for Marlene along the way. As much as this central premise works, there are some odd diversions in the course of the plot about ancient mystical healing, more about the murderous pigs, and a slightly baffling denouement, which further illustrates my general confusion to how much I enjoyed this. I liked it well enough, I think…

Luca D'Andrea's first novel was full of promise, and the Judges for the International Dagger agreed that it was a good beginning. This one, however, was full of strange details which didn't get far, in part because the cliches didn't come together. D'Andrea has talent, and we know from his afterwords that he has lots of friend around him. I'd say, Keep going and don't try too hard.

Translated from the Italian, this is certainly different reading fare from the last novel I read by Luca D'Andrea, The Mountain. Set in Merano in Italy and the Alto-Adige, the northern part of the country bordering Austria and Switzerland, the dramatic mountainous landscape is harsh, beautiful and deadly, one with a ugly and dangerous underbelly. Marlene Wegener is married to Herr Robert Wegener, a man she discovers is a fearsome criminal gangster. Robert as a boy found himself involved with the Nazis in WW2, from whence he grew a black market crime organisation, a man with fingers in many pies, with police and politicians in his pockets. Marlene has occupied herself running a fashion store, Old Mother Frost, having built up her sewing skills to create clothes and gowns in great demand. Marlene now has reasons to want to escape, she is the thieving magpie, stealing valuable sapphires from her husband's safe, his car and taking her much loved copy of Grimm's Fairytales with her.

Marlene's escape plans are thrown for a loop, when she makes a wrong turn in the remote mountains and ends up crashing her car in the snow. Her life is saved by Simon Keller with his expert knowledge of plants and herbs, a mountain man and loner, who nurses her back to health. Marlene feels shamed by her actions and behaviour in the presence of such a good man, a man at whose doorstep she brings great danger to, and whose life brings back the simple, if poor, but satisfying life that she grew up with. She knows her husband will never let her go, will come after her and the stolen sapphires, and make her pay for her betrayal. Robert has inveigled his way to work with the much more powerful crime organisation, The Consortium, who organise for a infamous assassin to kill Marlene, The Trusted Man. The Trusted Man always gets his man (or woman), irrespective of how difficult it is, and Robert agrees to him going after Marlene, but Robert doesn't know why Marlene left, and by the time he does, it is too late to call off The Trusted Man.

This is not a story that went anywhere near where I expected it to go, this is the story of dark deeds, the spilling of a great deal of blood, nightmarish fairytales and villains, where the notion of sanctuary can be an illusory experience. There are the kobolds, mice in the walls, whispers of moneymoneymoney, the ever hungry Lissy, voices in the head, Hansel and Gretel, and the need to protect Klaus. D'Andrea spins a chilling and disturbed thriller that walks the territory of madness and redemption. This will appeal to those who enjoy something on the darker side when it comes to crime and thrillers. Many thanks to Quercus for an ARC.

If you go down to the woods today…careful where you run and hide with diamonds, especially if you’ve stolen them from your gangster husband.

Marlene who has done just that has found the ideal place to hide out - the snowy remote Tyrol mountains of Italy. She’s rescued by a loner who lives in the woods and ends up hiding out in his remote cabin. It’s not going to be an easy thing to do however, hide from a gangster as she soon finds out…
This is when the story goes into territory I wasn’t expecting. There’s all sorts of Grimms Fairytales types to live in those mountains. Monsters and gremlins and everything in between. There’s whispers of magical realism and dark dark tales of your worst nightmares.

It’s a quirky read. A mash up of several genres and others yet to be invented! The cast of characters are straight out of a circus and whatever you do don’t go into that cellar…
It’s very hard to describe this novel without giving anything away but it’s strange, quirky and quirky some more. When I read it, I felt as if I was Hansel and Gretel, following a trail of crumbs through a very remote and dark wood , not knowing what I was going to find. When I found it, the danger, darkness and otherworldly experience knocked me into another reading dimension.
Fun to get lost in those mountains though!