Review of ‘The Echo of the Forest’ by Raquel Ortega, winner of the Amazon Award.

Oh, Raquel, Raquel… I have many things to tell you about Rachel Ortegaalso as a literary agent, but I’m afraid that today I can only limit myself to his latest novel, The echo of the forestbecause to talk about the future would be to make you spoiler of what is coming soon.

Raquel Ortega is a horror and mystery writer whose first novel, Don’t wake up the devilwas winner of the Amazon Award 2022. Raquel has continued with The echo of the forest in the same line of paranormal mystery and dark plots, although perhaps, in the latter, with a more police and thriller. Let’s see what we are going to find in it.

The first thing we have is a broken family that has just moved to their father’s hometown in Irelanda location that I really like. We have two sisters and a little brother, as well as the father, a cop who is a hard drinker. The cliché of tormented characterHonestly, it doesn’t bother me at all. Both Killian (the father) and Joselen (the protagonist) seem like two people who are haunted by their own demons and this being a horror/mystery book is always a plus. The psychology of the characters is quite clear from the beginning and is very appropriate for the story that Raquel intends to tell.

Something I want to point out before continuing with the review is that, in addition, the little brother, Lorcan, has a visual impairment which also takes us out of the normative type of character in novels. And without going any further, Lorcan is the first one who will give us a scare in the book.

I must also tell you about the setting. The bad vibes that exist in that town is evident and, in addition, Ortega has the habit of introducing elements such as basements, strange noises in the house, darkness… even disturbing cats that don’t let you read in peace. I feel the author very comfortable in the genre, of course.

As I have already told you, Lorcan will give us the first scare and with him we will also see that there is lots of action from the beginning. The brothers hardly have time to regret the change of location because strange things soon start to happen. I think it was Raquel herself who told me that she saw this book more as a thrillerbut I don’t know what to tell you, I think it also gives fear. Surely lovers of pure and simple horror need even more adrenaline, but let me summarize the sensations I had halfway through the book with a simple description of it:

invisible friends

A town I wouldn’t like to go on a trip to

A creepy forest

And strange deaths

Just a thriller? And I would be a billionaire, I won’t tell you.

I haven’t told you about the deaths yet. A lifeless body Joselen and Co.’s father is quite worried. In fact, to the entire Garda. And it will not be the only death that we find in the novel. Furthermore, all this while we advance without brake towards the day of Saint Patrick in a town that, in addition to giving a bad vibe as I already said, is full of legends and superstitions.

Finally, I also want to return to the brothers to comment on something. Each of them puts a point of terror in the story, because although it seems that Joselen experiences more real experiences such as a fight in an alley, Maeve suffers from hallucinations, which will make us doubt everything, and Lorcan has an invisible friend who It is increasingly having more presence in the plot.

The echo of the forest It is a great book that contains all the elements you expect from a mystery and horror novel. Rachel Ortega He handles it wonderfully, creating a great setting and getting you into several plot threads that you have no idea how they are going to end. Because I think that Raquel Ortega has shown that you can end up giving room to EVERYTHING. There are deaths, yes, but also inexplicable things. And a forest that doesn’t stop calling you.