Beneath the Mountain

New York City native Jeremiah Salinger was once one half of a hotshot documentary-making team. But now Salinger's left that all behind to move with his wife, Annelise, and young daughter, Clara, to the remote part of Italy where Annelise grew up--the Alto Adige.

Nestled in the Dolomites, this breathtaking rural region that was once part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire remains more Austro than Italian. Locals speak a strange, ancient dialect--Ladino--and root for Germany (against Italy) in the World Cup. Annelise's small town--Siebenhoch--is close-knit to say the least, and does not take kindly to out-of-towners. When Salinger decides to make a documentary about the mountain rescue group, the mission goes horribly awry, leaving him the only survivor. He blames himself, and so--it seems--does everyone else in Siebenhoch. Spiraling into a deep depression, he begins having terrible, recurrent nightmares. Only his little girl, Clara, can put a smile on his face.

But when he takes Clara to the Bletterbach Gorge--a canyon rich in fossil remains--he accidentally overhears a conversation that gives his life renewed purpose. In 1985, three students were murdered there, their bodies savaged, limbs severed and strewn by a killer who was never found. Salinger becomes obsessed with solving the mystery and is convinced it is the only thing that can keep him sane. As Salinger unearths the long-kept secrets of this small town, one by one, the terrifying truth is eventually revealed about the horrifying crime that marked an entire village.