Tracie Vossler, a former Marine-turned security guard at Airway Heights Corrections Center in Spokane, Washington, had no idea that her life was about to change in the summer of 2020. It all begins when she meets Elias Brickert, a convicted felon, and later his twin brother Gabriel, who was visiting. After overhearing their suspicious conversation, Tracie alerts her seniors, and consequently, Elias is sent to solitary confinement. That marked the start of strange, gory murders at Airway, all unexplainably committed by Elias, who was in solitary confinement. As Tracie tries to make sense of the situation, she finds herself sucked into a perilous scheme involving the twin brothers, a malicious spirit, and an ancient Yogic Hindu ritual in which she unknowingly is a vital part. But that’s not all. She also discovers shocking secrets about herself and her family. Find out how it all goes down in Blood Echoes by Aaron Ryan.

If you are looking for a horror novel flavored with drama, psychological thrills, paranormal intrigue, edge-of-the-seat suspense, and jaw-dropping plot twists, Blood Echoes by Aaron Ryan is a perfect pick. Ryan shrouds the plot in mystery and unfolds it through a double timeline, taking readers back and forth between Tracie’s past and present. The storyline moves at a deliberate pace, allowing readers to connect with Tracie through her day-to-day life and follow the story’s development. Her authentic life maintained the story’s grip on reality. She demonstrates the struggles that working single mothers face. The vivid depictions captured the scenes with cinematic precision. It felt like I was next to Tracie, experiencing everything from her mother-daughter moments to the gore in the prison, and her ultimate race to save the only thing she loved.

Ex-Marine Tracie Vossler has taken on a new role with the prison security team. Assuming this would be a safer, less stressful job than her military service, she discovers the exact opposite. With the prison locked down due to COVID-19, an ancient demon seeking revenge has the perfect killing ground. Alternating between the forceful occupation of twin brothers while creating a bloodbath in the correctional facility creates a puzzle that Tracie must solve. Already exhausted by the killing, trying to determine who, what, where, and why the horrific murders are happening, the kidnapping of her daughter triples the danger and shortens the time she has to find the killer and somehow expel the demon from her reality.

I have read several Aaron Ryan novels, all excellent, but Blood Echoes is the first pure horror novel of his that I have read. As a hardcore fan of horror, especially those that center around demons, witches, vampires, and the like, Ryan scores big with me in Blood Echoes. The author adeptly uses his tried-and-true methodology of slowly building tension while he keeps readers turning the pages, eager to discover and identify who or what is behind all the bloody deaths. Characterization is a strong point in all of Ryan's work, in my reading experience of his books. Whether a protagonist or antagonist, every character, including those in Blood Echoes, is true to life. Ryan clearly demonstrates his versatility in creating verisimilitude, that all-important sense of reality that I believe to be an absolute necessity in every fiction story, regardless of genre. Blood Echoes is a winner, and a solid five-star-worthy review!