At the center of this novel is a forbidden forest that sits at the northern edge of a nameless town. No one who sets foot in the wood returns, with the exception of Veris Thorn, who once entered, somehow survived and came back. The tyrant gives Veris only one day to recover them, and if she fails, he will kill her family. Fast-paced, tense, fantastical and uncanny, “The Butcher of the Forest” is a perfect mix of horror and fantasy. The perilous dimension hidden inside the forest is full of wicked shape-shifting beings, undead deer and other monstrosities, but it’s Mohamed’s beautiful prose and endearing characters that make this a powerful story.

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Persons: Veris Thorn