Breathless

2.75

This book felt so slow, I was never really excited to pick it up and continue reading it. Almost DNF'ed it. The misdirections for “ who dun it” just seemed so obviously like red herrings. Most of the characters that died didn't really matter because you never really got the chance to know them enough to care. When the action picked up toward the end it become more enjoyable, but by then I was already mentally done. I think the story would have benefited being a novella or even a short story.

I had high hopes for this one given the setting. Any sort of mountain climbing expedition promises all sorts of disasters. Adding in the elements of a thriller should only add to the intrigue. Unfortunately, I didn't find this to be the case with this book.

Cecily is a journalist who has been training for months to make a climb to interview Charles McVeigh. On top of already brutal conditions, a series of unsettling events occur throughout the trek. Death isn't necessarily unusual during climbs... but they start getting suspicious. 

Despite such an exciting setup with so much potential, I felt that the story dragged on with very little happening. There were too many characters, most of whom didn't have enough importance to the story to spend as much time on them as they got. It's obvious a lot of heart and research went into this, so I feel bad that I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I was going to while reading the first few chapters. 

3.5 Stars

I guessed the plot by Chapter 18 but enjoyed the story nonetheless. I found two characters particularly annoying but that fit their characters and it took nothing away from the story. There was a twist I did not see coming which I welcomed.
I know it seems I did not enjoy this book however I did. I got exactly what I wanted, a sometimes claustrophobic, survival thriller. If you're not used to reading this sort of premise you may get more out of it. I just wished there were more twists and that I did not guess the entire plot so early.

Yet another one that totes “thriller” and is instead more of a slow-burn mystery. I am wary of any newer books that market themselves as thrillers and ones that will “take your breath away”. I would have enjoyed this more had I gone into it with the feeling of getting a mystery instead.

This isn't fast-paced at all. It's a very informative and detailed mystery. For someone who doesn't know anything about mountain climbing, I did initially find all the information interesting. But as this went along, it tended to drag on a bit. Eventually it became too much about mountaineering and not enough about the actual circumstances of the story.

Also, I knew from early in the beginning who the murderer was. It was easy to sniff out for me as the story progressed, and that took some of the enjoyment away.

Cecily is a love/hate for me. She was extremely repetitive in her manners and thinking and after a while of being in her head it became a tad tedious and I almost DNFd.

I'm sure this is all me, as I tend to read a lot of horror and thrillers and most newer books just don't hold a candle to the previous ones I've read. It seems “thriller” is fastly becoming a loosely termed genre.

Even so, if you've had your eye on this one, grab it and give it a go. Chances are you will enjoy it more.

Atmospheric Tale Of Survival When There Is Little Atmosphere To Be Had. “What better place for a killer to hide than in the death zone” indeed. This is a book both for fans of survival thrillers and for nonfiction high altitude survival tales ala Krakaur's Into Thin Air. McCulloch, inspired by her own real-world ascent of the very mountain she bases this tale on, crafts a story that shows the breadth of who goes up these mountains and why, and what they encounter when they get there. The physical dangers are ever present, the psychological challenges are daunting, and when it begins to leak that the resident legend may not be so legendary after all - and that there may be a killer on the mountain to boot - the tension ratchets up as high and tight as it can get. Excellent tale excellently told, and very much recommended.