This book made me want to go outside and do outdoorsy adventures. That’s where since the protagonist of this story had to battle to stay alive on one of the tallest mountains with a killer stalking her expedition team. I was totally engrossed by the ordeal mountaineers put their bodies through but at the same time I was finding myself bored by all of the jargon. The thriller aspect of the stories was interesting and kept be intrigued but it was a bit predictable. The whodunit wasn’t totally obvious but I suspected them through my read regardless of the red herrings. The ending was good but also infuriating because I didn’t have adequate closure!

There are thrill seekers and there are writers. What if a thrill seeker is also a writer? Cecily is after the story. To get it she must ascend a mountain. But people keep dying. There is a killer in the camp, and there are very few places to hide.
McCullouch takes readers to the cold, to the dangers, and all the contingencies of mountain climbing. Reading this will numb you to your toes so dig in deep.
I’m glad I’m a flat lander.

This one was good the setting was exceptional and learned a lot about a subject I knew nothing about. It was a good book that had a tight plot and pacing.
Thanks for letting me review this book to Netgalley and the publisher

Oh my gosh! I didn’t plan to read this book in June sitting, but j could t he’ll myself. Outstanding!

Review of Uncorrected eBook File

Journalist/climber Cecil Wong comes to Manaslu, the eighth-highest peak in the world. Here she hopes to interview Charles McVeigh, an internationally famous mountaineer who is now on the last leg of a record-breaking series of summits.

Cecily is not the most accomplished of climbers . . . and she has two previous climbing failures to prove it. But an interview with McVeigh could make her career and help her put her life back on track.

The climb is tough; when one climber dies in a freak accident, Cecily worries that the expedition is in danger. But it’s too late for the group to turn back when a second climber dies. Now Cecily, miles above sea level and stranded on a mountain in one of the world’s remotest regions, must fight for her survival as, one by one, climbers succumb.

Are their deaths truly accidents? Or is there a killer lurking in their midst, hiding in plain sight?

=========

Strong, well-developed characters populate this thrilling-chilling tale of climbing. The well-defined, unique setting brings a separate fear; the plot twists keep the suspense building while terror creates a menacing undercurrent throughout the telling of the tale.

Action-packed, intense, relentless; this story pits the characters against nature [including the always-unpredictable weather], with the mountain perfectly capable of killing any one of the climbers. Secrets abound as the group sets out; rivalries rear their ugly heads and accidents occur, but camaraderie and the strength of individual characters keep the pages turning in this harrowing story.

Readers are sure to find some satisfaction in the story’s denouement, even if they can’t picture themselves joining Cecily on the climb.

Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Anchor and NetGalley
#Breathless #NetGalley

My thanks to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, as well as to NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review an early copy of Breathless.

Journalist, Cecily Wong, is on her most dangerous climb yet, miles above sea level. But the elements are nothing compared to one chilling truth: There's a killer on the mountain...

Just reading about the climb was terrifying! Throw in a killer on the mountain and that takes the terror to a whole new level!! I very much enjoyed the educational aspect of the book, as I knew very little about mountain climbing. I liked Cecily Wong a lot. In fact, all of the characters were intriguing and well fleshed out. I wasn't surprised at all to read that the author climbs mountains, herself.

Breathless was quite the intense and action-packed read and I have to say I enjoyed reading it while snuggling under my electric blanket and sipping my hot chocolate!!

The first two thirds of the book "Breathless" by Amy McCulloch did in fact leave me breathless. The utter terror of being on a mountain helpless to nature and human deviousness at the same time struggling to move and to in a way triumphant over your own fears. I mean the isolation, the possibility of hypoxia, the bitter cold, all lends to a thrilling and brilliant story. However, the ending was a miss for me. But, the way the writing is paced is excellent and you can feel the ice giving way under your feet, you can feel the thirst Cecily feels and her exhaustion is your exhaustion. It is just the cause of the evil chaos we know is perpetuated by a human hand does not translate well to me when the whole story is finally unraveled. Overall, the book is definitely worth a read and I recommend to anyone -experienced mountain climbers or not.

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read and review.

Ooo y'all, this was an amazing thriller! It kept my interest the whole way through. The characters were fantastic... must read if you are a fan of suspense and drama and thrill!!

This is a tense well written thriller, both about conquering the elements and dealing with a possible killer in their midst. The main character, is at a crossroads, no job, no home and no boyfriend. In order to get an interview with her hero, she must climb to the death zone, to the summit of a mountain. She had made two prior attempts to climb other mountains and hasn't succeeded. Lots of info on the challenges of the mountain and the elements. Lots of questions is he really a hero, a larger than life mountainer or is he a cheat. Are the deaths accidents or is their a killer in their midst. while her ability to survive, might have been over exagerated for the sake of the story. I still found it enjoyable

I am a huge fan of wilderness survival books! They are some of my favorite thrillers so I was so excited to read this one. I definitely enjoyed this book. It kept me turning pages, wanting to know more and more. Parts of it were intense, but over all it was a bit of let down. It had so much potential and unfortunately just fell a little flat for me.

It started off kind of slow, and even though it picks up a lot of it felt redundant to me. And while I did enjoy the fun twists this book had, I definitely saw them coming. Overall, this is a decent slower paced thriller, but I was hoping for way more thrill and definitely more character development.

Thank you to the Netgalley and the publishers for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book is due for publication 5/3/22.

3.5⭐

I really liked this overall. My main feedback would be that the internal thoughts and dialogue was a bit stiff and unrealistic at times. I also felt like the ending was a bit over dramatic, but it didn't bother me too much.

350-something pages and I still know almost nothing about the main character. It’s too bad; because of that I could never connect with her, and while her adventure is well told and relentless, I couldn’t care less what happened to her. It’d make a good thriller movie, but as a book, it didn’t work for me.
Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity of an early read.

The innovative setting belies the classic structure of this whodunit. A group of climbers trying to reach the summit of Mount Manaslu, one of the highest in the world, with a killer amongst them. But it’s not only the baddie who’s putting their lives at risk, the mountain itself is a killer. With low oxygen, sharp ridges, crevasses, ice, snow, wind… death is everywhere. As with all these stories, everyone is hiding secrets. Emily, the main character, has to get an interview with the mysterious lead alpinist in order to save her career. Charles McVeigh (great name!), the climber, is either one of the best ever, or a cheater. There is an influencer (my favorite character), a rich tech guy, several creeps and a group of awesome sherpas. Many of my theories were wrong, so the plot is unpredictable. I didn’t like Cecily at all, so I was surprised at how much I was invested in her story. I wasn’t too excited by the final explanation, even if I liked the actual ending. But my favorite thing about this book is learning about climbers, how they train and how they make it all the way to the top. The author has done it herself, so it’s interesting to learn what it takes.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group!

This story is the tail of a beginner adventurist mountain climber Cecily, who is going to climb a mountain for an exclusive story. This novel was too long and drawn out. It had lots of plot twists but I could not wait to finish it.

This was a book on a subject I’ve never read about before but has always fascinated me. Mountain climbing is not something I’ll probably ever do but it’s very intriguing. And so the parts of the book explaining the ins and outs of mountain climbing: acclimatization, gear, climbing schedules etc was really interesting. The story didn’t grab me as much, but overall I liked the characters and the way it all turned out. 3.5 stars. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is a face-paced thriller set in the Himalayas - on Mt. Manaslu, the eight highest mountain in the world at more than eight thousand feet high. Cecily Wong is a struggling journalist, but strangely enough has been invited to interview legendary mountain climber Charles McVeigh, a climber who has the distinction of having summited mountains without the use of oxygen. The interview is to occur after he ascends Mt. Manaslu, which means that Cecily is to be part of the team that ascends the mountain along with McVeigh. Cecily is by no means an experienced climber. In fact, her climbing record is frayed after a public debacle on another climb, which she was at turns praised for her aid, but she documented in a blog as a failure on her part. Nevertheless, here she is in Nepal with the opportunity of her career to make amends, summit Mt. Manaslu, and write the article of her lifetime for a well-known outdoor magazine. But things are not that easy. Besides the strenuous and dangerous climb and the unpredictable weather, things begin to happen - theft, death, strange happenings, rivalry among teams, and more. This is a tense atmospheric book that kept me glued to the pages. I enjoyed the backdrop of mountain-climbing challenges, what it takes to be up there on the mountains, the formidable and unforgiving terrain, and the self determination and mental and physical strength necessary to scale the mountain. The characters were interesting, but I found Cecily to be a bit naive at times and wanted to, at times, shake her and tell her to get a grip! I wonder if she would have survived in the real world attempting to climb Mt. Manaslu. Since the book is fiction, she did! Overall, I enjoyed the book and loved the setting - a great locale for a mystery thriller. Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

"A high-altitude thriller that will take your breath away - Cecily Wong is on her most dangerous climb yet, miles above sea level. But the elements are nothing compared to one chilling truth: There's a killer on the mountain.

There’s a killer on the mountain...

Journalist Cecily Wong is in over her head. She’s come to Manaslu, the eighth-highest peak in the world, to interview internationally famous mountaineer Charles McVeigh on the last leg of a record-breaking series of summits. She’s given up everything for this story - her boyfriend, her life savings, the peace she’s made with her climbing failures in the past - but it’s a career-making opportunity. It could finally put her life back on track.

But when one climber dies in what everyone else assumes is a freak accident, she fears their expedition is in danger. And by the time a second climber dies, it’s too late to turn back. Stranded on a mountain in one of the most remote regions of the world, she’ll have to battle more than the elements in a harrowing fight for survival against a killer who is picking them off one by one."

This takes the stranded in the snow with a killer to the next level. Literally.

This would be a really interesting movie! It would be such a heart pounder! Also, it would be really cool to watch how they climb.

The technical climbing facts and scenes in this book were very interesting. It made me feel like I was really there, and I had no idea about all the different bridges, ropes, sherpas, etc. Everything that goes into climbing! I know climbing a mountain cannot be easy, and you'll never catch me on one (I hate the cold), but this gave me a whole new appreciation for those brave and wild climbers!

Also how terrifying is this premise! Not only are you ON a killer mountain already but there is also a killer on the mountain with you? That is terrifying. You can't just race away when every step could mean your life.

I enjoyed watching our main character overcome her fears and try to summit. She was a strong woman, and I appreciated her strength. The comradery of some of the characters was also very satisfying and warming to read. I did like Doug despite everything, poor guy.

Sadly, I had a really hard time reading this one. Normally this is something I would have loved but it felt like it dragged a bit. I wasn't thrilled, I didn't really care who the killer was. It made me feel like I was trudging through waist deep snow to read it and I'm really disappointed about that. I guess I didn't really connect with any of the characters and the scary bits were a bit too few and far between. I can appreciate how terrifying it must be to be in a tent and have someone outside of your tent, that has always been a big fear of mine.

Overall, it missed the mark for me.

Because of my pandemic-induced obsession of mountaineering and adventuring books, I've read many non-fiction accounts of Everest, K2, Antarctica, and more, but never a fiction book, so when I stumbled upon this one on Netgalley I was super excited, and it did not disappoint. The high-altitude setting, the twists and turns, and the suspense were all great. I saved this to binge on a plane ride and was sad when I finished it. I hope to read more mountaineering fiction books by this author!

This debut adult novel certainly lived up to its title and left me gasping for more oxygen. The setting in Kathmandu, Nepal, the famous Himalayas, is awe inspiring. Add in some questionable deaths, oversize egos and a diverse team for a high altitude thriller. It took me on an adventure I didn't know I needed. Great location and extraordinary atmosphere.
Cecily, is on a personal journey to prove to her boss that she's a good adventure travel journalist. The exclusive story about legendary climber Charles McVeigh is a once in a lifetime chance for her. She's also attempting to overcome her previous personal failure to reach the summit. Cecily learns just how strong she is on this harrowing adventure.
Charles will only give Cecily the exclusive interview if she finishes the climb. He's very conceited, aloof and secretive. The team is made up of seven young, very different strangers. Doug is the expedition leader, trusts Charles abilities and  believes in his accomplishments. Zak is a high-tech CEO. Grant, a film-maker, is cocky, loud and drinks too much. Elise, a social media influencer, is the only other female. She and Cecily soon  become close friends. Mingma is the trusted and likable Sherpa for their journey. Great background and insite into that culture, traditions and the way of life.
There are deaths on these expeditions each year, many attributed to avalanches, equipment failure, climber error, etc. There is little investigation due to the terrain and harsh weather. Cecily begins to question the circumstances and accounts of a climbers death. She's certain someone else is on the mountain, she keeps hearing distinct whistling and a drone. She's accused of being paranoid, inexperienced and unprepared.
There is a thief, missing money, tents torn apart, a camp destroyed, accidents, equipment failure, spotty or jammed Wi-fi signal, cheating, more death, secrets and lies. With the various teams, personalities and competitiveness, suspects abound.
Very suspense filled, action packed thriller, couldn't read fast enough. I have an entirely new understanding and respect for mountaineering. Short summer hikes in the Colorado Rockies is more my speed, but I quite enjoyed being out of my comfort zone vicariously. While I wasn't surprised by the 'who', the 'why' kept me off balance. Thought the character development was authentic.
The author seemed to have done either lots of climbing or extensive research, as it included very technical terms. There was unfamiliar equipment and mountaineering terms I had to look up which slowed the pace, but I learned lots.
You will need to read to see if they all reach the summit and more importantly how many return to base camp alive. An author I would read again. Strong four and one-half stars.
Many sincere thanks to NetGalley for the advance digital copy of "Breathless" by Amy McCulloch and to Anchor Books. These are my honest personal thoughts and opinions given voluntarily.