Thank you to Anchor Books and Netgalley for an advanced readers copy of this book for my honest opinion.

Set on one of the highest mountains in the world (certainly somewhere I will never see), I really enjoyed the vast sweeping location descriptions of this novel. What drives people to want to climb these mountains under such harsh conditions. We learn through journalist Cecily wong's 1st person narrative and also her writing about all the players on the mountain and why they are there.

"Breathless" is a slow burn that really ramps up the thrills and drama in the last 1/4 of the book.

Highly recommend for an armchair thrill seeker looking for their next good read!

A taut and page turning thriller. Highly reccomend for fans of the genre, regardless of how you might feel about climbing.

I will preface this by saying I have never read a mountaineering book before because , basically, it doesn’t interest me. But, after reading an excerpt , I was intrigued.

Cecily is a journalist and blogger that has just been given the story of a lifetime. The opportunity to climb and then interview a well know alpinist, Charles Mcveigh, on his last climb on his journey to complete his Fourteen Clean adventure. Manaslu is his last mountain, and he has invited Cecile on his journey. Being a novice climber, Cecily is a little apprehensive from the get go, but can’t turn down the chance to further her career.

From the beginning, things seem off to Cecily, but every one seems to keep reassuring her that that is just how things go on the mountain. The story follows her journey up the mountain and her journey to stay alive as more and more suspicious activity happens. Is someone after her? Is it just the mountain life? Or is something more sinister going on in one of the most unpredictable environments on Earth?

After reading a different climbing book this year, I was pretty excited to get the opportunity from Netgalley to read this one.

Journalist Cecily Wong is offered the chance of a lifetime when a famous mountaineer Charles McVeigh offers her an exclusive interview at the end of his last "alpine climb" on one of the highest peak in the world. However, he requires her to also make the summit. Although Cecily has climbed before, she is a novice.

That would be enough to make an exciting story, but then people start to die, and it becomes a fight for survival.

I enjoyed this book, and I'll be looking for more by this author, as well as more in this type of setting.

I loved this story. I have enjoyed reading mountaineering stories before, but have never read one like this. The female perspective was fascinating, bringing the reality of always being a little scared that you will be killed to an even higher stakes situation. I would be interested in hearing more about the logistics of the mountain from the author's perspective if they wrote another book about the peaks. Such as, how on earth do you go to the bathroom in the freezing tundra when you have to be covered up?! The twists and turns and elevation kept me glued in and hungry for more

Breathless is Amy McCulloch's adult fiction debut and is most certainly a vibe. It is very atmospheric thanks to being set almost entirely on Manaslu, and McCulloch clearly used all her knowledge from climbing the mountain to write this book. The story is really heavy with mountaineering terms which is honestly why it lost me, but I have been recommending it to people I know who love mountaineering. Even though it is supposed to be a thriller, it just didn't have enough of these elements for me thanks to getting bogged down with all of the terms and it is also a really slow burn. I think it will be best for someone who enjoys climbing and mountains and wants to read about these things through a murder mystery.

For anyone interested, I would also recommend listening to the audiobook since it was quite good and definitely helped keep me going to the finish. Katie Leung was a brilliant choice to narrate, and she brought the desolation of the mountain and Cecily's panic to life. Depending on what McCulloch writes next, I may or may not read it. My not being outdoorsy at all is what really got me with this one, and I just wanted more from the mystery itself. Other than that, I really enjoyed her writing and if her next book isn’t so heavy on her experience mountaineering, I will definitely check it out.

I love books that are atmospheric and immerse the reader into the environment. Reading Breathless made me feel like I was right beside Cecily on Mansalu, breathing the thin air and shivering from the frigid temperatures. I not only enjoyed the "murder mystery" aspect of the plot but found the facts surrounding Mansalu and the process of climbing a mountain extremely interesting. Several times while reading this, I ran to Google and looked up pictures of the places and facts about the events featured in the book.

The mystery was good but I felt that the ending was a bit rushed. Overall, this was the perfect winter reading story and a ton of fun.

I received this book from the publisher/NetGalley to read and review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

If you're into mountaineering, this book is definitely for you. If you're interested in learning about mountain climbing, this is for you. If you're into a protagonist that makes really poor choices, then, alas, this is also for you.

it is capably written but there are pacing problems which are due to bogging down in mountaineering exposition but also because the author was clearly trying to slow-burn the tension. i'm not sure why that didn't work for me in this case.

The tag line of "There's a murderer on the mountain, and at this altitude, there isn't enough oxygen to breathe, let alone scream" had me intrigued and let me tell you, it kept me turning pages well into the night. It is so atmospheric, with the mountains, the isolation and the abundance of snow. The author did a fantastic job of building the suspense, and the fear in the main character Cecily. I was scared for her and kept telling her to go back, leave the mountain. Things going wrong and bodies building up whilst climbing a mountain at minus degrees and snow storms is not my idea of fun. And all for an interview!! She is one gutsy character and I really did admire her, even if I wanted to grab her an pull her to safety.

To get an interview with heroic climber Charles McVeigh, Cecily Wong is going to have to summit the eighth highest mountain in the world with him. She desperately needs the story, but she's gotten into trouble on far easier climbs than this one. Then a member of their party dies under odd circumstances. And another dies. Accidents happen high in the mountains, especially in the "death zone," but Cecily is starting to fear her fellow climbers, not just the dangerous terrain. This book is absolutely chilling, both because the mountain itself is so dangerous and the characters seem to have secrets they'd go to great lengths to protect. According to the notes at the end, the author has actually climbed the mountain herself. I imagine that's why the setting is so vivid.

Thank you, NetGalley, for this book

I am terrified of mountains. I don’t ski, I don’t go to Colorado, and I have no desire to climb anything. But I’m a mountain-setting junkie. I cannot believe people pay money to climb. But I’m also in awe of those people because what they do pushes the limits of their entire existence. They are absolutely badass. I read Into Thin Air ages ago and couldn’t put it down. So, when a fiction book with a similar setting comes along, I’m in. And this book was excellent.

From Goodreads: 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.

What I loved most about this book is that the author is a climber herself, so the climbing aspect of the book is authentic. Not only does she nail that, the tension the mountain presents is matched by the horrifying deaths that occur along the way. Of course, climbing deaths occur, but the ones in the book seem suspicious. Cecily makes for a great amateur sleuth. Not only is she trying to uncover the mysteries of these deaths, but she’s also trying to scale Manaslu. This book was great. I listened to a good chunk of it and was hooked from the get-go.

This was a great book! It was really well written. i enjoyed the character development and the plot had me guessing the whole time.

Cecily Wong, a sports magazine journalist has got only one chance of a life time to secure for an exclusive interview with Charles McVeigh,famous expert mountain climber that could help save her career or the other. First, she must prove herself worthy for Charles by climbing Mount Manaslu,the eighth highest mountain in the world. But there are two problems.Problem number one,she's only a novice climber with previous mountain climbing failures. Problem number two: there's a killer on the mountain!.

As someone who rarely reads a thriller,who knows nothing about mountain climbing, i find the detailed descriptions and guides on the mountain climbing in this story to be fascinating and interesting as they all felt so realistic!. I felt like i am a part of the climbing expedition team myself!.Then, i found out that it is because the author is an expert mountain climber herself. Even the panoramic details of the mountain and its surroundings felt so realistic and accurate because the author has also climbed Mount Manaslu herself. So in this area (realistic and accurate descriptions of the mountain and guide in mountain climbing, including the politics and the conflicts involved in the industry/sport), i believe the author has nailed it perfectly well.

Then half way through,as i move along with the story,i find the pacing to be moving so slowly and dragging. I was also anticipating for something 'thrilling' or 'exciting' to happen. But it didn't. Nothing much happened. Until..until one of the expedition members was found dead! The dead body found in the freezing cold lake nearby the mountain and the last person to have seen and talked with the person was Cecily herself!. (hint: it was a male climber).Ok and then my heart started racing again and my curiousity intensified. But that was it.

Later on, the story dragged on again and again with nothing much happening. And then suddenly poof! another dead body was found again. This time, it was found to be hanging on one of the fixed ropes used for the climbing at the base camp (this time they already halfway through to summiting the mountain).And then the story gets interesting a little with the conflicts and accusations going on between the expedition members themselves. For one thing, it was about who killed the second mountain climber? (hint: this time it's a woman climber) as she was last seen being sexually harassed by one of the male expedition members by no one other than Cecily herself. And then of course, there comes the denial and arguments started ensuing later on. And then there's a sudden theft going on at the base camp where everyone's is robbed! and more accusations and denials follow.

So, basically the mountain climbing expedition is one hell of a ride for Cecily as she has to face all these dramas and conflicts going on at the camp while at the same time facing her own inner fears of mountain climbing due to her previous failures (ok this is the other part that i liked) and there's actually a secret behind her fears which explains why she's behaving so unconfident with herself and doubtful of her own capabilities. That's the other thing that i love about this story, about how Cecily overcame her own fears and traumas stemmed from her dark past and failures.

The other thing that the story lacks is that it is a little predictable!. I can somehow guessed who the culprits are. And then there came a twist, to turn things around the other way (but still, i guessed it right too!)
Not to mention, something did not make sense in the final part. But the ending somehow has a good twist and interesting turn of event which caught me of guard (and a little irritated at the same time) as i did not expect the story to turn that way.

Overall, to me this story is still an interesting story despite its lacking in a few areas (though to some this story appears to be more like a mountain climbing manual/guide than an actual thriller! which i have got to agree but it is also that manual is what interests me in continuing on with the story in the first place because it's so realistic!) and the perfect descriptions of the majestic beauty of the place sold me. I even googled on those places!.

I rated this story a 4🌟 out of 5!.

A fast- paced, thrilling read, which held my interest from the get-go! I learned a lot about alpining, and it was clear that the author had first-hand experience. I definitely recommend, and suggest as a winter read for the cold-weather vibes!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my review copy.

This was an okay read. It kept me engaged but fell flat to intrigue me. I was hoping for more excitement.
Cecily Wong, an adventure travel journalist has been given the opportunity to an exclusive interview with Charles McVeigh, one of the most accomplished mountain climbers in the world. For that interview to happen, she must climb Mount Manaslu with Charles.

Mount Manaslu in Nepal is the eighth highest mountain in the world and wonderful setting for a freezing, snowy and dangerous adventure.

Training for months and putting all her savings into this once in a lifetime interviews. Cecily vows to let nothing get in the way of her dream interview even rumors of previous death that might not been accidental.
the author did a great job of explaining the various techniques and exercises involved having her own experience with mountaineering.

I received an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. I recently watched a documentary on Alpinist and Ice mountain climbing and it was fascinating. Take that scenario and combine it with my favorite isolated location with a killer on the loose and I am so happy. This book lured you in so easily, I really loved many of the characters. As more things were revealed I still was not able to predict how it would unravel. It was suspenseful and tense and unpredictable which I love. The icy environment was perfect for the plot of this book. I read this book pretty quickly and could not put it down. Thank You NetGalley and Anchor for providing a digital copy of the the book for an honest review.

Breathless - Amy McCulloch
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!
This brief synopsis grabbed me right away. Breathless was such an action-packed, on the edge of your seat, doom is on the horizon, survival story that I read it fairly quickly and was not disappointed.

Amy McCulloch’s book Breathless was both thrilling and informative. Books with plots involving elite mountaineering are typically written by men with male main characters. In this case, however, McCulloch is an elite climber who came up with the idea about writing a book about climbing Manaslu after summiting the mountain herself. I really appreciated her own knowledge and background, which enabled her to realistically portray the risks of climbing mountains above 8000 meters. I also give her credit for creating a multi-faceted female main character, Cecily Wong, a journalist who has never successfully summited a mountain of this size, but will have to in order to interview Charles McVeigh, a climbing superstar who is completing his final climb of all of the mountains above 8000 meters in one year without oxygen or lines. We feel breathless from fear like Cecily when mysterious deaths begin to occur and it appears that there may be a serial killer on the mountain. It’s no longer a matter of climbing up the mountain but find a way to get down. I would love to read more climbing thrillers from this author.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book. Any opinions expressed in this review are wholly my own.

Wow, wow, wow! I just finished reading Breathless by Amy McCulloch and I am amazed! What a great, exciting, nail biting read!

Journalist Cecily Wong has the story of a lifetime, interviewing famous alpine mountaineer Charles McVeigh. There is a caveat. He will only give her the interview if she summits Mt. Manaslu, the eighth highest peak in the world. Cecily's history as a climber is basically one of failure. She's never summited a peak, and there is a horrible incident on a past climb that gives her a fear she must fight every moment to overcome. Every moment on the mountain could mean death, and then there is another threat. First one, then others, die on the climb, but Cecily suspects they were murdered. Only no one believes her. And someone wants to stop her from spreading these rumors. She now not only has to fear the mountain itself, but a threat from an unknown person.

Other reviewers here can give you more details about the plot, but what I want to talk about is how Cecily's writing made me feel like I was right there on the mountain with her. More than twenty years ago I read Jon Kracauer's book, "Into Thin Air", which both thrilled and horrified me. But as much as I enjoyed it, never did I feel the immediacy of the pain and hardships, and even the comradery, that reading "Breathless" gave me. The attention to minute details was so authentic and gave such a sense of place, that after I finished reading the book I thought, "How did she do that?"

Amy McCulloch, like her book's protagonist, is a Chinese/Anglo Brit, and former book editor and children's book author. This is her first book for the adult market, and how she will surpass this freshman effort, I don't know! And I got my answer to how she was able to get such detail in her story. She herself has scaled Mt. Manaslu in Nepal. I knew she had to be either the most skilled interviewer in the world to have gotten these details from a climber, or have actually made the climb herself, and it is the later.

I used to be very interested in in adventure journalism, which is Cecily Wong's profession in Breathless. I read the monthly Adventure magazine, which I don't even think exists anymore, and lived vicariously through other's adventures. When I lived in India in the late 1980s I was one frigid morning perched on a position to see the sun rise over Nepal's highest peaks, and marvel from afar at their rugged impenetrability. Today I am more of a couch potato with wonky knees, and Breathless is the closest thing I will come to scaling one of the world's highest peaks, but goodness if I don't now feel like I have a real taste for what it's like!

I can't sing the praises of of this book enough, my favorite read so far this year. I would give it ten stars if I could!

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this book.
I thought the environment was well-described, and the author paints a perfect picture for the audience. The book keeps you guessing and is quite the page-turner!