A tense, gripping thriller by Amy McCulloch. This story became harder and harder to put down as I continued to read. A great plot with beautiful description of the beauty and danger of mountaineering.
Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this.

I agree with another reviewer I found this book dragged quite a lot and sometimes it read as a non-fiction book, too much terminology for me. I struggled with this one. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

I’ve long had an interest in high altitude climbing, so I couldn’t wait to read Breathless. Carefully researched, the writing was all the richer for the author’s own mountaineering experience and the book paints a graphic picture of life in the ‘death zone’. Tense, claustrophobic and terrifying, this is a page turning thriller that was a one sitting read for me.

I was really looking forward to reading this book, it sounded so exciting, and it lived up to it.

I could barely put this one down, it’s very fast paced, and I really liked (most!) of the characters.

It’s very well written and very enjoyable.

My thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Michael Joseph UK for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

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 is a brilliant read.
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.
Great suspense and found myself second guessing every thought I had continuously.
Can't wait to read what the author brings out next.
Recommend reading.

I was provided an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher. This is my own hone\st voluntary review

I was fortunate to receive a copy of this ARC from Penguin Michael Joseph and NetGalley.

I am not a Skier and do not enjoy cold holidays 😂 So I did need to do a fair bit of Googling during the early part of the book for the definitions of the terminology. I initially found the switch the blog posts quite jarring because the story was written in 3rd person and then blog was 1st person.

I found the writing very descriptive and I was really able to visualise the camps and the mountain, which is impressive given as mentioned above, I don't do cold! I also felt like there was strong character development in Cecily and I was really rooting for her, especially in the final scenes.

My favourite quote:
"The mountain was dangerous - but with another layer, an extra special frosting, just for women."

I think I'm in the minority here but... I found this book way way too long. It really drags at points. Some of the characters have too much backstory, and the breaks where the main character writes articles really pull the reader out of the thriller plot.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. This was a great read with tension building throughout. The setting really added to the intensity of the storyline and the characters were well developed. A gripping read that hooked me from the beginning and held my attention to the end.

Well... what an exhilarating read that was! I was near breathless myself by the end. Although, that said, I did get a bit lost in the middle what with all the mountaineering stuff that I wasn't too interested in. I know it was mostly important to the plot, and setting the scene and atmosphere, and it was well explained for the layman, but I did find it a tad wearing on occasion.
But the rest of the book was cracking and had me on the edge of my seat as I tried to work it all out ahead of time. I did get one thing right but I was spectacularly way off the mark with the majority... Kudos to the author for that wool-pulling indeed!
So... we follow journalist Cecily as she is invited to join a rather prestigious expedition. The final one of a pretty big challenge by renown alpinist Charles McVeigh. She is promised one heck of an interview with him, a plumb job that will set her up for greater things, but only if she summits with him. Otherwise all bets are off. She has a history of failure though but is determined to see this through.
And so begins a twisty turny tale, staring a multitude of characters, mostly with big egos, as they join together to tackle Manaslu. But things are not all as they seem as Cecily soon starts to find out. Her journalistic spidey senses are piqued as she starts to investigate a spate of strange deaths. Her supporting cast all appear to be keeping their own secrets and it's not long before things starts to get more dangerous than just the danger offered by the mountain.
I have zero experience or indeed interest in mountaineering, alpine or otherwise, so I can't speak for the accuracy of what it contained herein. Or indeed any liberties the author may have taken. What I can say is that, to me, a complete layman, it felt real enough. And that was good enough for me. Parts of that stuff were more interesting than others but on the whole I did learn quite a bit along the way. Not sure at the ripe old age of over 50, I will ever have the inclination to put any of it into practice, but there might be a pub quiz question...!
The characters were a weird bunch. But I guess you have to be a bit strange to do this sort of thing for fun and frolics. We had an eclectic mix of people all thrown in together and it wasn't until towards the end that things started to get a bit clearer. Spoilers prevent me going further but I did sit back at the end and applaud the author for what turned out to be a rather interesting, intriguing and well executed plot.
Pacing was good and matched the narrative all the way through. Suspension peaked and troughed depending on what was going on but again matched the action.
I enjoyed the author's style so much that, as I often do, I go to check out their back catalogue and was shocked to see that this is actually her debut adult book. Well... I wouldn't have guessed that... I am definitely going to see what she has in store for next time...
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Struggling journalist Cecily comes across an opportunity to interview a record-breaking climber, who is fast becoming one of the biggest stars of the mountaineering world. They only catch is Cecily must reach the summit of his final climb with him and his specially selected team before she gets the scoop.
It intrigued me from the start, a novice climber, in a really dangerous scenario to secure the job that will launch her career.
I found the setting and atmosphere incredibly tense and terrifying. That sense that Cecily really is out of her depth is threatening and that is without the other climbers dropping like flies. What really ramps this up, is the details, the authors substantial knowledge on climbing really brings this to life. The reminders that dangers lay around every corner and threats lurk in everyday tasks that just need a higher level of consideration in the extreme circumstances.
The last quarter of the book was utterly nail biting! I couldn’t stop reading. It gathered a pace and became so highly charged I could barely come up for air myself!
A brilliant, claustrophobic thriller, respectful of the setting, which was utterly majestic, but also edge of your seat reading at the same time! I’ll look out for more by this author.

I'm torn with this. I found the last third gripping. The rest of the book could drag at times. I found Cecily somehow quite whiny and I might've been tempted to push her over in the snow if I'd been there. (I don't condone violence of course.) As I read it, the weather was very very windy and cold, so I could really imagine the conditions. I'm not sure Cecily's training regime was realistic and in the end the whole thing was a bit hard to believe but now I think about it, it kept me quite entertained on the whole. I think it would be a great choice for a book club. (And of course the author has the same slightly unusual surname as me, which is a plus!)

I read this book on a sunny beach, so it's a great tribute to the author she managed to make me feel I was on a mountain! I really enjoyed the climbing parts and the practicalities and minutiae of expedition planning and how essential sherpas are. I can imagine the clashing of egos and mountaineers trying to outdo each other with tales of danger. and unsurprisingly the attitude to women.
Sadly what worked less well for me was the thriller element, particularly toward the end when, not wanting to give spoilers, but the body count did seem to get a bit ridiculous!
Overall though an enjoyable read
thank you to netgalley and Penguin Michael Joseph for an advance copy of this book

When struggling journalist Cecily Wong is invited to join an expedition to climb one of the world's tallest mountains, she knows that this is her chance to bring home an exclusive interview with Charles McVeigh. McVeigh is an experienced climber & hero who has conducted several daring rescues of stranded climbers in his career, & he is attempting to climb the fourteen highest mountains in the world 'alpine style' (with no help). Cecily joins his small team & immediately realises that she is out of her depth, with little climbing experience, but she has to reach the summit to bag the interview with McVeigh. Before they begin their climb, a fellow climber, Alain, mentions to Cecily about his friend who mysteriously disappeared on Everest & the strange phone call he received from him shortly before he disappeared, saying that he felt he was being stalked by someone. When Alain is found dead in mysterious circumstances, this is just the start of a nightmare which will culminate in a life-or-death struggle 8000 metres up in the 'dead zone'.

The first thing that drew me to this book is the cover, I love the colours & the composition, it's very eye-catching. I really enjoy reading about mountain-climbing, I've read several true life & fiction stories based on climbing Everest, so I was interested in reading this one. The main character, Cecily, is easy to root for as she inexperienced but not completely naïve. The pace was almost perfect, it did falter in a couple of places, however, the author always managed to bring it round, & the conclusion was great - nail-bitingly tense.

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Penguin Michael Joseph UK, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

If you're looking for a gripping, intense and atmospheric thriller then this is the book for you. Set in the Himalayas, the story follows a group on a mountaineering expedition, each with their own reason for attempting the climb to the summit. With danger and pitfalls at every turn, not everyone will make it back alive. I loved it!

I had always wanted to climb Killimanjaro, but after reading this, I have certainly changed my mind.
This was a chilling (and chilly) read. It was well researched and gave a detailed insight into mountaineering. The story itself was gripping and kept you guessing all the way through. I found it did drag a bit, as each part between the camps were pretty much the same, but it was still well written.

Amy McCulloch has my greatest respect. She has written a riveting, enjoyable book using a preposterous plot and unbelievable characters. Cecily freezes with fear when she is walking Crib Goch, Snowdonia with disastrous results, then, within months she joins an expedition to climb a 8000+m peak in the Himalayas. You need a head for heights to walk Crib Goch but thousands of walkers do it every year. Even with an expedition team and Sherpas, the Himalayas are serious climbs.
Climbers die on mountains, but how do you know whether they have fallen accidently or were pushed? Can you believe what you see at high altitude or is it a hallucination due to lack of oxygen? Amy successfully weaves these questions with lots of red herrings.
This is an honest review of a complementary ARC.

I enjoyed parts of this book, having never read anything about mountain climbing before, but I found the story too long, it dragged in places and was difficult to get into, when from the blurb I thought it seemed like I'd be instantly hooked.
I didn't find the characters particularly likeable and in places it was just too unbelievable, the fact that a novice thinks she'd be invited to an expedition with a team of experts since she's such a good reporter?
My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for my eARC in return for my honest review.

Cecily Wong is a freelance journalist who has been hand picked to join Charles McVeigh on his final climb for his Mission Fourteen Clean challenge. He has granted her an exclusive interview on the condition she summits with him and his team. This interview will make Cecily’s career after all Charles is a climbing legend. There is one snag though, Cecily is a complete novice when it comes to climbing, her only attempts with her ex-boyfriend ended in failure. This time failure is not an option, she has pinned absolutely everything on success. She knows it is going to be dangerous, she knows people have died trying to climb Manaslu in the past, what she wasn’t prepared for was the fact that its not just the mountain that could be the killer.
From the start you can sense Cecily’s apprehension about taking on this challenge, but she has a point to prove to herself and her ex-boyfriend and she is not going to give up easily. After bonding with the only other female on the team things start off well as they start to acclimatise to the changes in altitude. When a climber from another team dies in what seems to be an accident, Cecily’s mind goes into overdrive, and she starts to question if there was more to the fall than people are saying. With so many people telling her to concentrate on the climb, even she has to wonder if she is making more of it than she needs to. She is certainly going to need all her grit and determination to make it to the summit. The question is how many of the team will make it to the top.
The interactions between Cecily and her Sherpa really showed the trust put in the mountain guides who repeatedly put their own lives at risk to ensure the safety of the climbers and too often how they are the forgotten tragedies on these killer mountains. With so many different people on the team, each with varying competence, you are left wondering how they really all got chosen for this climb at all. I am not going to lie when I say the personalities of one or two of them had me not caring if they made it or not as their self-assuredness bordered on the obnoxious.
The tension in this book increases in line with the progress they make up the mountain, and when an event from Cecily’s past has consequences that no one could predict you have to wonder if she will be a victim of an “accident”. As the book progresses you get the feeling that there is definitely more to Charles McVeigh than the legend that he lives off and despite having at the back of my mind that I knew who the killer was, I still really enjoyed the book.
Amy McCulloch is an experienced climber who has climbed Manaslu herself and this really shows throughout the book. Her descriptions of the mountain, the climbing experience and the extreme weather conditions are such that you can feel yourself there even when sitting in the comfort of your own warm house. This is not a fast-paced book, yet I found myself flying through it and if nothing else it has shown that my healthy fear of heights and mountains (even those not covered in snow) is not so daft after all.

I enjoyed this book as someone who enjoy climbing mountains. It was realistic telling off how it really is having to acclimatize and move up and down the mountain. I felt like the story was almost over at the half why point but it picked up pace again for an exciting ending
I like that the author Wasnt shy to kill off main and well loved characters. I’m slightly unsure of how Ben fired into the story and I’d je really needed to be there but a good read that I didn’t want to put down
3.5 stars

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this fascinating book

even though this story was fictional the mountains and the many people climbing them are real so for me this was a story i was interested in...and it didnt disappoint in that respect

the base camp, acclimatising to the lack of oxygen the need to train and to be team players and the goal is to get to the summit all brilliantly written

and then the bodies start showing up...but death is normal on the mountains and to be expected but what if they werent accidents what if there was a killer on the mountain in fact could it be someone in your team that you are also relying on...

nicely written and plenty of red herrings before the killer is finally revealed....