Summit
A Novel
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4.3 • 122 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
“Magnificent! A compelling, fast-paced novel that reveals a rarely seen dark side of Everest. A must-read!”—James W. Huston, New York Times bestselling author of The Blood Flag
The view from 8,848 meters isn’t always clear.
Even after eight successful summits, Mount Everest guide Neil Quinn can’t handle anything the mountain throws his way. Disaster strikes steps from the top, leaving him with a very old swastika-embellished ice axe that should never have been so high on the mountain—not if Everest’s meticulously documented history is accurate.
Danger doesn’t stop at the descent.
When he heads back to Europe, blackballed and alone, he struggles to discover the truth about this lost relic. Quinn’s investigations soon have neo-Nazis, assassins, and history buffs vying to take possession of the axe—proof of Nazi alpine superiority, and strong evidence that a German climber was the first to summit Mount Everest.
Beautifully written and meticulously researched, Summit follows two climbers across two continents as their stories intertwine across history, culminating in one final push for the top of the world.
“Gripping…Farthing vividly depicts the challenges of mountain climbing.”—Publishers Weekly
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Mount Everest provides the backdrop for mountaineer Farthing's uneven first novel. In the gripping opening, Nelson Tate is determined that his 16-year-old namesake son will become the youngest person ever to climb the Seven Summits, culminating with Everest itself. The stunt proves tragically misguided when Nelson Jr. collapses near the top of Everest. Despite the boy's fragile condition, the cartoonishly evil owner of New Horizons Expeditions, Jean-Phillipe Sarron, insists that Nelson Jr. be boosted to the summit so that his "achievement" can be photographed. Head guide Neil Quinn desperately tries to get his charge back down to safety, but he fails, compromised in part by a defective oxygen supply. Blamed by Sarron for the fiasco, Quinn tries to find out the truth about the calamity. Flashbacks to 1930s Germany chart a Nazi scheme to conquer Everest as a symbol of their racial supremacy. Farthing vividly depicts the challenges of mountain-climbing but employs less than memorable characters.
Customer Reviews
Summit
Two interesting stories well tied together.
Summit
I highly recommend this book. It is an adventure story, no doubt, but it is also an affirmation of the dignity of the human soul in a dangerous, often immoral world.
Great
A great non fiction/fictional story with great background research
and a convoluted story that keeps you reading and wondering what will happen next!