A well-written, suspenseful, edge-of-your-seat thriller that will leave you breathless at times in anticipation of the next twist in the plot of which there are many. McCulloch brilliantly intertwines story and tension into a captivating novel.

The author’s well-developed characters, who you will love to hate, make this a visceral and riveting read. None of them are whom they appear to be. This provocative, somewhat dark and twisted story grabs you from the first page and keeps you guessing until the very end where the author inserts a deliciously wicked twist.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada who provided me with a copy of this book. I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

This book took me forever to read and took me a while to collect my thoughts on rating it.

It is described as a "A high-altitude thriller that will take your breath away". I love reading about extreme sports. I am not brave enough to partake in them but the excitement of reading about them I do enjoy. So a book about mountain climbing and a killer on the mountain sounded like a really good match.

Journalist Cecily Wong is invited to join the team of Charles McVeigh to climb the 8th highest mountain peak in the world. She is personally selected by Charles, who is a legend in the sport. If she makes it to the top, she will be granted an exclusive interview with Charles which will make her career a successful one. It's an adventure of a lifetime but from the first day, death starts to shadow them and Cecily starts to realize they are in danger, not just from the elements of the mountain but from a potential killer,

First off, the good. The written description of being on a mountain trek was amazing. I loved the scenic flair. I could envision majestic views. I could feel my throat tighten gasping for air in low oxygen. This part was great. There is nothing wrong with the writing style.

To me, the thriller mystery aspect is slow. The "killer on the loose" aspect doesn't play a big part until mid-book For the first half of the book, it just read to me like I was following on the journey of mountain climbers. The book started so slow, I could not read it for very long at a time as it just lacked excitement for me.

As I mentioned, writing style was great. It just didn't live up to taking my breath away.

I really enjoyed this book. The writing was fantastic and made it easy to digest the thriller aspect.

At times, it didn’t feel like a thriller, and then the last hundred pages hit and I couldn’t stop reading.

I loved the setting and premise for the book. It taught me so much about mountaineering and why I never plan to try it myself.

This ARC was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A page-turning adventure novel/thriller/murder mystery all rolled into one. I loved feeling like I was traveling in Cecily Wong's backpack as she climbed Manaslu, one of the highest peaks in the world. She's decided to go on this daunting climb in the hopes that it will boost her flagging journalism career because a famed climber has agreed to give her an exclusive interview if she makes it to the top. The climb itself is described in gripping and terrifying detail and that alone makes the book worth reading, but throw in a toxic interaction of personalities and mysterious deaths -- wow. I dare you to try putting it down!

#amymcculloch #netgalley

Just finished this psychological thriller and I loved it! The story flows as MC journalist, Cecily Wong joins record breaking mountaineer, Charles McVeigh on his final trek to the summit of Manaslu.

Other major characters include a social media sensation (Elise), filmographer (Grant), millionaire (Zak) and the climbing support team (Doug, Mingma, Galden etc). The expedition started out with energy and enthusiasm but quickly became a struggle of survival against the treacherous terrain and dangerous killer!

Definitely recommend this 4-star read!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion!

Breathless is an atmospheric thriller that will keep you turning the pages and guessing as to why people are dying on this expedition to climb the eighth highest peak in the world.

Cecily finds herself joining the mission in order to get an interview with Charles who is breaking all records.

The trick is the interview won't be given until they reach the summit.

Nothing is as at seems.

Who can Cecily trust.

I thought I knew but I was so wrong.

The pages fly by as you feel the sting of the wind and the team fights the elements.

Breathless is book that will keep you reading and the lights on.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada , Viking for a chilling read.

Breathless by Amy McCulloch was a 5 star read!!

From the first page I couldn’t stop reading. I had to know how this story was going to go. Were they ever going to make the top of the mountain? There are many twists and turns. I thought I had the ending figured out but… nope!

Make sure this book is on ur TBR!

A bit of a slow start but it was an adventure. The main character started off naive and unsure of herself but quickly evolved into a badass. Overall a good read with lots of climbing jargon making it easy to immerse yourself in the story line.

Thank u NetGalley for this arc

4/5 
Mystery Thriller, 352 pages
No Spoilers Review

Mystery thrillers are my favourite genre, and I find that my expectations are a little bit higher with this genre than others. Nonetheless, Breathless did not disappoint me. I would have rated it 4.5 stars if I could, and I just couldn't quite give it that fifth star, so 4/5 it is!

The author does an amazing job of describing the characters, the atmosphere and mountain climbing itself and never once goes overboard with the details.

Right from the beginning, I felt like I was right there with the group. Everything felt so real and engaging, and then things got real when the first murder occurred and I found myself hooked.

I definitely felt the suspense take hold, and not once did it ever let go until the end of the book. Things were exciting, fast paced and very believable. I could feel Cecily's emotions as though they were my own.

An overall solid story from an experienced author!

Things I liked: 
* The suspense - not knowing what was going to happen next. Cecily's suspicions.
* The way I felt like I was right there with the group, even though I've never climbed and didn't know the first thing about climbing.
* The storyline, its pace and its and how I couldn't predict what was coming next.
Things I didn’t like: 
* I'm hard pressed to come up with a negative here, but I'm going to have to say it was the ending. Don't get me wrong, I'm quite satisfied with the resolution of the book, but I also felt a bit like it either slowed down too quickly too soon, or went on a bit too long after I felt the story had been told.
I would recommend this book to anyone! It's a great read that will keep you at the edge of your seat.

Breathless was an incredibly unique read. The concept took you on a complete journey.

Detailed accounts of mountaineering for majority of the novel led to a bit of repetitiveness as the plot didn’t pick up until 3/4 of the way through BUT it was a full alpinist experience.

The setting descriptions were beautifully written, setting chills through me… and making me slightly envious of those that brave this avocation.

Overall this book was an adventure!

Almost true to life story. I find the journey of this enticing which make you think what goes into the minds of people when they see the mountains and its majestic power. However this book have entered into a different story pathway which the characters have to face. Is it really the drive to climb or something else.

The story of Cecily a journalist who accepted a job to go to the mountains with her fellow mountaineers. Though its not her kind of adventure, she was obligated to write an article for somebody who she thought is well respected person. Now she was faced to go through the journey only to discover something else going on in the mountains. Supposed to be a good article content instead she found herself into a myriads of murder.

I enjoyed the pacing of the book. No dull moment.


Thankyou @Netgalley & @PenguinRandomHouse for the ebook copy.


3.8/5 stars

I was really intrigued by this novel because it's about mountain climbing, which is a subject I've never read about before.

Cecily is a journalist who is promised an interview with acclaimed mountaineer Charles McVeigh, providing she summits Manslanu with him. When deaths start mounting, Cecily is the only one who believes those deaths aren't related to the dangers of the mountain.

I enjoyed this very much! I learned so much about mountaineering, respecting the mountains, and the physical, and mental, strength needed to achieve such a feat. It felt slow at times, but I honestly think it helped me feel more immersed in the story. There's a lot of waiting around on such a trek: whether they are acclimating or waiting out the bad weather.

'Breathless' is advertised as a thriller; I'd call it more of an adventure with a thriller woven in. As a thriller lover, I preferred the adventure part. The thriller part was just an extra bonus.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for this ARC. I offer my review freely.

Publication date: 03 May 2022

Breathless could refer to the backdrop of the Himalayas, or to the lack of oxygen at 8,000 feet. It could refer to Cecily and her anxiety and fear as the book progresses.

I liked Cecily's character development. She went from being anxious and jumpy to able to think for herself and make solid decisions. I did wonder about such an inexperienced climber tackling one of the few 8,000 ft mountains in the world for the sake of a story. Would someone with her background and anxiety actually do that?

This has elements of an unreliable narrator (one of my favourite tropes). Is that Paranoia? Reality? Hypoxia?

The ending was perhaps a bit (dare I say it?) over the top, but a really good read overall.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book! There were some slow parts for me from time to time but lately, I have been a mood reader...the story was really good! I enjoyed Cecily's journey and storyline. She's a journalist and is trying to get an interview with the popular mountain climber, Charles, but his only condition is that she summit the mountain.

There are a lot of people I like, and a lot of people I assumed were murderers. The ending may come to a shock to some of you and maybe not to others! This really was a good read and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys murder mystery books!

“‘There’s a murderer on the mountain. RUN.’”

Breathless quite literally lives up to its name in this spellbinding story that had me gripped from the moment. Equal parts exhilarating and knowledge seeking, I was thrilled with the tension and mystery as the author intended, but I also learned so much about mountain climbing that I lived these experiences almost vicariously through these characters.

Cecily Wong is part of an exclusive team assembled to climb the last of the 14 mountains greater than eight-thousand-metres above sea level, Manaslu, alongside the legendary mountaineer Charles McVeigh. Unfortunately, she feels she has so much to prove to him (and the rest of the very experienced team) because she’s known as the girl who could NOT summit even a smaller mountain. But getting to exclusively interview Charles on the condition she summits is the chance of a lifetime and everyone plus their mother knows that.

I love Cecily’s perspective throughout this whole book. She’s a rather newbie climber so the logistics and extensive training that comes with mountain climbing is explained in the book for us who have no idea what this world is like. However, I don’t feel it’s too technical and boring at these parts because it’s so ingrained into what is happening in the story. The team requires acclimatization at higher altitudes before they can climb so high so of course, we follow that journey with them. It’s never an overload of information and everything is potentially relevant.

Besides the newbie perspective, Cecily is an empathetic protagonist because she sees people with a less detached attitude. Perhaps it’s because she’s yet to really experience the life and death moments in a place literally called “the death zone” like her fellow experienced climbers. But in this way, her heart and journalistic instinct leads her down a path that may be hold more secrets than she’s prepared to find.

Most importantly, the pacing was fantastic! I never felt bored as the team moved their way up the mountain. The first death occurs not too far into the book so it really sets the tone – is there something more to this death or is it her paranoia? In low oxygen atmospheres, it’s even a possibility hallucinations run rampant so we’re left questioning Cecily’s (and our) judgment of what’s really happening.

I will say this book balanced thriller and mystery very well. There’s the whodunnit if these deaths really were attributed to homicides instead of accidents, but also that tense feeling that something’s not right in the most remote landscape on Earth.

To end off this review, I can’t emphasize enough how much I loved the experience of reading this book. It’s like McCulloch took us on this journey to Manaslu’s summit with the amount of details and descriptions.

“The peak stood out, its enormous bulk an ominous black mass against the sparkling night sky. It dominated the horizon, stretching up into the heavens, and the summit wore the stars like a crown.”

It’s truly an adventure in a book but also a reminder to sometimes take a breath and admire this world and our tiny place in it. When faced against the elements found at such high altitudes, we may appreciate more what life entails when death may be just a breath away.

Note: all quotes are subject to change upon final publication

Overall Recommendation:

Breathless takes you on the most amazing journey that mankind can partake in – climbing one of the tallest mountains in the world. The prose is so immersive I truly felt like I was there with our protagonist, Cecily, facing the unknowns and her fears. Unfortunately, there’s also something else afoot on the mountain but we may not be able to trust our judgment when the high altitude sickness comes in. This is the best kind of thriller/mystery and Amy McCulloch did it so well. I promise you, you won’t be disappointed if you pick this up.

Wow my first book by Amy McCulloch and it won't be my last.

I was intrigued by the synopsis of this book it's not what I usually read about...mountain climbing.
But I love the mystery and suspense of the storyline. It kept my interest all through the book and I learned I could never be a mountain climber. Too dangerous for me. But what a story....
I found the characters likable and I was cheering them on at each stage of the mountain. I even had to Google Manaslu to see if it was an actual mountain...it is and it's the 8th highest mountain in the world. I found Cecily was way out of her league on this expedition and she should have never been there but the famous mountaineer, Charles McVeigh, wanted her a part of it. Why? Well you have to read the book to find out....it was quite the ride!
The authors writing made me feel like I was watching they whole story going on in my head. After my googling Manaslu I had a picture in my head of the mountain and that is all it took. The writing was very well done and it kept my interest. Like I said at the beginning of this review...I found a new author to read.
I recommend this book even though mountain climbing isn't your forte you will like this book if you are a thriller reader.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher Anchor Books for allowing me to read an advanced digital copy of this book for an honest review. All words are my while not eloquent they are from my heart.

I thought the premise of this novel was interesting - suspense and murder atop the highest peaks - and it did deliver on its promise. The beginning was a little slow for me, other than the prologue, which I found pretty gripping. If you are interested in mountain climbing, this will be up your alley; as for me, with my fair to middling interest, I found the amount of detail weighed down the suspense. I did appreciate how well the atmosphere/setting was portrayed.

Thanks to NetGalley and to the publisher for the advance copy to read and review. All opinions are my own.

This was definitely a good read. I wouldn't go as far to say "bone chilling". I did have a hard time getting into the book as there just seemed to be so many characters, and it was hard to keep track of them all. I also did figure out who the killer was early on, however the plot twist against Cecily, I did not see coming. I felt the boom finally picked up around the 80% mark, so it felt like a little bit of a slow burn for me. However, it was still a great read. Thank you NetGalley for the eARC of Breathless!

Wow! I am shocked and spellbound by what I’ve read!

The concept of the plot is spectacular and such a fresh idea for a mystery/thriller novel! The execution of the plot is well done. Not only is 8000-metre climbing one of the most dangerous (and surely exhilarating) activities…add a bunch of sketchy occurrences to the mix…and you’ve gotten yourself QUITE the story!

I was captivated by the setting, the pure beauty of climbing. It truly made me want to go outside and explore some mountains (although none as high as 8000-metres!) I found learning about acclimatization and the consequences of altitude sickness was fascinating to me, as it is not something I know much about! A reference to Saint-Sauveur in the Laurentians, QC, CA was nice as I am from that area!

I sat on edge for most of the book, it’s stressful and the situation is always tense. I felt looped in with Cecily from the beginning. She’s relatable as a main character who is not an expert climber. It was easy to get lost in her anxieties in regards to strange events surrounding the climb.

I was shocked at the outcome of the book, simply because I had alternate theories! All in all, an excellent read with multiple twists and turns and a super interesting setting! So happy to have read this!

<i>I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher, Penguin Random House Canada, of this advanced digital copy for the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for an honest review! All opinions expressed are my own. Upon publishing of this novel, I will also be posting my review to Amazon Canada.</i>

I give this book a 3.5/5 stars. I enjoyed it overall but it did take quite some time to pick up. Unfortunately I did guess what was going to happen before it happened but I still loved the intriugue. Loved to see the feminism aspect and the support between the girl mountaineers. I liked to see the whole journey up and down the mountain. I felt like I was going up with them. Overall I really enjoyed the adventure!