I was hoping to read an adventure that was exciting and put me on the edge of my seat. I didn't get it unfortunately. I loved that the main female character was a POC and was excited to read her adventure in being able to summit the mountain. That was probably the only exciting part. At least for me. It took me a lot of time to read this. Maybe if I re-read this it will be better.

Thanks to Netgalley.com and the publisher for an ARC of this story for my unbiased opinion.

I enjoyed the story of this book, but it was drawn out and boring for periods of time, I was not eager to pick up the book to finish it, until about 85% in. In addition, this is probably small to some readers, but it bothered me. Early on the author discussed the timeline and how they had to go up and down to acclimate properly. In the end they only went up once and were miraculously acclimated! Now that being said, the book did not need to be longer, but the author should have just jumped ahead after a few up and downs.

This is the story of a struggling journalist, Cecily, who managed to get a spot on an exclusive expedition. If she summits, she is guaranteed an exclusive interview with the prodigious Charles, who is set to achieve his goal of climbing the largest peaks alpine style. This is the chance of a lifetime for Cecily to prove herself, as a journalist and a climber.

When a climber dies shortly after Cecily saw him alive and well, before the first push to base camp, Cecily’s journalistic instincts tell here there is more to the “accidental” death. The story has many twists and turns, but it did not instill excitement even though they were there. You will question - is this just normal or is there a murderer throughout the story. When you believe there is a murderer you will go back and forth as to who it may be, which there are a lot of characters, so you will have lots to choose from. The ending ties most things up.

I would recommend waiting for the audiobook, as I find a book with a lot of extraneous information is easier to listen to, then to read.

Breathless was the perfect title for this book because that's how you felt right along with Cecily. There were times I was on the edge of my seat. The author described every detail so well that I wanted to try alpinism and I hate snow & cold. There are a number of unexplained deaths in this season of mountain climbing throughout the world, but people die every year in the death zone, the area above 7000 meters when oxygen is needed by most climbers. But Cecily is getting suspicious especially when someone she just met and left behind dies in a freak accident, or was it? One of the problems is it's almost impossible to investigate deaths at this level and the other? Paranoia. Which happens to be one of the symptoms of hypoxia. And Cecily has very few climbs under her belt and none at this level. Practically being a newbie doesn't warm her to other serious climbers, but Charles McVeigh wanted her on this climb, if she wants to interview him. This would be a major coup for the outdoors journalist, but she has to make it to the summit before he will allow the interview. This book gives you a front seat look at mountain climbing while leaving you to wonder, are people being murdered or is Cecily paranoid. The author does a good job of presenting a number of suspects, including Cecily's mind to try and figure out what's happening. There was one character that was left dangling that I think was supposed to be a red herring, but it didn't work. And while I understand why the character was in the book, either they should have been just mentioned or fleshed out more. It wasn't a problem for me, just a slight annoyance. Just a side note, the Eiger was mentioned a couple of times and it made me want to watch The Eiger Sanction with Clint Eastwood (from the 70s) again.

Thank you to NetGalley and Anchor for providing a copy of this book for a fair and honest review.

Cecily is a lowly journalist for Wild Outdoors Magazine. When she gets the opportunity of a lifetime to interview the illusive alpinist, Charles McVeigh, she jumps at the chance, but there are strings attached. Will she be able to jump through the necessary hoops to seal the deal? Soon Cecily senses that all is not kosher on Manaslu. As the body count rises, so do her suspicions. Is there a killer on the mountain, after all who investigates deaths in the death zone, or with the lack of oxygen in higher elevations is she experiencing hypoxia? Cecily must use every ounce of strength and courage to reach her goal and make it off the mountain alive, but with her lack of experience does she even have a chance? McCulloch uses her first hand knowledge to take the reader on a nail biting adventure. One that everyone won’t survive.

Cecily is a journalist with a nose for the story of the year.  Famed mountaineer Charles McVeigh is attempting to summit all of the peaks measuring 8,000 meters or higher...without the assistance of oxygen or ropes.  Cecily, and several others, have been invited along to the final summit to document the final peak.  But when you're above 8,000 meters with this crew, the mountain isn't the only thing that can kill you.  People are dying all around Cecily.  Freak accidents...or something more sinister?  Who can you trust on top of the world?

I really loved this story and the authenticity.  I had recently read and watched Nims Purja's story of attemping (and completing) a similar feat and was pleased to see that not only had Amy McCullouch actually summited Manaslu herself, but she had done so under the guidance of Nims Purja.  This was a wild story and, although I thought that Cecily was a bit too much of a ninny for this adventure, I thoroughly enjoyed the ride.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

While the topic — remote excursion to the mountains gone wrong (in the vein of Ruth Ware and Lucy Foley), has been done a lot lately, Breathless was such a fresh take! Although the concept was far-fetched — inexperienced journalist takes on one of the most difficult mountain climbs in the world, I found myself unable to put the book down. I was desperate to discover the high-altitude killer’s identity!

The thriller portion of the story moved a little slow at times but the atmosphere of the mountain kept the tension going.

I definitely enjoyed the level of suspense both aspects of the story brought. I started to suspect the outcome along the way and loved that I was correct. I care more for an outcome that makes sense (it does) than one that comes out of nowhere (it doesn’t).

Lastly, I could never ever climb a mountain. Snuck respect to those who do.

I thoroughly enjoyed this thrilling tale about murder, intrigue, and mountain climbing. The author really did a good job with descriptions and obviously was quite knowledgeable about climbing. We are introduced to a cast of characters who have many secrets will are all exposed by the end of the book. I found this book to be quite suspenseful and hard to put down!

3.5 Stars, rounded up.

While reading Breathless I assumed that McCulloch must be a mountain climber because her details and descriptions about what it feels like to be on a mountain were intense. In reading the Afterwards she talks about climbing Manaslu, the eighth-highest peak in the world. Ihave always thought it takes a person very different from myself to take on these mountains, this book reinforced that and makes me think they are a little crazy!

Cecily Wong is a struggling journalist who has done very little climbing but became well-known in the culture because of a failure she had had. She is given the chance of a lifetime to join an expedition with a famous mountaineer and get an exclusive interview with him after their summit. It is the chance she needs to write an article that will get her name out there and probably a permanent job at a magazine. So, she trains and prepares herself for Manaslu. The catch, she must make it to the summit or no interview.

Mountaineers know that death is a possibility when at high altitudes but when bodies start piling up, Cecily thinks there may be a murderer on the mountain. But, high altitudes can bring on paranoia so when she brings up her concern she is threatened with being kicked off the expedition due to hallucinations. She wants to find out why people have died but she keeps most of her concerns to herself so that she can make it to the summit.

The tension builds as we get further into the book and my heart was racing along with Cecily's during the climax. I learned a lot about mountain climbing and what it would be like to go without oxygen during a snow storm. Do NOT sign me up. McCulloch does a great job with bringing the mountaineering to life for us. I was less thrilled with some of the secondary characters.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy in exchange for this honest review.

4 star
Very good mountain climbing murder mystery. It starts out a bit slow describing all the characters, the equipment and the mountain. This is interesting but took about half the book. But once the climb started the adventure and the mystery began. The action scenes were very descriptive, exciting and scary. The mystery was very shocking. By 80% you will be flying through the pages not knowing how it will end. And even the ending will surprise you.
I was given this ARC in exchange for an honest review

The title perfectly describes how I felt while reading this story. Breathless with anticipation of what was to come on every page.

Freezing cold, strong wind and fortitude exude throughout this murder mystery set in the alpine world of Nepal. I felt the chill and endurance in every page. The author made this sport come alive. The environment is just as much of a character as the actual people. The character development was just enough to like or despise each one. This took me longer to read than normal. This had nothing to do with the book but that life just got in the way. I did not want to rehash the premise as others and the publisher have done this quite well.

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and author for an advanced copy.

A snowy, isolated setting, with a murderer on the loose? Sign me up!

I loved this book. Not only is the isolation theme right up my alley, but I loved the rich atmosphere built by McCulloch. She described a very detailed scene on this mountain, and I could feel the cold wind from the snow as the characters climbed higher. 

The first half of the book contained a lot of technical description of how the climb would be completed, and I could see some readers getting bored with the level of detail. It took me a bit longer to read the first half of the book because of all of the descriptive portions, but I found it fascinating at the same time. McCulloch is actually an accomplished mountaineer herself who has climbed Manaslu, so she writes from experience. I loved learning about a subject that's completely foreign to me.

The suspense took off during the second half of the book, and by the end, I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. It isn't often you can read a book with two antagonists--a potential killer on the loose and the extreme weather on the mountain, threatening the lives of all of the climbers. One wrong step, lack of oxygen near the top, or exposure to the extreme cold, and the climber could easily see the end of their life.

I did guess the big twist pretty early on, but that didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book. I highly recommend this book, especially if mountaineering is something you have experience with or may find entertaining.

Stars: 4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Many thanks to NetGalley and Anchor Books for the advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is a great book set in the climbing world. Several deaths lead journalist Cecily Wong to worry about more than her personal climbing journey up the mountain. Can Cecily and the rest of her climbing team make it up and down the mountain before they are all killed?

This was one of those books that I am ready to read again after I have finished it. Breathless was just that good! The author takes you through a range of emotions: excitement, discouragement, determination, joy and fear. The excitement of achieving a goal after pushing yourself to the limit, enduring the harsh elements of nature and man.
The author takes you into the base camp, up the mountain until you reach the summit. It is so well written that you can feel the cold, see the snow, and experience the dangers through the wonderful descriptions.
Even, if you are not a mountain climber, or even interested in this outdoor adventure you will love this book.

So I’m sure everyone has a crazy weird thing they are completely obsessed with, right?! Just me? Ok stay with me then. I hate the cold. I hate heights. I hate nature. I hate hiking with the fire of a thousand suns. But oh my goodness how I love books, movies, docos, of high altitude Himalayan climbing. Understand me when I say, I never ever in all my life want to even set foot near a base camp, but I will devour 100 books on climbing.

Holy cow this book by Amy McCulloch. This was so good. I was a fan girl anyhow, you had me at 8000 meter but this was such an epic story for me. The hubby asked me if it was any good. I told him that if the author wasn’t a climber, then this was meticulously researched. Once I finished, I read that she is a climber and I was all I knew it. Well done. Just exceptionally well done.

I loved it. 5 star read for me. Sign me up for your next book right now. Just for full disclosure, I also purchased the audio as well. Well done on the audio copy as well.

When you read as many mysteries and thrillers as I do, it is easy to get into a mode of “Been there, read that”, and you yearn for something original. I am extremely pleased to report that Breathless delivered just what I have been looking for and more. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC

What’s your preferred method of reading? I’m definitely a paper person. I had a really old Kindle and hated reading on it and the iPad just didn’t work for me. So super happy that this Mothers Day weekend - I got a new ereader and I love it. I think this may become my preferred method.🙌

Breathless is an adventure thriller focused on - what seems to me - one of the most scariest skills, mountain climbing. This book follows Cecily, a journalist and novice climber. Her career is on the line - she needs a big story. When Cecily is invited to follow a world renowned mountain climber on his next challenge - she jumps at the chance without really knowing what she is getting herself into. In order to get the story, she has to reach the summit and what follows next is a harrowing tale of mountain climbing, ambition and murder.🤔

Firstly, it was very interesting and terrifying to learn more about mountain climbing. Overall, the story was good - it was a little slow in areas and the characters were all pretty unlikeable which sometimes is hard for me. I need someone to root for! That said, I enjoyed it and had to finish it. If you pick this one up, read the authors notes - knowing she is also an alpinist gives you a new perspective on this book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Thank you to @netgalley and @penguinrandomca for a copy of this book.

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3.5 stars. A fun guilty pleasure read that combines mountaineering with a solid murder mystery. The mountaineering portions of the book, centered around an expedition to summit the 8,000+ meter peak Manaslu, ring true, with good but still novice-friendly passages about techniques and challenges of the world's highest peaks. The plot is a shade too clever, featuring an overly elaborate plan by the bad guy monologued to the narrator just before her "inevitable" death, but paced well from its initial sense of creepiness to its compulsively page-turning conclusion. The physical and mental challenges of the Himalayas are page-turning as well. The development of journalist/mountaineering novice Cecily Wong raises her character from protagonist modeled on the author to one with which the reader can identify and empathize. Other characters similarly feel stock at first--the social media influencer, the billionaire mountaineering wannabe, the brooding mountain guide, the dedicated Sherpa, the brilliant but flawed filmmaker--but gain enough depth through the book to be worth the read.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and Anchor Books for the ARC.

I'm really torn on this book. Most times I think that's a good thing because it usually means the book made me feel something. I was drawn to this because of the adventure aspect. I'd read a book last year about mountain climbing that I enjoyed, so I decided to give this one a try.

Breathless contains the typical elements you would expect -- man against mountain and in this case, man against man, but this is really Cecily's story. I really liked the character, and the author does a good job of showing who she is. Cecily doesn't always make the right decisions, but she has good instincts.

The mystery / thriller aspect worked for me in general, though the pace of the first eighty percent of this story was quite slow with periodic flare-ups to keep things interesting.Then everything concluded so quickly at the end I didn't have time to savor the developments. A lot happens very quickly at the conclusion of the story, but I ultimately loved the final scene.

Overall, I enjoyed the story but wished things had moved along a little more evenly throughout the book. There's a good supply of heroes and villains, a mystery that will keep you guessing until the end, and Cecily's story is interesting and engaging (it was what kept me reading). The author's notes at the end are also worth a look.