Reviews with content warning for Murder - Andnöd

Die Journalistin Cecily Wong wurde ausgewählt, um einen Sonderartikel über den angesehenen Bergsteiger Charles McVeigh zu schreiben. Der Haken an der Sache ist, dass er ihr das Interview nur gewährt, wenn sie im Rahmen seiner Bergbesteigung des achthöchsten Gipfel der Welt, den Mount Manaslu, erklimmt. Dies ist die Gelegenheit ihres Lebens für Cecily. Obwohl sie die am wenigsten erfahrene Bergsteigerin in der Gruppe ist, ist sie entschlossen, sich und ihren Teamkollegen zu beweisen, dass sie den Gipfel erreichen wird. Zunächst geht alles gut. Als sie jedoch weiter den Berg hinaufsteigen, beginnen Menschen zu verschwinden und die Leichen beginnen sich zu stapeln. Gefangen auf einem Berg mit einem Mörder gibt es kein Versteck. Es ist der ultimative Kampf ums Überleben. Wird Cecily es überleben, bevor der Mörder oder die Elemente sie holen?

„Der Aufstieg“ von Amy McCulloch hat mir ziemlich gut gefallen. Als jemand, der nur wenig Ahnung vom Bergsteigen hat, fand ich, dass es der Autorin gut gelungen ist, die verschiedenen Bergsteigetechniken und Vorbereitungen für den Aufstieg zu erklären, ohne es langweilig zu machen. Auch schaffte sie es gut, die Atmosphäre am Berg einzufangen. Überzeugen konnte mich auch die eigentliche Handlung an sich. Wer jedoch einen spannenden Thriller über 400 Seiten erwartet, wird leicht enttäuscht sein, denn es handelt sich hier eher um einen Slow-Burn-Thriller, der erst zum Ende hin richtig an Fahrt aufnimmt, um dann in einem tollen Ende zu gipfeln.

Insgesamt schafft es „Der Aufstieg“ von Amy McCulloch vor allem durch seinen atmosphärischen Schreibstil und dem interessanten Setting zu fesseln und ist besonders für Leute, die Thriller und Berge mögen zu empfehlen.

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julesandjude's review against another edition

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adventurous dark informative mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Wenn die Todeszone ihren Namen alle Ehre macht

Die Journalistin Cecily Wong ist nach eigenen Angaben eine Anfängerin im Bergsteigen, aber sie ist auf Einladung des weltberühmten Bergsteigers Charles McVeigh auf den achthöchsten Gipfel der Welt, den Manaslu, gekommen. Er hat ihr gesagt, dass er ihr ein Interview gewähren wird, wenn sie den Aufstieg schafft, und für Cecily, die kurz vor einer schlimmen Trennung steht und ihren letzten Cent für die Reise ausgegeben hat, wäre das Interview eine Karriere – Gelegenheit machen. Doch dann stirbt ein Kletterkollege bei einem ungewöhnlichen Unfall und Cecily beginnt an ihrer Entscheidung zu zweifeln. Aber als ein zweiter Bergsteiger stirbt, und es besteht kein Zweifel, dass es kein Unfall war, wird Cecily klar, dass sie, wenn sie auf einem abgelegenen Berg gestrandet ist, mehr als nur gegen die Elemente kämpfen muss, da ein Mörder unter ihnen ist.

Die Gesamthandlung ist faszinierend, und man merkt, dass Amy McCulloch wirklich eine Leidenschaft für das Bergsteigen und die Umgebung hat, in der sich die Charaktere befinden. McCulloch schreibt sehr atmosphärisch und sie schafft es mit den wunderbaren Beschreibungen der Landschaft ein realistisches Bild von der Situation am Berg zu erzeugen, sodass es sich anfühlt, als wäre man selbst dabei. Gut gefallen haben mir auch die Einblicke in die technischen Aspekte des Bergsteigens und was es braucht, um ein Bergsteiger der Spitzenklasse zu sein. Besonders am Anfang tritt die eigentliche Thriller-Handlung zugunsten der Beschreibung der Vorbereitung auf die Bergbesteigung zurück, was für den ein oder anderen wenig interessant sein wird und die Spannung wegnimmt. Unterschwellig ist aber ständig eine gewisse Gefahr zu spüren. Richtig an Fahrt nimmt die Handlung dann wieder zum Ende hin auf, um in einem tollen Finale zu enden. Jedoch auch hier wird nicht jeder mit dem eher offenen Ende zufrieden sein.

Alles in allem ist „Der Aufstieg“ von Amy McCulloch ein fesselnd geschriebener Thriller, der sich beim Erzählen zwar Zeit lässt, bis es zu den eigentlichen spannenden Thriller-Elementen kommt, aber insgesamt durch seine Atmosphäre und dem Thema des Bergsteigens zu überzeugen weiß.

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readingonfordearlife's review against another edition

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adventurous informative mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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emallovesreading's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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asparagusisreading's review against another edition

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adventurous dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I thought I was a thriller girlie but if I predict another thriller, I will lose it.

BREATHLESS by AMY MCCULLOCH is an adult thriller following Cecily Wong, a journalist that has to "come to Manaslu, the eighth-highest peak mountain peak in the world," to interview a famous mountaineer, Charles. Of all the journalists in the world, Charles has chosen her and will only give her the interview if she completes the summit. If they complete this summit, he will be known to be the first man (or beating the current record) to climb all fourteen (8,000 meters) mountains without any supplementary oxygen or using fixed ropes. Even though this may sound like an exciting and inspirational feat, "Cecily has given up everything to get to this interview and career-making opportunity to get her life back on track." But once she begins the climb, Cecily starts to realize that there are more dangers on the mountain than just the climb itself... this time there might be a murderer on the mountain. Cecily is one of the first to catch onto when climbers start to disappear one by one. But by the time the realization begins to settle in, "it is too late to turn back."
(Some parts of this summary are in quotations because they are taken from the book's official description.)

It took me over two weeks to finish reading this book because a) I was busy and b) there was not a lot of thrill that was holding my attention. I wanted to feel goosebumps and be shivering in my boots as if I were in the cold and terrified for my life like Cecily. Like many thrillers that I have read recently, I had guessed multiple aspects of the story correct and was underwhelmed when they were revealed. Thriller authors tend to slip in little bits of information (clues) to what is revealed later in the book. McCulloch did that in Breathless but it may have been too obvious to the readers. Other than that. I enjoyed the book. Climbing mountains is clearly a passion that McCulloch is interested in. The most I know about it is through movies like Everest, Vertical Limit, 127 Hours, and now this book. (I will admit, I did have to do some research while reading when I didn't understand some of the terms.) I enjoyed the book and would be interested in picking up another book with a mountain climbing setting.

All I have to say about the ending is this: I FREAKING KNEW IT AND THE SHERPAS BETTER WHOOP HIS ASS!!!

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aharper's review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I was very excited to pick up this thriller because I though the setting sounded absolutely atmospheric, and the premise intrigued me. "Breathless" follows aspiring journalist Cecily, as she agrees to climb Manaslu, in the hopes of interviewing Charles McVeigh, a climber who is about to finish his record-breaking series of climbs. Cecily has very little experience mountain climbing; her only true experience ending with her needing to be emergency rescued. There seems to be something sinister on the mountain, plotting to harm anyone that gets in its way. Can Cecily make it to the top of the mountain unscathed and finally write something to launch her career?
I loved how this novel was written. I felt like the pacing was impeccable, the writing was so immersive, and we received just as much information as we needed before the next big reveal. I felt like I was truly on a mountain and there was a blizzard and possible killer with me. What fell short for me was the motivation for Cecily. I understand wanting to face your fears and challenging yourself, but it feels too unbelievable that she would agree to climb such a tall mountain with no experience and no training. People train months, even years, to attempt to do what Cecily did, and they still die because of adverse circumstances. Cecily wants to do this, and she invests the last of her money into buying the equipment she will need to be successful. We are told this is why she keeps going: because she has to. If she does not complete this climb, she will not have her interview, and she will not get paid. It just feels like loose reasoning, especially because Cecily does NOTHING to train beforehand.
The rest of the story was interesting, and I loved the reveals and how the mystery unraveled. I was a little unsatisfied with the ending, but I still enjoyed the novel overall!

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bandysbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Ugh. I really, really wanted to love this. I was excited that someone who has actually hiked this particular peak was writing a mystery/thriller taking place on it.

What I got…I just…Let me start with the main character because she’s sort of a mess. So a team is being assembled to climb a death zone peak. Typically, you want people who are adequately experienced and self-sufficient (Yes, wildly rich but inexperienced people buy their way into teams sometimes, but that isn’t the case here). The main character, Cecily, is admittedly unexperienced. In fact, her only challenging hike ended in the death of another hiker and she’s still clearly traumatized by it. Yet somehow she’s still invited along to hike a peak that’s significantly more challenging and technical than anything she’s done previously. I could maybe look past some of this if she were a quick learner or relatively competent, but inexperienced. Nope. They’re literally trying to teach her how to complete maneuvers as they are climbing a potentially fatal mountain and she is constantly frozen by fear and self-doubt.

Then we get into the organization of the climbing team. It is in disarray for the entirety of the story. The leader of the expedition is barely with them. There are all sorts of issues that crop up that aren’t thoroughly evaluated or challenged. No one is aware of where people are. Emergency response is lackluster. It’s just messy.

And finally, experienced hikers start dying in ways that are questionable at the very least…but everyone just seems content to let it go. Maybe the high altitude is slowing everyone’s brains down? Again, they all have to be purposefully oblivious or else the plot wouldn’t progress.

I think that last line sort of sums all of the issues up for me. You have to ignore sooo many gaping holes in logic for this book to work. I can accept a few unrealistic details here and there, but when you anchor a book in reality then ask readers to keep jumping past plot hole after plot hole, it unfortunately just makes it a no-go for me.

I will try to end this with some positives. The description of the mountain was absolutely lovely. I could really envision the setting well.

I also really loved the portrayal of the Sherpas and how the author made sure to discuss the ethics of mass hiking expeditions and the impact on the Sherpa community. They are the backbone of high altitude climbing in the Himalayas and I’m glad she showed them proper respect.

And I also loved that she tackled the issue of sexism in climbing/hiking/trekking. There are so many amazing female climbers and many of them face challenges simply due to their gender. It wasn’t a main theme, but it does get touched upon a couple of times.

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