Overview

A summit is a summit, and the truth is the truth. But the view from 8,848 meters isn't always so clear. Two men, seventy years apart, push for the top of Mount Everest, driven by forces beyond their control and something inside that says climb. After eight successful summits, Mount Everest guide Neil Quinn is confident he can handle anything the mountain throws his way. But then disaster strikes steps from the top, leaving him with a lot of questions and 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. But before Quinn can even catch his breath, the combined wrath of his vengeful employer and an angry client drives him out of the Himalayas and back to Europe, where the newly blackballed English guide struggles to make ends meet and discover the truth of what happened that fateful day. He soon uncovers the story of Josef Becker, a Nazi climber who sought the top of the world seventy years before, when Europe teetered on the brink of the Second World War. Quinn's innocent queries into Becker's expedition 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 and movements intertwine across history, culminating in one final push for the top of the world.

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9781504710169

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Reviews

Even if you have zero interest in alpinism or Nazis, I highly recommend this book. It's very entertaining throughout. -- Best Hike A book of vividly drawn villains and heroes, but its backbone is the realism of its details about the climbing experience and its fascinating use of kernels of climbing history...the kind of cult novel that gets passed around at base camps. -- Aspen Times Farthing entertains the reader with a taut, suspenseful tale of high anxiety...and conveys a message that we should always be on guard because history repeats itself. -- South Carolina Review Farthing has done a remarkable job of telling two parallel tales while weaving them together into a single narrative...the author brings it all together for a most-satisfying ending. -- Crow River Media A complex, deftly crafted, consistently compelling suspense thriller of a read from beginning to end. -- Midwest Book Review Gripping...Farthing vividly depicts the challenges of mountain climbing. -- Publishers Weekly A wonderful story that instantly took me back to my Everest days. Many shades of the legends of mountaineering, such as the great Italian Walter Bonatti and, of course, the doyenne of Himalayan record-keeping, Elizabeth Hawley. -- Martin Adams, 1996 Everest climber and protagonist of Into Thin Air and The Climb A captivating debut novel that combines grand storytelling with a thorough knowledge of climbing. Harry Farthing is a compelling new literary voice. -- Susan Sloate, bestselling author of Forward to Camelot [An] action-packed debut thriller...Farthing's firsthand knowledge of Everest paints a vivid picture of the majesty of the mountain and also the hellish rigors climbers face in trying to conquer it as background to an exciting story, part-thriller, part-historical novel...Marries [Farthing's] knowledge of world travel, adventure sports, mountaineering, and modern history to create a gripping action story that is both compelling and thought provoking. -- Moultrie News Breathtaking and chilling...Summit really takes you up into the Everest death zone. -- Rhys Jones, record-breaking British mountaineer and owner of Monix Adventures A gripper. Takes you up to the majesty of Mt. Everest and into the single-minded 'madness' of climbers...what a plot. Fantastic. -- Sir Robert Swan, bestselling author of Antarctica 2041 and first person to walk to the South and North Poles 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

Author Information

From the moment eight-year-old Harry Farthing first saw the famed summit photo of Tenzing Norgay in his school library, he knew Mount Everest would figure prominently in his future. The years took him across the world and up and down many peaks-not least within three hundred meters of Everest's summit-until he found a way to combine his knowledge of world travel, adventure sports, mountaineering, and modern history; the result is Summit, his debut novel.

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