Breathless: A novel

A high-stakes thriller set in the world of extreme-altitude mountaineering that takes a dark turn when a series of deaths can no longer be written off as accidents.

"Combines fascinating, authentic mountaineering experience with pure thriller entertainment. The suspense rises like the Nepalese mountain it is set on. Reminded me of the best of Michael Crichton.” —Matt Haig, New York Times bestselling author of The Midnight Library

There’s a killer on the mountain …

Journalist Cecily Wong is in over her head. She’s come to Manaslu, the eighth-highest peak in the world, to interview internationally famous mountaineer Charles McVeigh on the last leg of a record-breaking series of summits. She’s given up everything for this story—her boyfriend, her life savings, the peace she’s made with her climbing failures in the past—but it’s a career-making opportunity. It could finally put her life back on track.

But when one climber dies in what everyone else assumes is a freak accident, she fears their expedition is in danger. And by the time a second climber dies, it’s too late to turn back. Stranded on a mountain in one of the most remote regions of the world, she’ll have to battle more than the elements in a harrowing fight for survival against a killer who is picking them off one by one.

About the Author

AMY McCULLOCH is the author of eight novels for children and young adults, including the internationally bestselling YA novel The Magpie Society: One for Sorrow. In September 2019, she became the youngest Canadian woman to climb Manaslu in Nepal—the world’s eighth-highest mountain. She also summited the highest mountain in the Americas, Aconcagua, in -50°F temperatures and 55 mph winds, and has visited all seven continents. Breathless is her adult fiction debut.

Author Residence: London