Thin Air

I'm not sure if this is an adventure story, a family relationship story, or a horror story. I think Paver set out to weave those elements together, and in many ways it's compelling. There's barely a hint of spookiness until you're well into chapter 7, which was a little disappointing and interfered with good pacing. But there are touches of true wilderness horror that echo the classic “The Wendigo,” and the brothers' relationship combined with altitude sickness and isolation leads to an unreliable narration that reminded me of [b:The Turn of the Screw 12948 The Turn of the Screw Henry James https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1443203592s/12948.jpg 990886].And yet, this book consistently struck me as a wan imitation of Paver's superior [b:Dark Matter 8350864 Dark Matter Michelle Paver https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1504563569s/8350864.jpg 13203928]. For me, that book has much better characters and relationships, engages the reader's sympathy better, and is much, much scarier. It even has a higher quality dog! My advice is simply to read that (or listen to the exceptional reading by Jeremy Northam).

I enjoyed this, but not as much as I enjoyed her book Dark Matter. If you're trying to decide between the two, I would say to read that one instead. They're very similar books.

There wasn't anything in the story that really grabbed my attention, until the ghost officially appeared and things got scary. But that didn't happen until the last third or fourth of the book.

I thought the reason the main character broke off his engagement would get a more thorough explanation, but there wasn't really anything mysterious or interesting about it, I guess. Overall, I wished there was more depth to all the characters. We don't see all that much of the conflict between the main character and his brother, and it's the most important relationship in the book. I understood it, but it would've been a better book with more flashbacks showing their problems and their closeness. All of the characters are painted with pretty broad strokes.

I did like the way the narrator was written as unreliable from the start, even before the supernatural plot began. It was easy to imagine how he might annoy his brother, without either of them being bad people. I also liked the plot, both the action of the book and the secret of what happened on the last expedition.

It's a very atmospheric book, too, and I felt immersed in the main character's perception of the world. It's written in first-person present tense, which I usually dislike, but it worked really well here. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Daniel Weyman, and he did an excellent job, especially in performing the MC's fear.

I was looking for something creepy, and this book delivered on that promise. So, it's not bad, and I'm glad I read it. But it could've been somewhat better, perhaps if it were longer and delved more into the characters' personalities.

✅ High octane thriller
✅ Doomed expedition
✅ Pre world war II era
✅ Terrific storytelling
✅ A story, set in one of the remotest parts of the world - the peak of Kanchenjunga.

Thin air has all of the ingredients of a good thriller and it delivers immaculately. Fans of Dark Matter, The Terror & The Abominable will love it. This short, chilling fictional tale of a 1935 British expedition to the Himalayas is highly recommended.
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