Terror Peak: Can You Survive the Mountain?

by Edward J. McFadden III

Abominable Peak is the gnarliest hill in the Rocky Mountains. Only hardcore boarders and skiers ride there. No groomed trail posers allowed. Skill, moxie, and money rule. Not this season.

Former pro snowboarder Charles ‘Chance’ Hance is running from a drug addiction triggered by an injury, struggling with no longer being a pro, and chasing the ghost of his grandfather who died on the peak under suspicious circumstances. Riding is an addiction, and pain killers aren’t the only things that made him a junkie.

What was supposed to be a fun week with his old crew turns tragic when Chance is caught in an avalanche and barely escapes nature’s fury…and something more.

An ancient horror prowls the peak.

Chance’s obsessions shift as he hunts the yeti-like creatures, and is forced to fight for his life.

Proudly represented by Crystal Lake Publishing—Tales from the Darkest Depths.

Genres: Horror

258 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 4, 2022

About the author

Ed cut his teeth reading John Christopher, Tolkien, Poe, Brooks and Zelazny, and graduated to Joe Haldeman, Allen Steele, Arthur C. Clark and Jack Vance. For the last twenty years he’s done a deep dive on apocalyptic fiction, and he really enjoyed learning at the feet of Elmore Leonard, Philip K. Dick, Lawrence Block, Ray Bradbury, Carl Hiaasen, Stephen King, Joe Lansdale, and F. Paul Wilson. His recent publications include Hell Creek, Too Much Grit, The Cryptid Club, Keepers of the Flame, Quick Sands, Sandbagged, Dogs Get Ten Lives, Barracuda Swarm, Dinosaur Red, Drop Off, and Jurassic Ark. His sea thrillers, The Breach and Shadow of the Abyss were Amazon #1 Best Sellers and the audio version of The Breach was a #1 Hot New Release. His other novels include Throwback, Sea Tremors, Primeval Valley, AWAKE, The Black Death of Babylon, and HOAXERS. He lives on Long Island with his wife Dawn, and their daughter Samantha.

Reviews

[Peter Topside · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF at 61%. I’m not having good luck with books lately. This isn’t a bad story, but it took forever to find its flow, and even then it was bogged down with tons of flashbacks and past instances. I understand that they were central to Chance’s character, but they were way too frequent, mainly just interrupting the present day’s events. It was just continually hard to find my footing with any particular part of the book. The build up to the monsters being revealed was good and there was a nice level of intrigue. But, again, there was just way too much going in a disorganized fashion, so nothing was allowed to shine through. This needed to pick a primary focus, whether it was Chance’s processing of his past and his grandfather’s mysterious death, or just a creature feature. Trying to tackle both simultaneously was not a good idea, especially in this type of format.

[Bandit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not only did this book seemed right up my Abominable-obsessed, Yeti-loving, Sasquatch-fascinated alley, but it was perfectly suited for the first proper snow day in at least two winters. I was very excited to read it and somehow ended up quite disappointed with it. And I say somehow, because I’m not sure it’s the book’s fault or, more accurately, the book is technically too well done to find a fault with. Sometimes, it’s just one of those reader/book incompatibility things.
The plot is very straight forward - a man goes up the mountain to ski down it, like his grandfather before him. There’s a something up in the mountain that might not want company, might in fact be hostile to company altogether. Let the battle for survival begin.
Told through soul-searching hallucinatory visions, flashbacks, and copious action scenes, this one is meant to be positively cinematic. The author certainly does an excellent job of conveying the place – the peak is a character here, one of the main ones. One that is arguably more compelling than its humanoid counterparts.
The writing is perfectly decent, the pacing is technically dynamic…I can recognize it intellectually, even if it didn’t engage me emotionally. There was just something…not enough of the Abominables. Too overdone on the descriptions. I mean, I don’t get skiing or snowboarding really, and this was almost too technical, too play by play, of an account of such activities. I don’t know, it just didn’t connect and because of it slightly dragged or vice versa. Not quite as fun as the cover.
For one of the legendary giants done right/to my liking in fiction, check out Max Brooks’ Devolution. See the difference. This was just kinda sorta entertaining but that’s about it. Plus, I learned the word verglas. It’s used all over the place.
Many thanks to the publisher for providing a free ARC for reviewing purposes.

This and more at https://advancetheplot.weebly.com/

[Bon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was alright for a nice, gory creature feature.

The writing is not great, many, many sentences starting with he or his, so it became repetitive to read. The narrative itself is pretty incoherent at times, littered with fever dreams, unconscious visions, ghostly visits and flashbacks.

I loved the fear of the unseen monster. I think the author spoiled it by mentioning it looked like Chewbacca, and even gave gurgling roars like a wookie, though. All I could see was cuddly Chewy lmao!

The ending leg is quite chaotic and violent and it's difficult at times to figure out what's going on on-page or who's left alive. Still, plenty to enjoy here.

[Edwardky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great fun read.

[Michael J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

TERROR PEAK works as a great read and touches upon several genre categories: survival, adventure, extreme sports, and most of all - - horror.
This fast-paced novel is a suspenseful tale of battling hazardous, frigid conditions in the snowy Colorado mountains while attempting to successfully snowboard from the highest, most dangerous peaks. To complicate matters, there are huge yeti-like creatures who don't appreciate their neighborhood being disturbed this way.
Main character Chance Hance, a renowned extreme snowboarder whose reputation was damaged by drug addiction, is attempting to return to the limelight by successfully snowboarding down the steepest slopes of Abominable Mountain (following in the footsteps of his grandfather). His accident during an avalanche challenges him to stay alive and await rescue while avoiding a monstrous creature tracking his every movement.
Author McFadden flavors his survival tale with insights into the sport as well as grand descriptions of the mountainous scenery. There are plenty of thrills, even before the story takes a turn and things get bloody and gory for an even bigger cast of characters in the latter third of the novel.
The characterization and back-story are well done, and will have readers anxious to learn who survives the monstrous onslaught. The ending was a bit unexpected, but satisfactory.

[Join the Penguin Resistance! · Rating 5 out of 5]

TERROR PEAK'S success comes from its gifted balancing of deeply delved-into character, extreme wild settings, and a Spooky Supernatural aura as the Rockies go all Cryptid. Torn between "anybody that crazy deserves what's coming!" and "oh no preserve those poor misguided humans!", the novel balances on a thin tripwire while readers are breathless.

[Johann · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an ARC but my review is my own.

Chance is a very popular snowboarder who desperately wants to just blend in for a change. Abominable Mountain is where all snow enthusiasts hang out.
Many legends surround the mountain, but for Chance these legends may become all too real . Secrets, including how Chance's grandfather died, will become unearthed. But on this mountain the answers that Chance wants may actually get him killed and anyone else whose with him.

This was not just your average run of the mill Abominable Snowman tale but actually is wrapped in its own lore.

[Joshua Hair · Rating 1 out of 5]

I DNFed this thirty percent of the way in. The prose was taxing to get through from the start and the author’s attempts at giving a backstory via blackouts and unconscious dreams did not work. I don’t see myself getting anything else from this if I continued.

[Dixie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as his first one of same title. I found it a little broing in places, and slow, however, the thought of being stuck on a mountain top with a monster chasing you isn't my idea of a good time either.

[Adam Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable but repetitive. Seriously, half this book seems to describe various characters tumbling down the mountain or having crazy flashbacks. Good survival story but nothing too unique here.

[Robert Bose · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m a sucker for a good mountain adventure story. Especially if it involves disaster. And horror. And monsters. Which this book manages to combine in a fast paced, character driven, cryptid infused extravaganza.

The descriptions of the mountain environments and the thrill of carving virgin lines through dangerous terrain are excellent, and the backstory of lost glory, brokenness, and possible redemption is superbly accomplished. I love that the characters, pretty much all the characters (which there are many – maybe my one minor peeve since once the fur starts to fly, it gets to the point you have to pay attention to who is who), are resourceful and make smart choices. As they should as hardened, experienced mountain adventurers.

By the end I almost wanted to dig out and reread Touching the Void by Joe Simpson (highly recommended if you want a first-hand account of real-world equivalents). Then again, with the snow piling up outside, and the bitter bite to the air, it might be best to just snuggle on the couch with hot chocolate and pray nothing is lurking outside the windows.

[Ian Gielen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Creature feature books are a particular favourite of mine and this one did not disappoint.
Chance is a former pro snowboarder who has recently recovered from an injury and drug addiction and decides to follow in his Grandfather's footsteps to tackle Abominable Peak with his crew. Suffice it to say, things don't end well on his run and we get introduced to the horrors of Abominable Peak, not all creature related either.
This is a clever, well written and well researched book. The author clearly has a lot of knowledge of snowboarding and the wilderness itself. The characters are all relatable and each has their own flaws and motivations, making the story come together nicely.
Flashbacks to Chance's grandfather's time happen at intervals recalling what happened to him on the first ever snowboarding trip to Abominable Peak and ties into the story well.
It has gore, it has action, it has mystery and it has terrifying creatures. What more could you want?

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a lover of cryptid books. However, it seems that many of them are short and not always written well. So when I came across Terror Peak, I was excited to read it, but didn't have my hopes up.

I was wrong, what a great book. Well written, great character development, and kept you hanging on the edge of your seat.

The story is about Charles "Chance" Hanley, a recovering addict who is trying to get back on the slopes and skiing Abominable Peak. Things go wrong and he wipes out and suddenly finds himself fighting for his life against a large white beast.

Throughout the story, Chane and his friends are in a full on fight for their lives to survive and to get off the mountain.

Great book!

[Benny · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a fast-paced, action-packed story, with lots of elements that appealed to me: isolated, haunted protagonist; a setting just as dangerous as the wild cryptid on the hunt; a nice helping of gore. But it was a bit too fast-paced for me. I found it hard to get into the action, and found that I didn't much care about the characters.

[DL Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review:
  
Hello Darklings!
Being from the NE I tend to shy away from stories about snowstorms...why read about something you live 9 months out of the year. 

This story made me realize that I was wrong. Henceforth, consider snowy tundra horror on my TBR.
 Now, snowboarding is nowhere on my bucket list- especially after this story...

Go to uncomfortablydark.com for full review!

[Hannah Fenner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good easy read, kept my attention as a raced to the end to find out what was going to happen. Full of brilliant description and detail. Wonder if there will be a sequel?

[martha s. williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terror Peak

Good romp with mountain sports meet mountain monsters. And actually learned a bit about survival in the cold. I'm wondering about that spider web up there in the cave tho, hmmm. Could there be more in store for Chance, Biggie and Tatiana?

[Jean A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the story.

The story itself was good. My only complaint is the story jumps around too much. Other then that, it was a good book.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Creature Feature

Good story, characters and action . A few editing issues (Roland/Raymond, a few other minor mishaps) but not so many as to detract from the story.

[Stephen · Rating 2 out of 5]

To much snowboarding. DNF.

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel breaks roughly into three parts. The most creative and interesting is the first part where a group of extreme snowboarders are caught in an avalanche and Chance, the protagonist of the story, is nearly killed. I frankly would have been happy if the entire tale of “terror” had been his efforts to not be crushed, suffocated, and frozen by the extreme conditions. It was frankly fascinating, and he comes very near to death more than once, and each time he loses consciousness he has a dream or vision of dead members of his family both castigating him for his life choices and warning him about something terrible on the mountain. A clue to just what that terrible thing might be comes in the form of a red-eyed and clawed monster that tries to kill him. Chance would like to think this is another vision, but it injures him suggesting it is not.

The second part of the story comes after Chance is rescued by his friends and has returned to the small seasonal camp/town where other extreme sports enthusiasts gather—sort of like the big base camp at Mount Everest. A woman disappears from the camp and there is only a bloody trail giving any hint to what happened to her. Chance joins the woman’s husband and others (including a documentary film crew) to try and save the woman. They track her up the mountainside in increasingly bad conditions only to discover her in a cave with a very hungry abominable snowman. More deaths occur leading to the final part of the book.

Apparently having discovered that there is a fresh source of meat at the camp, a veritable troop of abominable snowmen spend the last third of the novel attacking the sports enthusiasts in increasingly severe weather conditions. The creatures are smart, and things go very badly for the humans. But frankly, the seemingly endless number of the creatures begins to weigh on the reader’s ability to suspend disbelief. Do all of these ravenous carnivores live on an isolated mountain top? Where are they getting the food they need to survive? I suppose it is theoretically possible that there are enough deer and bear but frankly it didn’t seem likely—especially that high up. And it also seems probable that any hunters or sports enthusiasts on the mountain would have been disappearing in very large numbers with this many monsters wanting to eat them. I think it would have been far better to have had only one monster hunting to bring food back to its very small family.

That being said, the final siege is exciting and while I had guessed how the survivors would escape, it was still interesting to see them enact their plan and have all the expected things go wrong with it. This is more of an adventure tale than a horror story, but still worth reading.

[Jim Ody · Rating 3 out of 5]

Creature feature books are great to push the boundaries of reality and turn up the tension, all the while splattering the pages with gore...

This was a good solid book following former snowboarding pro Chance, as he is stalked by evil in the Rocky Mountains. The only things that stopped this being a higher rating for me was the description of the setting often made it hard to picture. This wasn't all down to the author, but soon the descriptive words for snowy mountains become sparse.

Crystal Lake Publishing give us another good book. If you love a bit of adventure with your horror then this is the book for you.

[beach horrorreader · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5. Another fun read from Crystal Lake Publishing. Chance returns to find what happened to his grandfather. He and others are daredevil snowboarders. The only thing scarier than what they do is the red-eyed, white-haired creature that roams the mountain. Maybe. There are some clunky parts where it’s hard to tell what’s going on (although I was on vacation and sipping on rum n cokes while reading this). Has a nice twist or two in the last quarter of the book. Chilly and chilling.

[Debbi Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This man can write!

Beautiful prose that drags you in. It grabs you by the neck, shakes you, and doesn't let go until the end.
Highly recommended!