Play Book Tag discussion

Summit by Harry Farthing is a fast-paced thriller told across two timelines, each following an attempt on Mount Everest: one in 1938, as Nazi Germany rises, and the other in 2009, in an era of heavily commercialized climbing.

Josef Becker (1938): A gifted German climber who opposes the Nazis, Becker is forced by Heinrich Himmler and the SS to lead a covert expedition. The goal is to plant a Nazi flag on the summit as proof of Aryan superiority.

Neil Quinn (2009): A world-weary veteran guide, Quinn is escorting a wealthy and arrogant client up the mountain when a violent storm pins them near the top. There he finds an old ice ax carrying clues that could rewrite mountaineering history and expose a scandal powerful people will kill to keep hidden.

Farthing is an experienced high-altitude climber, and it shows. His vivid portrayals of frostbite, oxygen deprivation, treacherous crevasses, and the brutality of the Death Zone turn the mountain into a living, menacing opponent.

The alternating chapters flow naturally rather than feeling disconnected, building steady momentum. Both men are under constant pressure, Becker from the Gestapo and Quinn from corrupt corporate sponsors and punishing weather, and this keeps the story moving at a rapid pace. The 1938 thread is especially strong. It features real historical figures such as Himmler and the SS's Ahnenerbe (Ancestral Heritage Society), showing how totalitarian regimes exploited adventure and sport for propaganda. Becker is a nuanced and morally complex lead, but some of the 2009 clients fall back on familiar stereotypes of the modern Everest tourist: entitled, reckless, and ill-prepared.

"Summit" is an exciting read that should appeal to fans of historical fiction, thrillers, and mountaineering alike. The author lifts what could have been a standard survival tale into a gripping mystery about hidden history, obsession, and the price of ambition at the limits of human endurance. I listened to the Audible version narrated by the author, who did a good job.