This is the story of three men trying to summit Everest for the first time, under the guise of searching for a wealthy British aristocrat that lost his life on Everest under mysterious circumstances. 
 The book has been criticized for being overly technical in its explanation of mountain climbing, but I found it extremely interesting. I felt like I was right there with them, which increased the suspense for me. I felt like the mystery to be solved was secondary to their trying to achieve the summit of Everest. 
 There are definitely a few twists that I did not see coming, but I don't know if it improved the story or not. It fell apart a bit for me towards the end, but getting there was thrilling!