The Summit

"Magnificent! A compelling, fast-paced novel that reveals a rarely seen dark side of Everest. A must-read!"-James W. Huston, New York Times bestselling author of The Blood Flag The view from 8,848 meters isn't always clear. Even after eight successful summits, Mount Everest guide Neil Quinn can't handle anything the mountain throws his way. Disaster strikes steps from the top, leaving him with a very old swastika-embellished ice axe that should never have been so high on the mountain-not if Everest's meticulously documented history is accurate. Danger doesn't stop at the descent. When he heads back to Europe, blackballed and alone, he struggles to discover the truth about this lost relic. Quinn's investigations soon have neo-Nazis, assassins, and history buffs vying to take possession of the axe-proof of Nazi alpine superiority, and strong evidence that a German climber was the first to summit Mount Everest. Beautifully written and meticulously researched, Summit follows two climbers across two continents as their stories intertwine across history, culminating in one final push for the top of the world. "Gripping...Farthing vividly depicts the challenges of mountain climbing."-Publishers Weekly