High Crimes

Climbing Mount Everest has always been an imposing prospect for the intrepid souls who brave its peaks, but, as author Michael Kodas makes clear, nowadays the thing to fear the most may not be the mountain's aloof and forbidding precipices, but the opportunistic shysters and outright criminals exploiting the legions of mountaineers making the climb. Kodas--who joined a diverse group of climbers in a major expedition--paints a world of international thievery and terror. Narrator Mark Deakins speaks in a refined tone as he details the ways suburban warriors--perhaps ones with too much time on their hands and too much money in their pockets--have soured the Everest experience. J.S.H. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine


This fascinating work concerns the dark underworld that has grown out of the commercialization of Mount Everest. There's the story of the climber who was abandoned by his guide during an ascent and tales of scores of threats and assaults that have taken place on journeys to the world's highest peak. Providing listeners new insights into a largely unknown milieu, narrator Holter Graham offers a personal reading that captures the spirit of the tales, including reporter Kodas's account of his own trip to the top of Everest. Graham engages listeners as he makes each story as believable as it is thrilling. Listeners will find themselves shivering as they hear about bitter wintry nights and gasping for air as they climb higher and higher with Graham, who entertains to no end. L.B. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine