cover image Darwin's Race

Darwin's Race

Brian Ullmann, . . Medallion, $7.95 (522pp) ISBN 978-1-9347-5507-5

Adventure sportsman Ullmann pours real-life mountain climbing know-how into this impressive debut thriller. Ratings-hungry television producer Terrance Carlton sends two teams of veteran mountain climbers on a do-or-die race to the top of Tibet's 22,000-foot-high (fictional) Kuk Sur. Besides the $2 million prize, all involved have their own private reasons for making the trek. Tight-lipped millionaire Preston Child and his daughter, Malika, give only vague reasons for buying their way into the competition. Veteran mountaineer Conner Michaels is hunting for the body of his brother, a casualty of his last Kuk Sur climb. The members of the two teams duke it out with the unrelenting elements, the unmovable mountain, each other, their own demons and a ferocious yeti. The chills and thrills are only outnumbered by the sports gear brand names, which add verisimilitude at the cost of pacing. (May)