I had read about the Dyatlov Pass incident several years ago and it fascinated me based on the "supernatural" feel of what had happened or what the authorities "thought" had probably happened, so when I found this book I thought it would be interesting to explore perhaps another point of view, after all it had been 63 years without any real answers, just speculation. The author did a great job of presenting all the facts that have been put out there over all those years. Eventually the pace and suspense picks up leading to a compelling explanation that literally borders on cosmic horror. The book kept me reading hoping to understand what was going on but at the end I am still puzzled. Some of the explanations I have read before, some are the stuff of "Science Fiction Theater", but as the quote goes..."There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy” I am not going to hash out the plot because basically it was a bunch of interviews with the key players and was very vague until the end. Even at the end there is the smell of mystery and the truth is, that what they found was in itself simply inexplicable. I respected the author for telling the story without adding embellishments that would have boosted book sales but would have been no closer to the truth. If you are interested in the real life mystery of Dyatlov Pass, I’d suggest this would be a good, honest start. ( )

This took me awhile to read, partly due to illness and partly due to it being slow. For me, it was slow going for the first half then it sped up a little. It was an interesting mix of fact and fiction.
Dyatlov Pass and what happened to the nine hikers, (7 men, 2 women), stays with me. Is this book horror? Only in the deaths of these people. They died terrified and painfully. That really happened so it is always hard for me to read about. But it is also they way they died and the way they were found that haunts me and makes me want to know what happened to them. It has remained a mystery though there are thoughts about it, (if you haven’t heard of this, please go look it up. It’s worth it.)
In this book we have Viktor, a reporter who starts looking into it as a last chance for coming up with a story good enough for him to keep his job. In his investigation, we see how the Russian Government keeps it shrouded in mystery. I’m not going to go into everything because you wouldn’t need to read the book. I’m old enough to have been taught, in history classes, about the Cold War, Russian spies and the fear of the Russian government by the people of Russia. The book plays into that and also has a science fiction bend to it. For me, the book is a blend of mystery and science fiction rather than horror or thriller. I enjoyed the second half much better than the first half.
If you are looking for an explanation that is not sci-fi based, you won’t find it here. If you like sci-fi and government conspiracy, this is for you. I didn’t buy into the explanation, (and I do think something in the sci-fi realm could be possible. I don’t know why we think we may be the life out there.). I’m not sure why but nope. It is fiction though so you really don’t need to accept that explanation to enjoy the book. It certainly gives you something to think about. I’m not sorry I read this. It took me awhile but I did enjoy parts of it. I’m not terribly big on either espionage mysteries or sci-fi genres so please take that into consideration. I’m actually giving this 3.5 stars but I’m rounding up to 4 because if those were my genres, I might have liked it more.
I read this through the Kindle Unlimited program. ( )