The Book I Regretfully Couldn't Finish Reading

Several years ago I picked up a rather large book on a complete whim, and turned out to be the most horrific book I had ever read. That book was The Terror by Dan Simmons.

Flash forward to this year. Dan Simmons released another novel which I was giddy over. I even pre-ordered it so that I would get it as soon as it was released. Judging it only by its cover (we all know how that works), I was hoping for the same terrifying storytelling that had gripped me with The Terror.

The book is called The Abominable. It's another huge book, full of historical details. It is evident that Simmons did his research. Unfortunately for me, it was well past page 160 when the word Yeti made it's very first appearance. I stuck with the book deep into 200-plus pages, hoping that 1) the pace would speed up and 2) the scary stuff would kick in. Sadly, neither happened.

I think if you are a reader who has a niche interest in mountain climbing (especially around the time when reaching the summit of Everest had not yet been successful), this book will appeal to you. Perfectly.

For me, I just couldn't stick it out. I had fantasies of Yeti horror stories yet all I got was a lesson on mountain climbing jargon.

To Simmons' credit, he really did a good job researching the time period and all the specifics related to scaling a summit. It just didn't make for an entertaining story (for me).