" I have to admire the masterful way the plot unfolds as a possible--just possible--piece of previously unrevealed history, and I closed the book with a pleasurable sense of 'What If?'" ~Hank

A thrilling tale of high-altitude death and survival set on the snowy summits of Mount Everest, from the bestselling author of The Terror

It's 1924 and the race to summit the world's highest mountain has been brought to a terrified pause by the shocking disappearance of George Mallory and Sandy Irvine high on the shoulder of Mt. Everest. By the following year, three climbers -- a British poet and veteran of the Great War, a young French Chamonix guide, and an idealistic young American -- find a way to take their shot at the top. They arrange funding from the grieving Lady Bromley, whose son also disappeared on Mt. Everest in 1924. Young Bromley must be dead, but his mother refuses to believe it and pays the trio to bring him home.

Deep in Tibet and high on Everest, the three climbers, joined by the missing boy's female cousin, find themselves being pursued through the night by someone . . . or something. This nightmare becomes a matter of life and death at 28,000 feet - but what is pursuing them? And what is the truth behind the 1924 disappearances on Everest? As they fight their way to the top of the world, the friends uncover a secret far more abominable than any mythical creature could ever be. A pulse-pounding story of adventure and suspense, The Abominable is Dan Simmons at his spine-chilling best.

Tomorrow night, Wednesday, October 23, 2013, at 7:30 pm at our Historic Lodo store

Colorado author Dan Simmons, the award-winning author whose works include the beloved Hyperion science fiction series, Drood, and The Terror, will read from and sign his new novel The Abominable.

Can’t make it to the signing? Request an autographed copy here: books@tatteredcover.com

Hank says:

"For people who are inclined to skip forewords: Don't do it with this one!

It's fairly lengthy, at over 20 pages, but I found it fascinating, as an introduction to the story to come. Then I got to the end of it, thunked myself on the head, and thought, 'Hey--you were just screwing with my head!' Happily, when it's all in good fun, I sometimes like having my head screwed with.

Simmons sets up The Abominable, an adventure tale of the early days of (Westerners') Himalayan exploration, as the work of a man he met in a nursing home, as he neared the end of his life. What follows is ostensibly the manuscript Jake Perry was inspired to write, after talking to Simmons. My skeptical side is pretty sure the writing is pure Dan Simmons. After all, the book is subtitled 'A Novel,' not 'Some Other Guy's Memoir That Fell into My Lap through Unlikely Circumstances'! But as dubious as I was from the beginning, I have to admire the masterful way the plot unfolds as a possible--just possible--piece of previously unrevealed history, and I closed the book with a pleasurable sense of 'What If?' Which I suppose is a hallmark of good fiction."