This book handles a much-sensationalized event with sensitivity and level-headedness. I started reading it with some trepidation, both because the story of this incident has been highly sensationalized, and also because Eichar had no previous background with Russia or the Soviet Union. Early in the book, during Eichar's first trip to Russia, there were several descriptions of the kind that I dislike, which portray everything as a "Soviet legacy," dirty, broken, grim, and incomprehensible. This book didn't do nearly as much of that as some, however, and it didn't continue past the early part of his trip.

The tragic fate of the 9 hikers, and the strange circumstances under which they died, have been the subject of quite a few books and films, many of which paint a salacious picture of infighting, jealousy, lovers' quarrels, as well as horrific government conspiracies and malice. This book acknowledged the existence of those views, and then summarily dispensed with them, to my great relief. It provides a sober reconstruction of the original hiking expedition, the recovery operations and official investigations, and the author's own investigation--a format which works well for this type of narrative.