SHOOK :: Jennifer Hull

A version of this review previously appeared in Shelf Awareness and is republished here with permission.

If mountaineering were a more publicized sport, Dave Hahn would be likened to Michael Jordan. The subject of Jennifer Hull's gripping first book, Hahn not only shattered records, he did it "while climbing as a working guide, with nonprofessional climber clients safely in tow." Known as an elite climber, Hahn has also received numerous awards for daring rescues and unselfish valor. Perhaps most amazingly, Hahn helped find the body of famed British explorer George Mallory, missing on Mount Everest since 1924.

In other words, if you're going to climb Everest, where "the ratio of deaths to summits... [hovers] at around one death for every five successful summits," you want to hire Dave Hahn. This may never have been truer than in 2015, a year after an avalanche in the Khumbu Icefall killed 16 Sherpas. Ongoing tectonic action wed with global warming means the mountain is changing. As Hahn's group attempted to reach the summit in 2015, their biggest worry was the rebuilt Icefall. Little did they know they would also face a 7.8 earthquake that struck Nepal, killing 22 people (the deadliest Everest disaster) and trapping the team on the mountain.

In Shook, Jennifer Hull deftly merges the story of how Hahn became the icon he is with a detailed account of the 2015 expedition that ended with so much death and destruction. The small details are magnificent, adding to the personalization of Everest, its pull and its power. Hull's narrative smoothly transitions and covers the rescue, never overshadowing the lives of the locals who sacrifice to make dreams possible.