The best chilling adventure books to read instead of going out in the elements

Why am I passionate about this?

I've often lived around the fringes of nature, from late-night cross-country road trips through forested backwoods, to living off-grid in New Mexico's high desert. As much as I've lived in the shadow of mountains and extreme environments, I've never dared to venture up into them – and I'm endlessly fascinated by the people who do. What is it that drives people toward extreme sports and outdoor challenges, even understanding the risks? Why do people risk life and limb to venture into places where man isn't meant to be? It's a question I don't think I'll ever stop finding fascinating. 


I wrote...

Neverest

By T.L. Bodine,

Book cover of Neverest

What is my book about?

Guided by a travel journal left behind by her husband, Carrie ventures into the frozen, open-air graveyard of the world's tallest peak. But as Sean’s diary and Carrie’s experiences reveal, climbing the mountain is more than a test of endurance; it’s a battle of wills with an ancient and hostile force protecting the mountain—and the dead do not rest easy at the summit.

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

The books I picked & why

Book cover of The White Road

T.L. Bodine Why did I love this book?

Lotz's book is an intense character study, painting a portrait of her protagonist in masterful strokes.

Simon Newman is complex – simultaneously thrill-seeking but lazy, ambitious but anxious, traumatized but desperate to hide his weakness.

He has no business searching for bodies in the notoriously dangerous Cwm Pots, and he takes away exactly the wrong lessons from his survival. He certainly has no business on Mount Everest, and knows it. But now he's haunted by the (possibly literal) ghosts of his own bad choices, and he's in too deep now.

This book is a journey in its own right. 

By Sarah Lotz,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The White Road as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

*****From the author of The Three, coming soon to your screen as a major BBC adaptation by Golden Globe winner Peter Straughan*****

Adrenaline-junky Simon Newman sneaks onto private land to explore a dangerous cave in Wales with a strange man he's met online. But Simon gets more than he bargained for when the expedition goes horribly wrong. Simon emerges, the only survivor, after a rainstorm trap the two in the cave. Simon thinks he's had a lucky escape.

But his video of his near-death experience has just gone viral.

Suddenly Simon finds himself more famous than he could ever have…


Book cover of The Ascent: A Novel of Survival

T.L. Bodine Why did I love this book?

Malfi is an expert of cold-weather horror, and he doesn't disappoint with this journey through the Himalayas.

Extreme sports enthusiast Tim Overleigh joins a once-in-a-lifetime expedition to Godesh Ridge in Nepal. But Tim, mourning his dead wife and still in recovery from a serious climbing accident, has a lot of mental baggage to unpack.

Worse, the people he's with – and the forces on the mountain aren't what he thought he was signing up for. Part survival story, part murder mystery, this is a page-turner that kept me white-knuckled all the way through to the finale. 

By Ronald Malfi,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Ascent as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

After the death of his ex-wife, successful sculptor Tim Overleigh trades in his lucrative career for the world of extreme sports, but when a caving accident nearly ends his life, Tim falls into a self-destructive depression. On the cusp of madness, an old friend convinces him to join a team of men climbing the Godesh ridge in Nepal. When this journey of mythical and spiritual discovery rapidly turns deadly as the climbers fall victim to a murderer within their group, the remaining survivors begin to wonder if any of them will escape the mountains alive.


Book cover of The Hunger

T.L. Bodine Why did I love this book?

A meticulously researched retelling of the Donner Party tragedy, Katsu's book is a slow-spooled tragedy and creeping horror of intense claustrophobia and distrust.

And that's before the supernatural elements take hold! This book is meaty, with a lot to chew on and a ton of character drama packed into its relatively brief word count, but you'll leave it thinking quite differently about the forces that shaped our American frontier...

By Alma Katsu,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Hunger as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Deeply, deeply disturbing, hard to put down, not recommended reading after dark." - Stephen King

After having travelled west for weeks, the party of pioneers comes to a crossroads. It is time for their leader, George Donner, to make a choice. They face two diverging paths which lead to the same destination. One is well-documented - the other untested, but rumoured to be shorter.

Donner's decision will shape the lives of everyone travelling with him. The searing heat of the desert gives way to biting winds and a bitter cold that freezes the cattle where they stand. Driven to the…


Book cover of Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster

T.L. Bodine Why did I love this book?

A work of nonfiction, this is Krakauer's memoir of the then-worst tragedy to befall climbers on Mount Everest – a doomed 1996 summit bid that left five people dead and another irrevocably changed.

This is an intense and breathless journey to the peak, that leaves you simultaneously longing to go on this journey and see the sights described...and very happy to be home warm in bed and far from this miserable call to adventure.

This is the flagship mountaineering memoir for a reason! 

By Jon Krakauer,

Why should I read it?

17 authors picked Into Thin Air as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The epic account of the storm on the summit of Mt. Everest that claimed five lives and left countless more—including Krakauer's—in guilt-ridden disarray. 

"A harrowing tale of the perils of high-altitude climbing, a story of bad luck and worse judgment and of heartbreaking heroism." —PEOPLE

A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that "suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down." He was wrong. 

By writing Into Thin Air, Krakauer may have hoped to exorcise some of his own demons…


Book cover of The Luminous Dead

T.L. Bodine Why did I love this book?

Starling's book takes you on journey to a different sort of landscape – a sci-fi flavored cave system of bioluminescent fungi and devastatingly large, menacing worms who tunnel through stone.

The book centers on just two characters, strangers linked by survival and an empathic connection as well as the highly advanced technology that allows for survival in these extreme conditions.

But what starts as a seemingly straightforward recovery mission quickly goes sideways, and you learn that neither character is exactly who they seem to be.

What follows is an intense cat-and-mouse game of trust that's simultaneously intense, horrifying, and oddly intimate...

By Caitlin Starling,

Why should I read it?

8 authors picked The Luminous Dead as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Bram Stoker Award nominee for Best First Novel!

"This claustrophobic, horror-leaning tour de force is highly recommended for fans of Jeff VanderMeer's Annihilation and Andy Weir's The Martian." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

A thrilling, atmospheric debut with the intensive drive of The Martian and Gravity and the creeping dread of Annihilation, in which a caver on a foreign planet finds herself on a terrifying psychological and emotional journey for survival.

When Gyre Price lied her way into this expedition, she thought she'd be mapping mineral deposits, and that her biggest problems would be cave collapses and gear malfunctions. She…


You might also like...

The Sailor Without a Sweetheart

By Katherine Grant,

Book cover of The Sailor Without a Sweetheart

Katherine Grant Author Of The Viscount Without Virtue

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Novelist History nerd Amateur dancer Reader New Yorker

Katherine's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

Enjoy this Persuasion-inspired historical romance!

Six years ago, Amy decided *not* to elope with Captain Nate Preston. Now, he is back in the neighborhood, and he is shocked to discover that Amy is unmarried. Even more surprising, she is clearly battling some unnamed illness. Thrown together by circumstances outside their control, Nate and Amy try to be friends. Soon, it becomes clear that their feelings for each other never died. Has anything changed, or are they destined for heartbreak once more?

The Sailor Without a Sweetheart

By Katherine Grant,

What is this book about?

Is love worth giving a second chance?

Six years ago, Amy Lamplugh decided not to elope with Nate Preston. Ever since, she has been working hard to convince herself she was right to choose her family over Nate.

Now, Nate is back. After an illustrious career as a naval captain, he faces a court martial for disobeying orders while fighting the slave trade. He accepts an invitation to await the trial at a country estate outside of Portsmouth - and discovers he is suddenly neighbors with Amy.

Nate is shocked to find that Amy didn’t end up marrying someone rich…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Mount Everest, self-actualization, and mountaineering?

10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about Mount Everest, self-actualization, and mountaineering.

Mount Everest Explore 16 books about Mount Everest
Self-Actualization Explore 205 books about self-actualization
Mountaineering Explore 37 books about mountaineering