This easy summertime read will feel comfortable for any Jeffrey Archer fan; his writing style is intact, and the story is epic (his favorite kind). Unlike other recent Archer novels, this one breaks with his formula and feels fresher, thanks to the premise of exploring the life of James Mallory, whom many believe to be the first man to climb Mount Everest. Mallory disappeared during his last attempt to climb the mountain in the 1920's, and his body was later recovered in 1999 about 600 feet from the summit. Archer combines facts and his own fictional storytelling to paint a portrait of Mallory's private life, personal drive to conquer anything he could climb and the influence of those around him. The characters are mostly likable (there always has to be one villain in an Archer book, but the one in Paths of Glory is pretty easy to live with), and the journey was interesting to someone like me with little understanding of the undertaking involved in climbing Everest.