Opinion: Investigative mystery by Donnie Eichar uncovering the details behind the eerie Dyatlov Pass incident in 1959. I loved this book and Eichar goes the distance in uncovering this mystery, from pouring through old case files to partnering with case experts and traversing the mountains himself. Eichar does a good job of alternating between present-day investigations and past events; they are separate chapters throughout the book so some chapters are denser than others. At times I felt Eichar used too much creative freedom in recounting the past but when paired with photos and journal entries from the hikers, it created a real emotional connection for me, and I totally cried. At the end of the book, Eichar offers his own conclusions of what really happened, and I’ll leave it at that. 

Synopsis: Eichar exhaustively investigates the mysterious death of nine hikers in the Russian Ural Mountains by digging into case files, journals, and interviews. Eichar also teams up with scientists and current case experts and journeys to the Ural Mountains in an attempt to retrace the steps of these hikers. Eichar alternates from 1959 to present day in recounting the group’s final few weeks and the original investigation of their deaths. There are personal elements of the hikers throughout the book in the form of photos and journal entries. Eichar does exercise his own creative storytelling when recounting events, which may detract from the authenticity of events, but it makes for an immersive story. POTENTIAL SPOILER…

In the last chapter, Eichar takes full creative freedom (and explicitly mentions so) in recreating a story of the hikers’ last two days based on evidence.