This is a powerful recounting of the 1996 Everest disaster which saw a significant number of lives lost after an untracked storm hit the mountain as multiple climbers had summited or aimed to summit (the events have also been made into the movie Everest, released in 2015/2016). 
Overall it's a fast paced read which probably reflects how quickly Krakauer wrote and released it after the events (which he's admitted was too fast). I would definitely be interested in reading another book recounting the same incident but that has some distance from the events.
You do get to know some of the other climbers and trip leaders which makes the piece empathetic and gives a human piece but for me there was just a little something missing which may be linked to that quick release schedule