Fairly slow, though it picks up in the second half. ( )

After a too-long and somewhat boring introduction, this book got pretty interesting.

I read it not because I want to be a BASE jumper or fly in a wingsuit, but because I always wonder about the people who do want to do things like this, the adrenalin junkies of the world.

This book follows the history of wingsuits, and to a lesser extent, BASE jumping. More interesting to me are the bits about some of the key players in the sport. And I got that, but not to the extent I would have liked.

I also got quite a bit about sewing wingsuits, and glide ratios, and technicalities that I found midly interesting, but not in so much detail.

The men and, to a lesser extent, women who jump are interesting characters, lots of nerve, a certain amount of ego and hubris, and a bit of selfishness that costs their families.

The writing was solid, nothing spectacular, and the book is a good one to be read by those interested in trying the sport. And by those, like I am, who have no intention of jumping off a perfectly good structure or out of a well-functioning aircraft, but who like a little bit of vicarious living.

I was given an advance readers copy of this book for review. ( )