In a major review of The Third Man Factor , The Wall Street Journal's Michael J. Ybarra has endorsed the book as "highly readable ... gripping." Here's an excerpt from the full review, which is available at wsj.com here.

In "The Third Man Factor," John Geiger, a fellow at the University of Toronto, presents many accounts of such experiences, and not only from climbers. Among those who have felt a ghostly companionship he cites Charles Lindbergh on his solo flight across the ­Atlantic in 1927 and the last man to walk out of the South Tower of the World Trade ­Center before it ­collapsed on 9/11. "Over the years," Mr. Geiger writes, "the ­experience has ­occurred again and again, not only to 9/11 survivors, mountaineers, and ­divers, but also to ­polar explorers, ­prisoners of war, solo sailors, shipwreck ­survivors, aviators, and ­astronauts. All have ­escaped ­traumatic events only to tell strikingly similar stories of having experienced the close presence of a companion and helper." Mr. ­Geiger's book is a highly readable, often gripping, ­collection of survival stories, alongside a survey of theories that attempt to explain the third-man phenomenon.