The Third Man Factor Paperback by John Geiger

Product Details

• Publisher: Penguin Canada (2026-09-08)
• Language: English
• Paperback: 312 pages
• ISBN-13: 9781037805295
• Item Weight: 266.49 grams
• Dimensions: 20.22 x 13.23 x 2.03 cm

*INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER*

“Compelling . . . edge-of-seat reading.” —The Globe and Mail

From bestselling and award-winning author John Geiger, an extraordinary account of the unseen presence felt by people at the very edge of death—a phenomenon left unexplained until now.

The Third Man Factor tells the revealing story behind an extraordinary idea: that people at the very edge of death, often adventurers or explorers, experience a benevolent presence beside them that encourages them to make one final effort to survive.

If only a handful of people had ever experienced the Third Man, it might be dismissed as an unusual delusion, but over the years the experience has occurred again and again: to mountaineers, divers, polar explorers, prisoners of war, solo sailors, aviators, astronauts and 9/11 survivors. All have escaped traumatic events only to tell strikingly similar stories of having experienced the close presence of a helper or a guardian.

In The Third Man Factor, John Geiger combines history, scientific analysis, and great adventure stories to explain this secret to survival, the Third Man who—in the words of legendary climber Reinhold Messner—“leads you out of the impossible.”

About the Author

John Geiger is the author of five books, including the bestsellers The Third Man Factor: Surviving the Impossible and Frozen in Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition. A member of the editorial board of The Globe and Mail, he is also a fellow of the Explorers Club, governor of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, and chair of the Society's Expeditions Committee. His work has been translated into ten languages. Born in Ithaca, New York, he lives in Toronto.