‘The River’ by Peter Heller

This is the kind of gem that I love to discover–a literary suspense novel. It’s a gripping tale of friendship, whitewater, starvation, and brutality. The writing is beautiful and the pace is unrelenting. I couldn’t put the book down and ‘lived’ on the river while I was reading it. It will appeal to a wide range of readers but especially to those who love to canoe and camp!

Wynn and Jack are best friends from college. They are well versed in wilderness survival but they are about to be tested in ways they never could have imagined. What begins as a dream paddle on a remote river in the Canadian north, turns into a nightmare when forest fires threaten and they are overtaken by a sinister mystery. Shrouded by fog in their canoe on the river, the pair overhear a couple on the bank engaged in a heated argument. The next day they see the man alone in the canoe, and there is no sign of the woman.