Book Synopsis:
Two friends
Wynn and Jack have been best friends since their first day of college, brought together by their shared love of books and the great outdoors.
The adventure of a lifetime
When they decide to take time off university and canoe down the Maskwa River in northern Canada, they anticipate the ultimate wilderness experience.
No phones.
No fellow travellers.
No way of going back.
A hellish ride
But as a raging wildfire starts to make its way towards them, their expedition becomes a desperate race for survival. And when a man suddenly appears, claiming his wife has vanished, the fight against nature’s destructive power becomes entangled with a much deadlier game of cat and mouse.
The River is available in ebook and paperback now. You can purchase your copy using the link below.
My Review:
The River is a descriptive, emotional thriller about survival and friendship.
The thing that stands out about this book is the author’s wonderful descriptions of the Canadian wilderness which is so vivid that it makes the reader think they are actually there experiencing everything alongside the characters. Canada has been top of my must see places for ages so I drank in all the fabulous descriptions and the details about the animals the boys see there.
The two main characters Wynn and Jack are very likeable guys who I warmed to instantly. They are two best friends with a shared love of the outdoors and I enjoyed reading about the contrast between them. Wynn is a gentle guy who always looks on the bright side of life, while Jack is a tougher guy who’s a lot more cautious. Their friendship was lovely to read about and I so enjoyed following them on their journey.
The author slowly builds up the tension in the book as the fire gets steadily closer and the boys start encountering strange people. As things get more desperate the boys have to fall back on their survival skills which makes for very interesting reading. All this combined makes for a truly gripping read which I couldn’t put down as I was so absorbed in the story. The life or death circumstances without any safety net, no phones what were they thinking, further adds to the thrilling nature of this book. I had to keep reading to find out what happens to the boys.
The ending was very clever and took me completely by surprise which is always a bonus! This is the first book I’ve read from this author and I’d definitely be interested in reading more from him in the future.
Huge thanks to Tracy Fenton for inviting me onto the blog tour and to W&N publishers for my copy of this book.
About The Author:
PETER HELLER is the award-winning author of THE DOG STARS, a New York Times bestseller and a Guardian, San Francisco Chronicle and Atlantic Book of the Year.
Born and raised in New York, he has travelled the world as an expedition kayaker, writing about challenging descents in the Pamirs, the Tien Shan mountains, the Caucuses, Central America and Peru.
He is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where he received an MFA in fiction and poetry, and won a Michener fellowship for his epic poem ‘The Psalms of Malvine’.
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