The River—Peter Heller

From the ominous opening line– “They had been smelling smoke for two days.”–we are alerted to what might become of the idyllic two-week canoeing trip on The River. It is a gripping, at times poetic, white-knuckle adventure of two college friends on a meticulously planned, physically demanding paddling trip to Hudson Bay at the end of summer.    After all the smoke has cleared The River is a very tender portrayal of the friendship of two young men embedded in a heart-pounding page-turner.