WICKED RIVER

3.5 stars out of 5

Comparisons with James Dickey's Deliverance are virtually inevitable: Characters set off for what they expect will be an exciting wilderness experience, meet up with a character or characters who have less than honorable intent and emerge with their lives forever altered. Such is the case in this book, which begins as just-married Natalie and Doug Larson head out by canoe on a honeymoon that will take them through a remote area of New York's six-million-acre Adirondack Forest Preserve.

From that point on, though, there are differences - the first of which is that Natalie witnesses interactions among Doug's friends before the ceremony that make her suspect her new husband may be hiding something (that he's a domineering jerk apparently has escaped her notice thus far). Now, she's more than a bit reluctant to head out for a week with no way to contact any other human being besides Doug - she can't even read a map, for gosh sake.

As they paddle along (she clearly struggling), Doug continues to counter each of Natalie's concerns with his know-it-all attitude. That neither is really up to the challenge becomes clear early on as they encounter the almost overwhelming mental and physical consequences of getting lost (the latter requiring near super-human efforts to overcome). All this takes place quite some time before they encounter the inevitable bad guy. His name is Kurt, and he's a wilderness survivor in hiding who more than anything else craves the company of other humans. He's eager to welcome "guests" with open heart and arms, but he's also taken elaborate steps to ensure that whoever enters his lair will remain ensnared till death do him or her part.

The canoe trip is eventful almost from the git-go, and anticipation builds as chapters shift from the couple's perspective to that of the forest pervert (all with full knowledge that at some point, the twains shall meet up). What was most interesting to me, though, was watching the demeanors of Natalie and Doug shift almost full circle - he becoming less assertive and she more confident (not that it made either of them more likable). Kurt, meanwhile, remains true to his damaged self, but readers do get glimpses of how that damage was inflicted and by whom.

Once Natalie and Doug are in Kurt's clutches, their struggle to escape and his efforts to prevent that from happening begins. This section, too, requires the kind of human effort I seriously doubt has ever happened in real life, but it does keep the story moving along. The final section deals with the outcome, which of course I won't reveal.

I didn't mention that Natalie has a sister, who in turn has an estranged husband and recalcitrant daughter, Mia (the latter of whom makes an introductory appearance at the wedding and again near the end but otherwise is pretty much, as her name suggests, missing in action). That omission was deliberate; I mention her here only because I have to wonder why she's included at all. Her "contribution" to the finish is not only totally implausible, but borderline silly. 

All things considered, this is an enjoyable adventure, at least for those (like me) who don't need to fall in love with the characters to like a story. Here's my final thought: Like that other book, this one - with a few tweaks here and there - also would make a pretty exciting movie. If that happens, in fact, I'll be one of the first in line! 

Wicked River by Jenny Milchman (Sourcebooks Landmark, May 2018); 466 pp.