The River

I have read both The Dog Stars and Celine by Peter Heller, the latter being one of my all-time favorites. His language is so beautiful and his characters and settings so vividly drawn that the plot is almost secondary, except it isn't. All his books have drawn me in and pulled me along, and this last one especially so. Spoiler alert, this book does not have an altogether happy ending.
Our protagonists are two college friends from Dartmouth who instantly bonded over their shared love of the outdoors, fishing, and reading. In fact, between their junior and senior year, they have worked as outdoor experience instructors and are now taking a canoe trip up the Maskwa River in the remote Canadian wilderness. They are an excellent team, each bringing their own strengths, although they are different in temperament and stature. Jack is wiry and more cynical. Wynn is a big man with a trusting nature and optimistic outlook. Although their combined experiences and knowledge prepared them well to deal with a raging forest fire they discover is headed their way, their differences contribute to fatal mis-steps when they encounter some bad people. As they are heading north, trying to keep ahead of the fire they encounter a couple of boorish older men, drinking heavily who seem uninterested in their warning about the fire. In a weird morning fog, they hear a man and woman loudly arguing on the shore but are unable to locate them to warn them. Later they encounter a man coming down river alone, saying he lost his wife--perhaps the couple they overheard. Both young men immediately retrace their steps to try and find the missing woman, but only Jack is suspicious of the circumstances. When they do find her, seriously injured, the urgency to get to a town several days away increases dramatically. Glowing reviews are provided by The New York Times, Kirkus, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and The Guardian.