The RiverThe River
Score Modern
What it's about
Best friends Wynn and Jack set out to canoe the Maskwa River in northern Canada, expecting lazy days of paddling and blueberries, until a wildfire starts making its way across the forest.
Why it's worth reading
It was a finalist for the Edgar Award.
You'll love it if you liked
Deliverance
Into the Wild
The Twelve Lives of Samuel HawleyGood to know
It's a wilderness thriller.
By the numbers
- Readers28 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics21 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Bestseller15 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Buzz14 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
Where it ranks
- #528 of the 623 mysteries and thrillers we rank
- #1436 of the 1,647 modern books we rank
- #2705 of the 3,056 books we rank
Why it made the list
Reads as
Adventurous, Gripping
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Mysteries and thrillersTop 25 · 623 ranked
Modern booksTop 25 · 1,647 ranked
Books of the 2010sTop 25 · 751 ranked
Fantasy booksTop 25 · 504 ranked
Literary novelsTop 25 · 325 ranked
Pulitzer Prize-winning novelsTop 25 · 63 ranked
Memoirs and biographiesTop 25 · 290 ranked
Science fiction booksTop 25 · 333 rankedQuick answers
Is The River worth reading?
Yes. It was a finalist for the Edgar Award. It ranks #2,705 of the 3,056 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 58.0 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is The River about?
Best friends Wynn and Jack set out to canoe the Maskwa River in northern Canada, expecting lazy days of paddling and blueberries, until a wildfire starts making its way across the forest.
How long does it take to read The River?
About 7 hours (273 pages), or about 2 weeks at 30 minutes a day.
What should I read after The River?
If you liked it, try Deliverance by James Dickey, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer or The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley by Hannah Tinti.