Wicked River is reminiscent of Deliverance! Jenny Milchman penned a thrilling roller coaster ride of a story!

https://youtu.be/bbUbuaqb-8Q

Sorry for the delay. I did the review but forget to send it via net galley

Wicked River started off very strong with an action-packed chapter that dropped you right into the crux of the story--and then it quickly went downhill. Natalie is a two-dimensional character on a charitable, good day. The introduction to her bland thoughts and perfunctory dead-mother-created-overbearing-sister-and-actionless-father really ruined the goodwill the first chapter earned. I'm 33 and I believe Natalie is a few years younger than me, but the way she and her soon-to-be-husband, Doug, speak, you would think they were in their 50's...back in the 50's.

"Natalie had to blink from the sheer overwhelm of their stare."
"...in the good old US of A..."
"That's the rub."
"You can't tell lie after lie...then expect a do-over like life is an Xbox game."

Maybe the author is older and had trouble writing across ages, because Natalie's 13-year-old niece, Mia, has some unforgivably bad dialogue, such as:

"The dull, old-timey musicians left, and now a DJ was playing something by some hip band."
"The hot, hip camps where Mia's friends were going..."
"It was as if the wedding had taken her off for much longer than a weekend, a voyage in the old-fashioned sense of the world. Sailing ships and unchartered destinations."
"She decided she's even be willing to try Facebook--what a loser site..."
"Kicking things old school. IRL and all that."
One of my favorites had to be a 2018 book that has a teenage girl who lives in NYC saying, "...connected as they were to their iPods..." She may as well have told them to get off her lawn and turn down that loud record player.

The first half of the book was more stilted dialogue from one of the worst couples I've read. They had zero chemistry, even if the author insisted that they were intensely and passionately in love. They had been together for three years and he had never called her a pet name as pure as "honey" before? I didn't care about either of them or their relationship, and impatiently waited for Kirk to finally enter the story.

Once the real reason for their trip revealed itself, I did find myself more engaged. And once Kirk was introduced to them, I started to actively enjoy the book for the first time. His deliberate dialogue and actions, and Natalie's reactions to them, were genuinely interesting. I just wish they had been together for longer. Mia's point of view was frustrating and an unwelcome break from the central plot every time. As far as I can tell, her only role in the book was to get her mom nervous about the fact that Natalie hadn't come back yet, which, if her characterization was anywhere near accurate, she would have realized on her own quickly.

Overall, I did not enjoy Wicked River and wouldn't recommend it to anyone. The writing was outdated, the characters were dull, and the first half dragged on far too long. I did, however, find Kirk an interesting antagonist and would have like to read more from his perspective.

Wicked River kicks off with a bang, before introducing us to the main storyline of Natalie and Doug - newlyweds making their honeymoon trip through the Adirondacks. It's not long before the promised tension begins to ratchet, and we realise that it wasn't just nature that they were unprepared to face...

While I had fun with this story, there were some flaws that really got in the way - as other reviewers have mentioned, Mia's sections just didn't work, and Natalie could use a good injection of spine! But the suspense is well done, and there are some classic and satisfying horror movie elements that were employed to my great enjoyment (never trust the backwoods jerky. Never!). The characters were well drawn and the writing, while not always consistent in quality, really shone in places.

Overall, if you're a fan of this kind of genre, you'll have a good time with this book. Just keep in mind the wise words of the ladies of the My Favorite Murder podcast - "Get a job, buy your own shit, and STAY OUT OF THE FOREST."

Wicked River. What can I even say? Firstly, I waffled between a 1- versus a 2-star rating. Ultimately, I decided on 2-stars because it makes me feel bad to give anything a 1-star unless it has offensive or inappropriate content. This one wasn't offensive it was just not my cup of tea. At all. This book and I just did NOT get along. The good news, I actually made it through the entire thing, so there's that.

I knew within the first 30-pages that perhaps this wasn't going to be the strongest story for me but I trudged on because I had hopes that it would get better. The premise sounds great. The execution of said premise, not so much. It kicks off at the wedding of our two main characters, Natalie and Doug, which was cheese-factor level TEN and had me audibly scoffing over the dialogue and lame characters. Then they head off on the their honeymoon, a trek into the wilderness on a hiking / canoe trip for which I feel neither of them was even remotely prepared.

The main characters dumbass choices aside, we also have a psycho guy living in the woods whose odd perspective we get every couple of chapters. Then there is a 13-year old whiny girl, Mia, the niece of Natalie, whose perspective we also get which was completely disjointed for me from the rest of the story. Oh, yah, and there is this totally unrealistic side plot involving Doug's childhood friends that contributes to the story as well.

I don't know, for me, the whole thing was just a mess. I couldn't stand Natalie. She was so weak. All she seemed to care about was 'her husband' - she admits to losing any friends she ever had because all she cared about was being with him. She could barely scrounge together two bridesmaids for her wedding and tells us they were literally the bottom of the barrel who would probably disappear again into nothingness once the wedding was over. She let Doug make all of her decisions and just goes along to go along, I guess. She was horrible - I wanted her to be lost in the woods.

Now, let's talk about the term 'her husband. This had to have been in the book 1,027,432 times. If I ever hear that again, I am going to punch the speaker in the face. This is not a quote but to give you and idea what I'm talking about, it would go a little something like this, 'her husband forged ahead through the trees. Her husband's arms easily broke through the branches so much better than hers ever could because her husband was so much bigger and stronger than she was. Natalie felt so happy that her husband would be willing to go ahead so that she could drift along unscathed behind him.' If reading this makes you go, what? Yah, it's like that. This book is 464 pages long and I think it could have been edited down to 300 if the term 'her husband' had been taken out.

I have no clue who I would recommend this to - maybe someone who doesn't read a lot or is new to the 'thriller' genre; although, I am not even sure I would classify this as a thriller. There was nothing really thrilling about it. It kind of took the suspense out of it when the 4th part of a 4 part book is titled, Saved. Really? No other word could have been chosen to title Part 4? You get there and are like, 'geeeee, I wonder if Natalie and Doug will be SAVED????'

I would like to thank the publisher, Sourcebooks Landmark, for providing me with a copy of this book to read and review. I do always appreciate the opportunity to provide my feedback. This one just wasn't for me but as we all know there are readers for every story!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to review this book. I am torn with this book. It was semi-interesting. The plot was pretty interesting, but the big drawback is that the characters are pretty shallow. I have a hard time getting into a book when I don't feel connected to the characters. If you like a good fast-moving plot, you may enjoy this one.

Thank you to Netgalley, the Publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in return for my honest opinion.

When I read this blurb on this book, I decided to read this book after my hiking/camping vacation and it turns out that was a good idea. lol. Creepy book, great solid storyline, next time we are alone in the woods camping, you want to bet this book will come back into my head. Talk about honeymoon gone wrong. I liked the story and the characters but felt that some of the story was un-needed and added nothing to the story. There could have been a little more action but overall a good read. Will definitely check out more books by this author.

4.5 stars

Wicked River
Jenny Milchman
Sourcebooks Landmark, May 2018
ISBN 978-1-4926-6441-3
Hardcover

From the publisher—

Six million acres of Adirondack forest separate Natalie and Doug Larson from civilization. For the newlyweds, an isolated backcountry honeymoon seems ideal-a chance to start their lives together with an adventure. But just as Natalie and Doug begin to explore the dark interiors of their own hearts, as well as the depths of their love for each other, it becomes clear that they are not alone in the woods.

Because six million acres makes it easy for the wicked to hide. And even easier for someone to go missing for good.

As they struggle with the worst the wilderness has to offer, a man watches them, wielding the forest like a weapon. He wants something from them more terrifying than death. And once they are near his domain, he will do everything in his power to make sure they never walk out again.

Many, many years ago when I was a teenaged Girl Scout, my troop traveled from Virginia to New Hampshire so we could hike a 50-mile stretch of the Appalachian Trail through the White Mountains, ending at the summit of Mt. Washington where you can find some of the most extreme weather imaginable. We were experienced hikers and campers and had trained hard for this adventure which turned out to be wonderful except for one night. During the day, we had separated into two groups because some of us were more energetic than others and the slower group, the one I was in, took the wrong path at a fork, not long before dusk. Hours later, we were undoubtedly lost and we had to spend most of the night in the wilds until a team of rescuers showed up. Needless to say, we were humiliated but, still, it was an adventure for sure so I’d have to say we all felt an array of emotions from embarrassment to elation and I still remember it with a good deal of clarity.

All that came to mind while I was reading Wicked River and I think allowed me to have a real connection with Natalie and Doug during their ordeal, especially Natalie. It’s a different forest, of course, and the Whites are generally considered to be the most challenging and formidable terrain in the Northeast but wilderness is wilderness, no matter where it is and especially so for Natalie who was only minimally prepared for this honeymoon trip.

Natalie is a really interesting character because she’s so much like most of us. Her experience in wilderness trekking is limited but she wants to please Doug who loves this sort of thing. That doesn’t mean that she’s been talked into the trip against her will; far from it, although she does have reservations about her abilities even after a certain amount of training and preparation. In short, she’s you and me, setting off on an adventure with more than a little trepidation but she’s still looking forward to it.

What Natalie and Doug don’t know but we do is that there’s a truly dangerous man in this part of the Adirondacks. As Natalie prepares for her wedding, we get a hint of something being not quite right, actually several somethings, and, at the same time, we meet Natalie’s niece, Mia. This teenager can be monumentally annoying but I liked her and it’s a good thing since she’s going to become very important later on.

Jenny Milchman is a master at wilderness settings and this one is no exception. Instead of crippling cold, which the author does extremely well, Wicked River plants us in the midst of heat and alarming sounds and smells as well as the frightening sense of aloneness and being truly lost. None of that even begins to reflect the menace coming up behind them nor what Natalie will have to do if there’s any hope of survival.

Well done, Ms. Milchman—once again, you’ve kept me up at night because I couldn’t stop reading 😉

Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, July 2018.

Interesting, I really enjoyed this book, it had intrigue and suspense. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this.

Natalie and Doug are newly weds still learning about each other. Doug seems to have had a shady past along with his two best friends. Natalie is determined to make their marriage work and agrees to set out on an outdoors adventure in the Adirondacks for their honeymoon despite having limited camping experience.
Kurt is a man with issues living a lonely existence off the land ie until campers or hikers stumble across his outdoor home. When he meets the couple he is excited to have company and it wont be for the right reasons.
Shortly after setting out Doug loses their GPS and they discover a man’s body shot through the head. They realize they are probably lost with a murderer looking for them.
This seemed a complicated storyline combining a newly married couple with poor communication, an insane killer and some sort of illegal activity.
Kurt went to a lot of trouble keeping people away from his ‘home’ when not many came through his woods. He craved company for more than just company’s sake.
Natalie and her husband were an odd couple. She seemed to walk on eggshells around Doug in an almost desperate way and I guess her past had a lot to do with that behavior. Doug appeared distracted at times and keeping some sort of secret from his bride.
I had my suspicions about Doug’s past and found out I was not far from the truth.
Be prepared for some cruel acts as you read this outdoors mystery thriller.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free digital copy of this book in return for an honest review

Survival in wilderness and fighting AGAINST nature.
But not only.

I am drawn to stories of struggle and the triumph of the human spirit against life-threatening circumstances. Maybe also because I am not an outdoor type myself but reading books or watching movies about the extreme situations in which characters suddenly find themselves gives me a possibility to experience an adrenaline rush staying safe in my cozy little world.

Wicked River is one of those books, exciting and entertaining. Though I think that the book could be much better if it hadn't paid to much attention to some secondary character/-s who not just slowed down the whole story, but also started to increasingly annoy me while the thrilling tension rose. I don't want to question the story-line, I believe that actually everything COULD be possible, I have enough fantasy to imagine it, and yes, also in THIS way.
But the last action of some secondary character was just too much even for my outdoor naiveté. Without giving too much away: for me, THIS secondary character, who filled in too much place in this story for my taste, spoiled the book.

But still the adventure was worth it to live through.

This was a fast, furious read that really grabbed me- and refused to let go until I’d completed all the ups and downs along with the protagonists.

Essentially, it reads like your (or mine, maybe) worst nightmare: newlyweds Natalie and Doug decide to go hiking in the remote Adirondacks for their honeymoon, but soon discover that they’re not alone- and that they don’t know each other nearly as well as they think. Because Kirk is out there, too, and he’s hunting for somebody to come and live with him.

One thing I really liked about this book was the multiple viewpoints that swept you from Natalie and Doug’s experience, into Kirk’s head, so you know what he’s thinking, to Mia, Natalie’s niece and the person that first realises something is wrong. It keeps the story fresh, and exciting- because you’re willing for Mia to put the pieces together, and find out exactly what Natalie and Doug have gotten themselves into, especially as Doug has a very particular reason for wanting to go to the most remote part of New York for their honeymoon…

As strong and memorable as Mia is, though- and as much as you find yourself rooting for her- the same can’t really be said for the two newlyweds. Doug starts the story as remote, angry and a bit of a bully, whilst Natalie is timid, and puts up with everything he does- so much so that I confess to rolling my eyes at the page a few times. The real excitement starts when things start to go downhill for them, and as they start to realise what really matters- perhaps it’s each other. Watching their characters- and relationship- develop as a result was really rewarding, for all the right reasons.

Watching them interact with Kirk, as well, was nail-biting, and the tension throughout the novel built to a fever-pitch. Jenny Milchman is a master of the nail-biting plot, as betrayals and twists are slowly unveiled, one after the other, as Natalie and Doug find themselves in ever-deeper waters. Plot twists come thick and fast, and the screw turns, so slowly that you don’t notice- but then you’re nervously biting your nails at the end and praying they make it out safely.

In the end, this is a book about relationships: how well do we know the people we’re closest to, and how can adversity bring us closer together? By taking us to the depths of the wilderness, Milchman shows that danger is when we realise what’s the most important to us- and find strengths that we didn’t know we had. Everybody comes out of this book transformed, and if that’s not an inspirational and fascinating ending to a novel I don’t know what is.

Three word review: dark. Dangerous. Tense.

Copy curiosity of Netgalley / Sourcebook Landmark

I think 2 stars is a round up for me.. The book started out ok enough but I found the mid part to be a little slow when you would expect it to picking up pace.. I think I just wanted much more then the book was offering up.. I also didn't find myself with the want to keep coming back to the book.. Recommend? Probably not likely..~Happy Reading~

A slow burn but worth sticking with! The story definitely worth more than the title which does not portray the thrill and excitement of the adventure, perhaps something more in the line of ‘Nowhere left to hide’ . Enjoyed the pace of the two stories coming together though felt Mia’s story an unnecessary but acceptable piece of padding. The author obviously knows this area and her experience is strongly felt throughout the story which was well told.

I was so excited to receive this book for review that I squealed in delight. while I am not a camper, nor am I interested in it, this seemed right up my alley because of all the terrible, twisted, f*cked up things that could happen out in the wilderness. Did it pan out that way? not even close. My first issue was the main character. I just wanted to grind her face into a rock because she was just so damn whiny and annoying. Second, the villain. Not a villain in the least. A little disturbed, but that was about it. So many more things could have been done to his character to make him more....errr... villain-y, I guess. Third, what the hell was the point of Mia's point of view? It added nothing to the story other than filler.

3 stars due to the story keeping my attention and being entertaining, but I wanted so much more.

In Wicked River, Jenny Milchman takes readers into the wild as a newlywed couple takes off into the Adirondack forest for their honeymoon. Natalie and Doug Larson hope this experience will draw them closer together, but the deeper into the forest they come across a body. Natalie realizes that Doug has an ulterior motive and everything about their trip is a lie. Being lost in the forest is only part of their problem when they come across a lone man that helps them at their lowest moment.

The premise is intriguing but I didn't really get into the story until more than halfway through. There was a lot of build up that drew a great picture of Natalie and Doug's relationship and the dynamic of her sister's family. That is also a part of the story I felt was filler and only came into play for the purpose of the conclusion. Natalie's niece played a small role in alerting authorities that Natalie and Doug were missing, but I didn't really want to read about her parents' marital issues.

Wicked River is a fine thriller read, but I had a hard time connecting to the characters and plot didn't drag me in like some of Jenny Milchman's other stories.
*ARC provided in consideration for review*

Confession. I skimmed Wicked River. As in I not only skipped words, I skipped entire chapters. I could have just set it aside and considered it a DNF. It is just that I did want to find out how the story ended even though I did not care enough about any of the characters to want to get the details.

To be fair, I did read the first few chapters. I got through their wedding and their first day on the river before I started to skim in earnest. The thing is that Natalie and Doug never interested me. For one, it is obvious from the very beginning that Doug is withholding secrets from his new bride and that those secrets will come back to haunt him before the end of the trip. Then there is the meekness and almost total capitulation on Natalie's part. She forgives Doug his secrets. She agrees to a trip through the wilderness for her honeymoon at his behest even though she has never before done such a thing nor does she really want to do so. She lets him take the lead on every decision to be made and even has panic attacks when he is out of sight. I like my heroines with a bit more spine from the very beginning, and I am not a fan of marriages beginning with obvious secrets between bride and groom.

The story itself is roughly four stories combined into one. There is Doug's secrets biting him in the ass. There is Natalie's necessary growth to survive her honeymoon from hell. There is Natalie's niece who susses out the secret at age 13 and then sets plans in motion to save her aunt. Then there is the crazy man living in the forest by himself and so far gone psychologically that he proves to be just as big a menace as Doug's secrets. The story flits back and forth between Natalie's, the niece's, and the crazy man's POV, and I never understood why we need the extra points of view. To me, the story is too long as it is with descriptions of the wilderness that are beautiful but bordering on minutiae. Adding Mia's story makes for plenty of eye-rolling, and the crazy man's scenes shift not only the attention but the sympathy (a bit). To me, it has the feeling of Ms. Milchman telling us what is happening rather than letting the story play out by itself.

In the end, I could not get over my dislike of Natalie, the lack of believability of a thirteen-year-old uncovering the secrets of a man she barely knows, or the crazy man's entire story line. The hapless newlywed couple did not need an added danger to their trip given the nature of it and what awaits them in the end. It is all too much, too obvious, and too unbelievable for me to have enjoyed Wicked River.

http://freshfiction.com/review.php?id=66008

reviewer: Clare O'Beara
recommendation: A gripping tale of suspense in the wild
Adirondacks
title: WICKED RIVER

A modern day Deliverance. This is the first book I have read from this author and could not put it down.What starts as a honeymoon canoe trip in the wilderness, ends up as a "I can't believe this could happen" adventure. Well written, the story keeps building and wraps up nicely at the end tying everything together. How well do you know your spouse when you marry? The story explores this thought and you wonder if this new marriage will survive. Highly recommended for fans of thrillers and high adventure.

I posted the above review on Amazon.

This book starts off fast paced with a jogger running in the woods trying to escape capture from an unknown predator. Then the plot switches to Natalie and Doug's wedding. It is quickly apparent that something is awry in Denmark when Doug's groomsmen come close to blows with two strange men immediately before the start of the wedding. Even though the plot slows down at this point I was trying to figure how these new developments pieced together with the mysterious man in the woods. But as the two newlyweds embark on their honey moon <b>Wicked River</b> becomes a slow burn. And that's okay if that's what tickles your fancy, but I was expecting roaring rapids, tangled forests, and howling animals. I guess I was expecting a bit more of a presence by mother nature than simply sounds that go bump in the night. But as we all now the true malevolent presence is not nature but the evil that is found in man. In the end, Milchman ties together all of the subplots and wraps <b>Wicked River</b> with a feel good bow holding promises for a bright and happy future.
Did I like the book? I liked the story line (4 stars) but thought that a shorter book probably would have had better pacing. So overall <b>Wicked River</b> gets 3.5 stars from me.