Wicked River is the latest story by Jenny Milchman. Wicked River is one of the stories that you think about even while you aren't in the process of reading, wondering what will happen next, and thinking about how you would done things differently. Very intense at times and it has those "edge of the seat" moments. I found myself forgetting I was reading fiction. I was given an early copy to review.

Natalie and Doug decide to honeymoon in the Adirondacks which seems the perfect getaway: stunning scenery and some romantic alone time for the couple. Only they're not alone and that stunning scenery? It hides a hundred ways to die if they're not careful.

I enjoyed reading this book for the most part. I thought the overall concept was good, and the chapters set in the wilds were gripping. The changing relationship dynamics between the couple over time were handled well. I didn't care much for the additional story arc of Mia, Natalie's 13 year old niece, I didn't really see what it added to story, and I felt the pacing would perhaps have been better without it.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me access to this book; in exchange I will provide an honest review.

Action packed!

Natalie and Doug are all set to begin their married life with a wilderness expedition. Natalie isn’t very outdoorsy, but is willing to forego her honeymoon beach dreams in order to keep her new husband happy.

But things on the trip don’t go exactly as planned. Secrets are being kept, and the results are disastrous. Soon their honeymoon becomes a matter of life or death, and deciding who you can really trust.

Adding Kurt to the mix made the book more exciting. One negative for me: the timeline for navigating the wilderness seemed off. For some it would take days of intense hiking to reach a destination but for an inexperienced teenager, the same distance could be covered in an afternoon.

Having said that, I liked the plot, and there was some very good descriptive writing. I would certainly read another book by this author.

3 stars

Wow. This book seems to have gotten some pretty mixed reviews so far, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Natalie and Doug seem like the perfect couple, she's eager to please and while he finds her a bit naïve (and is perfectly willing to take advantage of that), he truly does love her. She acquiesces to his desire to "rough it" for their honeymoon and they end up in millions of acres of forest. One mishap after another leads to them having to cut their trip a little short, but they stumble across a dead body in the woods which triggers a terrifying flight through the woods leading them miles from any marked trail. They're not out there alone. A man that's completely given up on society is out there, and he's desperate for human company. What follows is a tale of survival, character development, horrifying realizations, and the strength of the human spirit. There were a couple things that irked me about this book (**spoilers to follow**), we never really learn much about Kurt's back story which I think would have added much needed depth and character development to the story. There was a bit too much detail about his parents, their coldness, and how he ended up so analytical toward fellow humans, but we never really discover why he was even out there to begin with, and what he did to drive his small tribe back to society. The whole drugs in the canoe thing was a little too pat. Someone like Doug, that has a rudimentary understanding of surviving in the woods probably wouldn't have ACTUALLY thrown the GPS over, and would probably have pretended to. It seemed a little too convenient that he turned into a total oaf even knowing how dangerous those woods could be. And finally, Mia. I just don't buy it that she would have just wandered into the woods on her own.

Overall I enjoyed the book but there were some rough edges that detracted a bit. Not enough to ruin the story, but could possibly be smoothed out in rewrites.

Really enjoyed this story! Well written! Looking forward to reading more by this author!

Doug and Natalie are newly weds off on the honeymoon of a lifetime; camping and trekking in the Adirondack Forest. But Doug is up to something and things start to go wrong. Meanwhile they aren't the only ones in the forest - someone is watching them.....

Ok, this was a good idea and a decent enough plot. But for me it was spoiled by the writing style and the over the top flowery prose and imagery... "the woman's lips parted like petals, exposing her deepest wounds" and "confession was akin to cleansing and Kurt ached to wash himself in the waters of this couple's understanding" are just some of the examples I could mention. At times it felt more like a Mills and Boon novel than the thriller it was hyped up to be. If you like your romantic fiction then you'll enjoy this, but sadly I wasn't keen.

I loved this book. It was a great story - it kept me on edge from the first couple of chapters. The suspense built with every page, it was so well written. I was anxious every time I picked it up and thought about what would happen next when I had to put it down. Absolutely recommend it to you if you like to be on the edge of your seat !!

Wicked River was a fast and fun read for me – Deliverance notwithstanding I’m even more unlikely to go visiting the wilds of anywhere anytime soon after reading this story…

It has a lilting style to the writing that draws you into the lives of this newly married couple – a rather strange pair of lovebirds it feels obvious from the start that perhaps they are not such a perfect match – but they are about to be thrown into a terrifying and unknowable situation from which there may be no return..

There are some issues with it to be fair, I’m not sure the strand that dealt with niece Mia back home really added anything apart from slowing it down – the parts that intrigued me and kept me turning the pages was the suspicious and ever changing relationship between our main protagonists and the guy they meet in the wilds, who lets face it is more than a little crazy.

Descriptively speaking this is brilliant, you really feel the force of nature surrounding you and the “bad guy” is creepy and compelling, strangely often inducing pity for his situation despite his cannibalistic tendencies. I think Wicked River sits more on the literary thriller side than the commercial, it often has that slow burn feel to it, with motivations blurred and a sense that something unexpected is around the corner.

Overall a very good read. I am more than happy to be curled up under my duvet writing this review and not near any kind of body of water…

Natalie and Doug are newlyweds setting off on their dream honeymoon. Well, it's Doug's dream honeymoon. Natalie would rather be relaxing on a tropical beach, drink in hand, than spend a week alone in the middle of nowhere in the Adirondacks. But she decides to be a good sport and make her new husband happy. Unfortunately, everything that can go wrong does. Doug loses the GPS, Natalie can't read a map to save her life, and they get the eerie feeling that they're not alone out here in the wilderness. Too bad they're right...

I really liked this story, I just didn't love the way it was executed. But I kept reading because I really wanted to know what happened. Who were the men at the wedding? Why is Doug acting so weird throughout the entire trip? Why are we focusing so much on a 13 year old girl? Honestly, I thought Mia's story arc was pretty unnecessary. I also could have done without the whole side plot with Doug's childhood friends. I would have loved this book a lot more if it had been edited down a bit. It was about 50-100 pages too long. BUT, that said, I really liked the story and would absolutely recommend this.

Wow! What a great teaser! I read the sample provided and I definitely will be purchasing the book. Thank you for the sample, I will be recommending to all my bookie friends and book club members. #exciting, #terrifying, #mustread

Wicked River was an awesome book! I loved how suspenseful and scary it was without being over the top with details. My imagination was a lot worse at times then having the events all spelled out for me. This story takes place in the woods, 6 million acres of woods. A person who wants to stay hidden has a lot of places to hide in a space like that. The first chapter introduces us to Kurt, a man who lives in the woods by choice and has for two years but Kurt happens upon a lone hiker Terry and what happens is terrifying and sets the stage for whats in store for our main characters. Natalie and Doug are just married and Doug convinces Natalie that it would be romantic to go canoeing and hiking for their honeymoon. Natalie agrees even though she can barely read a map. I don't want to ruin the story by giving away too much but much of the story I was questioning everyones motives. Finally when they find Kurt, rather Kurt hunts them down, the events that followed kept me on the edge of my chair and holding my breath at every turn. This book was so great, I can't wait for another book by the author!

This was a really interesting read with good characters. Would recommend.

There is so much foreboding built into the first half of the book that it is almost a relief when the inevitable disaster happens. Even at the very start of Doug’s and Natalie’s lives together, their wedding, a shadow is cast over their happiness by the arrival of some shady characters and the odd behavior of Doug’s best men. When the honeymoon (a remote Adirondack canoe trip) becomes a survival exercise, it does not take the reader by surprise. Milchman has alternated chapters from the couple’s perspective, that of Natalie’s teenage niece who idolizes her aunt, and that of a survivalist recluse who hungers for human companionship. When the newlyweds meet up with the hermit, what happens next has been looming for many pages. It is a testament to Milchman’s writing that the suspense is nonetheless riveting.

“Wicked River” is a sort of hybrid between John Fowles’ classic, “The Collector,” and any number of recent books about the dangers encountered by those unprepared for the harshness of true wilderness, such as Erica Ferencik’s “The River at Night.” The book will appeal to those who enjoy psychological suspense as well as those who enjoy trips to the backcountry.

This book was such a whirl wind of action. From page one the story took off and kept going to the very end. There is a little something for everyone in this story from Adventure, Mystery and even Romance.
Nat and Doug undertake a major kayaking trip for their honeymoon. It turns into more of an adventure than they could ever imagine. Their marriage faces more problems in one week, than most couples ever experience in a lifetime together. This was one story that i could not guess what was going to happen next.
I would definitely be interested in learning more about Kurt and his history.
I had trouble putting this book down and would think about what would be next for Natalie and Doug when i was not reading. This was a book that kept me thinking long after I finished reading. I think this would make a good reading group book because of all the many conflicts all the characters in this book face and overcome. Thank you for an adventurous read.

A couple of newly weds Nat and Doug take off on their honeymoon into the wilderness with only a canoe on the river and their packs. Starting off smoothly things very quickly start going wrong. It turns out Doug has another agenda will this end their new marriage. And to make it really scarey someone is watching them in the woods tracking them down and as they're lost it won't be long to capture them in their downfall. Reminds me a little of wolf creek the film. Their hero saving them in the forest from death only more menacing behind a caring facade that they're not aware of.
At 3 days past their due home date a rescue party is sent out, now we learn that past hikers have gone missing in what they know as the forests Bermuda triangle area. Meanwhile Doug and Nat are hatching a plan to escape from their new found friend, even with him warning them about how easy it would be to get lost again. As they try to hatch a plan more and more things about this forest man disturb them. He's not going to let them go easily.
In amongst the story of the couple is Mia, nats neice from NYC, another story that plays along throughout. Twisting and turning like a meandering river with a whole bunch of wickedness thrown in for good measure.
Thanks to sourcebooks and netgalley for preread.

I’d give this a two and a half star rating. The story was good, the plot interesting, but the author never really built a relationship with you and the characters in the story. I wasn’t vested at all in a single one of them surviving. I truly didn’t care about any of them. All in all the character interaction was entirely too “syrupy” for me. It just didn’t feel real to me. More of a soap opera kind of character on all fronts. And like I said, when you read a book where the story is really good but you don’t care a damn about any of the characters, the book lacks something.

I was pretty excited to read this one. I like survival stories, and the description was right up my alley.

The book started out strong -- right the middle of the action. It helped build anticipation for the story ahead. Unfortunately, it did not live up to expectations. The book was a chore to get through. I blame this on the author alternating between viewpoints - especially the character of Mia. Her story line was a complete momentum killer and should have been excised.

Kurt as the antagonist and Natalie and Doug as our protagonists could have been more than enough to keep the story engaging. I felt that Mia and Doug's plot with his childhood friends were superfluous. It was time better spent fleshing out our main characters. I really felt like they needed it too. Kurt especially. I wanted them to have crossed paths much sooner in the story and had greater impact on each other. The tension was nonexistent because Kurt never seemed like a threat. He was a supposed cannibal but came off like a middle science teacher. I was not a fan of this one.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2151159893

3.5 stars

This book had a "wicked" good start..female hiker alone in the woods....there is danger...

Then cut to Natalie and Doug's wedding. Something seems to be amiss but Natalie isn't one to nag or question Doug so the wedding goes as planned and they leave on their honeymoon. A honeymoon spent kayaking and camping in the Adirondack forest. It's a BIG place - six million acres in fact. They hope to use this time to not only connect with each other but with nature as well.

But then....

They realize that they are not the only ones in the forest. Six million acres is a lot of land and there are a lot of places to camp, to hide, to start over, to get into a heap of trouble..you get the picture. Because as the blurb informs us..they are being watched. But why whom and Why? This reminded me slightly of the 2009 movie "A Perfect Getaway" where a couple on vacation find that they are not alone in paradise either. Anyways, I digress. Natalie and Doug are being watched (yes, there is a watcher in the woods (bad horror film tie in).

Their honeymoon suddenly turns not so romantic. It becomes a fight for survival. A time when you learn who you really are and who others really are as well. Mixed in with their story is the story of Mia, Natalie's niece in NYC. The stories will eventually merge and make sense at the end of the book.

This book does have a couple of twists. I will say that it did start very strong but then it got slow for me in the middle. I wanted to know what happened to the woman in the beginning of the book. Also, I was hoping for a little more action in the middle of the book. Things did pick up toward the last third of the book, but having said that things never got entirely thrilling either. I was hoping this would be a page turner but it wasn't. I did read this fast and did enjoy it. It just lagged a little too much in the middle for me.

Overall a good book with a well thought out plot - I just wanted a little more action in this. Plus, I could have done without the niece's story line. Perhaps if the entire story focused on the story of survival, I would have enjoyed it more. Plus, not to be nit picky but the book is titled "wicked river" but it's not the river that is wicked in this book.

I received a copy of this book from Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Natalie and her new husband Doug are planning to spend their honeymoon far away from civilization. They will canoe through the Adirondacks and have all the time in the world to get to really know each other. And that turns out to be the problem, Natalie doesn’t really know Doug at all and his plans have put them both in mortal danger. When their canoe is destroyed, they have no choice but to continue walking overland, but without a map or supplies, their chances of survival are grim. But the true danger comes from someone determined to make sure that the newlyweds never leave the forest again. Milchman creates believable characters and then throws them into a situation almost impossible to survive. This book is impossible to put down!