The River by Peter Heller

Vintage Contemporaries, 272 pages, $16 (c2019)

“The River” has been nominated for the Edgar Award for Best Novel.

Did you like the 1994 movie “The River Wild,” with Meryl Streep and Kevin Bacon? Did you like Gary Paulsen’s Hatchet series as a kid? How about the river and fly fishing scenes in “A River Runs Through It,” by Norman Maclean, or “The River Why,” by David James Duncan? Hoo boy, have I got a book for you if you said yes!

This book is not very long for a novel by modern standards, but it packs in a walloping amount of adventure. Even if you have never set foot further than the suburbs, you, too, can learn survival skills or, at the very least, what to pack for a forest/river trip with no easy access to stores, phones — yes, even in this day and age, and besides, Amazon would have to use one of their infamous drones to drop-ship your order — or medical facilities.

Let us also say there is a monster forest fire coming your way. Add in two suspicious good ol’ boys of a “Deliverance” bent. What about the voices drifting on the wind of a man and woman arguing? There’s a lot going on for a wilderness area in Canada famous for its isolation. The weather is turning colder — of course, it is — so the likelihood of a troop of scouts or happy campers is small. As far as we know, there are six people in the path of the fire: our heroes — college students Jack and Wynn — the good ol’ boys, and the arguing couple, heard but not seen.

Both Jack and Wynn come with good credentials; they know how to paddle through white water, fly fish, survive cold, forage, and have basic emergency medical skills. They are strong, smart, and crafty. They want to think deep thoughts, admire nature, and ruminate on their individual futures. They are best friends, but what comes next will test that friendship.

Once into the trip along a chain of lakes, there is no way out except by going forward. They have purposely left their cellphones behind (and where would there be coverage anyway?) and they cannot afford satellite phones. (See, “college students.”)

A great deal of the pages talk about gear, fishing, river eddies, food preparation, portage, and other trip details. I find that sort of thing fascinating, even if the author doesn’t show how relevant it all is until later. And as an ignoramus about that kind of stuff, how would I even know if the author got it wrong?

The first thing the friends discover is the faint smell of smoke in the air, and it’s not of the campfire variety. One of them climbs a tree and spots the telltale glow in the distance. They figure they have enough time to make it to the next point of civilization, a small village on Hudson Bay. They are not hurried in their preparations, but they are no longer moseying along.

Soon they bump into the good ol’ boys who are trope-worthy blowhards. Later in a fog that springs up, they hear the voices of a man and woman arguing. Since they are good lads, Jack and Wynn have decided to warn everyone they meet of the oncoming fire. The good ol’ boys laugh and slug back some more bourbon. But the couple cannot be found. So the lads reluctantly continue their odyssey.

That takes us until about a quarter of the way through the book. Then a man appears with a gun — did I mention everyone has a gun or shotgun? He says his name is Pierre and he has lost his wife, Maia. What happened to the man? Where is Maia? Where are “The Texans,” as the good ol’ boys are now known?

In the best way of wilderness adventure, human must not only battle nature but other humans. I thought this was 272 pages of page-turning adventure. If you don’t like lists and meticulous descriptions of gear or landscape, perhaps you won’t be enchanted enough to hold out until the human versus fill-in-the-blank thrills begin.

Rating: Hoo boy!