Adventure
Adult
Looking for a scary read for a long winter’s evening? Sad from the recent loss of her brother and her marriage, timid Wini sets aside her many misgivings to join her three girlfriends in their annual week-long get-together led by the fearless Pia. This year, Pia has chosen a river rafting trip in the wilds of Maine. Along with emergency room nurse Rachel and teacher Sandra, the four women embark on a 30-mile rafting trip, led by handsome 20-year-old Rory, dreadlocked and muscled, with eyes “the exact green of an asparagus mousse” graphic designer Wini had featured in spring. He’s certainly irresistible to Pia, leading to a noisy hook-up that sets the friends squabbling. Over the course of the first day or two on the river, we learn Rachel is a recovered alcoholic and Sandra’s husband is violent. Wini is burdened by guilt over the possible suicide of her brother Marcus, who was deaf, and Pia is questioning the purpose of her apparently trouble-free life. But the river is a demanding beast that requires all the rafters to work together, and slowly Wini begins to find some enjoyment in the adventure. She likens it to that second glass of wine prior to the ill-advised third. Yup, Wini should have paid attention to her intuition – about a third of the way down the river disaster strikes, and the four friends find themselves soaking wet, hungry and thirsty, with no raft, supplies, or guide, and very different opinions on how to proceed. It’s a survival story at heart, and I think would have benefited from staying just that. Ferencik chooses to add another element of danger – think Deliverance. ‘Nuff said. The bloody horror show that closes the book detracts from what could have been a simpler and stronger story. While it’s ultimately Wini’s story, I would have liked greater character development for the others. There’s some terrific writing though, and while the stranger danger is way over the top, it’s still a riveting read, and worth enjoying as a wilderness adventure story. My thanks to publisher Gallery Press for the advance reading copy provided through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
More discussion and reviews of this novel: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29430686

THE RIVER AT NIGHT by Erica Ferencik is a book of friendship and survival; it is also a psychological thriller. Four women who have been having Girls Trips for years are now middle-aged and all at very different places in their lives, the one constant is their affection for each other. They set out on an adventure they are ill-prepared for white water rafting in a very remote area of Maine with a young experienced, unpredictable guide.
The trip does not go as planned and the women find themselves stranded without their guide and their supplies. Thinking they have been saved when they see a camp fire in the distance they walk toward the smoke only to find they are walking into a nightmare.
This book hit all the right buttons for me, I thoroughly enjoyed the friendship the women possessed though they had their differences, the sense of adventure and the thriller aspects of this novel.

This book was given to me to read by NetGalley for my honest feedback.

The description of this book sounded intriguing. Four female friends, on a rafting adventure, become stranded and need to survive. I enjoyed the beginning of the book and the mid to end of the book, but I struggled to get through some parts. I believe it was because the characters in the book were very stereotypical, right down to the men they met in the store. I enjoyed the part about whom they met in the mountains, but the book became somewhat predictable.

It was an easy read, and I didn't love it or hate it. I would say it was a good vacation read.

Exciting read but a little unbelievable, which took away from the peril of the adventure.

This was a book that at times made me question the sanity of the characters in this story. Why would a group of 4 women close to their 40's go out on a white water rafting trip in the middle of nowhere with a 20 year old guy who has only been down that particular river 4 previous times??? This was a weird story. I am not to sure of the point besides maybe: Don't let your fear prevent you from doing things?

Eh, I thought it was written well and I did read it fairly quickly but it lacked sustenance for me.