The novel mirrors the river just as it widens and narrows, languidly drifts or rushes through rapids, perspective and tone shift to further the story. The narrative fluctuates between third person omniscient and third person limited, with Jack's interior life given the most space. The prose both enhances the contemplative air of their trip and underscores the river's isolation. By starting the novel so removed from the protagonists, Heller makes them seem especially vulnerable to the elements. Initially, the third person point-of-view focuses on Jack and Wynn's surroundings, the vast Canadian wilderness pages of description occur before either character is named. Heller's narration shifts in intensity, one moment supremely focused on his characters, the next at a distance from them.

What starts off as a fun-filled retreat into nature becomes a race against time that pits them against the very river they meant to savor. Even worse, while paddling through the fog, they overhear a heated argument between a husband and wife camped on the riverside, only to find a man paddling alone the next day. Despite their strong wilderness skills, their adventure is put to the test when they discover a massive forest fire threatens to overtake them. They've agreed to take a semester off from school in order to maximize time on the river, and for the most authentic adventure possible, they do not bring a satellite phone. Jack and Wynn are college friends on a canoeing trip down the Maskwa River in Northern Canada. Introspective and emotionally-resonant, Peter Heller takes readers through a struggle for physical survival that shifts into a meditation on morality.

Heller the river