rado River. Along for the ride are two other guides--free-spirited Abo and beautiful, passionate Dixie--and a quirky jumble of strangers from all over the country. There's Peter, a 20-something Ohio native; the Compsons, a Salt Lake City couple with two constantly bickering boys; elderly couple the Frankels; middle-agers the Boyer-Brandts; stressed-out Susan and her morbidly obese daughter Amy; and a lonely Harvard Biology professor, Evelyn. After introductions and the precursory safety orientation, subplots and attitudes begin to emerge as the trip gets underway. The visibly cranky Compsons argue about anything and everything, Peter likes what he sees in Dixie, and Evelyn's nursing a broken heart over her late husband even as Ruth Frankel sees her own husband Lloyd slowly descending into full-blown alzheimers. Susan battles inner demons just as daughter Amy, who knows all too well about her problem, merely tries to take it day by day.Confrontations pop up as the sun bears down and stress levels near the boiling point, allowing personal grudges to emerge as bitter squabbles begin threatening the entire trip. Hyde, author of The Abortionist's Daughter, tells a good group-dynamics story under the guise of adventure fiction. The novel succeeds as both a study of strangers striving toward a common goal and as a suspenseful drama filled with angst and humanity as the reader is swept along with the characters through the canyon and down the frequently dangerous river. Great scenic description and fully believable characters as well as a take-you-by-surprise ending make this story well worth the ride. (FIC HYDE)
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