For years there has been a resurgence in the world of mystery / suspense that I call the Norse Invasion Noir. That movement has been spearheaded by fabulous writers like Stieg Larsson, Jo Nesbo, Camilla Lackberg, etc. Meanwhile, in America, there has been a lesser known but just as powerful new subgenre in the mystery / suspense world I am referring to. like Adirondack Black.

The Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York are majestic, mysterious, beautiful, and full of history and stories. Various authors have set their stories in this area, which can be as stark and bleak as novels based on the Nordic region of Europe. One of the authors at the forefront of the Adirondack Noir movement is Jenny Milchman. He lives in the beautiful Hudson Valley region of New York, just north of New York, and has set his novels a little further north in the Adirondacks.

WICKED RIVER is Milchman’s best work to date — and that’s saying something! It is a dark and complex fever dream of a novel from which you cannot wake up or wake up. There is an air of mystery around the entire novel and the characters are so complicated that it is difficult to get a good handle on exactly what is happening or what drives them. Better to just sit back and continue the journey.

The action begins with the wedding of Natalie and Doug Larson. They are a wealthy couple from New York who have chosen the Adirondacks not only for their wedding ceremony, but also for their honeymoon. Just before the wedding, Doug and two members of his bridal party are seen having a heated argument with two strangers who apparently came out of nowhere to confront them. This is witnessed not only by Natalie but also by her niece, Mia. Throughout the novel, Milchman switches between Doug, Natalie, and Mia for different points of view. This verbal altercation is strange but significant enough for the plot and the horrors to come.

After the ceremony, Doug and Natalie begin their honeymoon in the middle of the six million acre park that makes up the Adirondack Range. They have chosen to start their new life together in an adventurous way by going on an ‘off road’ adventure that will include canoeing, camping and foraging for themselves in the open nature. There are checkpoints to do or go to in case of trouble. What happens next is completely unexpected (and I won’t reveal everything here so as not to spoil it for other readers). Let Doug and Natalie get very disoriented and injured. They are not alone either. WICKED RIVER began with a scene showing a hiker being kidnapped by a strange figure. It is this same figure, who we later learn is called Kurt, who meets Doug and Natalie. At first, it appears that Kurt is their savior as he helps care for both of them to health and provides them with food and shelter.

However, Kurt is the Adirondack version of the bogeyman. A man who has been living off the grid for so long that he has lost almost any semblance of humanity and is beyond dangerous. Kurt has created his own little world in which only he can decide who lives or dies in it. He becomes obsessed with those who are not marked for death, and there may be no way to escape. Now, he has turned his attention to Doug and Natalie. Any strange feelings that had already started in the young relationship between the newlyweds are quickly put aside, as it will take all their wits to get over Kurt. It’s how DELIVERANCE meets HUNGER GAMES, as there are many traps in Kurt’s Adirondack Kingdom and he is the only master of the games.

Doug and Natalie realize pretty quickly that Kurt is an unstable figure that they need to get away from. They know this long before they realize that the jerky they are eating is NOT venison. There is a scene where they come across Kurt’s ‘smokehouse’ that came straight out of the TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. The novel comes with a reader question guide, as well as an engaging question and answer session with Jenny Milchman. What I found the funniest is that she doesn’t consider herself a thriller writer. She’s right, because WICKED RIVER is so well written and filled with great characters and surprising plot twists that only a master writer could have created it, so labeling her a suspense writer seems to diminish this achievement. WICKED RIVER is an incredible and difficult to describe novel that borders on literary horror and will definitely haunt your dreams and serve as a warning to anyone seeking the adventure of an off-road visit to the Adirondacks.