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'A brilliant and breathtaking adventure' - New Yorker

'A novel that will curl your toes ... Dickey's canoe rides to the limits of dramatic tension' - New York Times Book Review

'A tour de force' - New Republic

'A novel of stunning power' - Nation
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THE ORIGINAL NOVEL THAT INSPIRED JOHN BOORMAN'S OSCAR-NOMINATED FILM STARRING BURT REYNOLDS AND JOHN VOIGHT

'I don't believe I'd go there if I was you. What's the use of it?'
'Because it's there,' said Lewis.
'It's there, all right. If you git in there and can't get out, you're goin' to wish it wudn't.'

A group of middle-aged friends in search of the wilderness experience that has been missing from their big-city lives go canoeing one weekend. They pack all the usual survival gear - plus a banjo and a bow and arrow - and head off. Unskilled and naïve, they paddle downstream, enjoying the exercise and the gorgeous scenery.

But something is in the air.

There are small signs at first: their canoes hit sudden rapids, the river seems polluted with litter and bird feathers, and during the night their tent is punctured by the talons of a hunting owl. Then, the following day, after mooring their canoes by the woods, they are approached by two sinister men. One is carrying a shotgun and the other a knife...