Jenny Milchman is a prolific writer. Only in her mid-50s, she has written 22 novels. Novel number eight was the first one she sold. “Cover of Snow” was published in 2013 and won the Mary Higgins Clark Award for best suspense novel that year. On jennymilchman.com the author says while you are waiting for success as a writer, “there are no wasted words. Every single one brings us one step closer to success as a writer … And if your road is long and hilly, it can still come to exactly the point you wish to reach. Keep walking. Keep writing.” Work ethic seems to be a huge part of this author’s success: in 2013 she took her first published novel “Cover of Snow,” her husband and two kids on a seven-month-long cross-country trip to promote the book. And then sales exploded.

Milchman’s novel, “Wicked River,” published in 2018, is set in Franklin County in the Adirondack Park. The story could take place in any northern remote wooded forest, but the six-million-acre park works well as a romantic setting for newlyweds Doug and Natalie Larson. Doug plans an arduous four-day honeymoon trip by canoe without Natalie’s input. She senses something isn’t right from the start but when Doug tells her that he loves her, she goes along with his plans. He assures her that he knows how to follow the map, paddle efficiently, set up the tent, use iodine tablets for clean water and build a fire. Despite the changeable weather, forbidding terrain and vicious mosquitoes, which add stress to an already tenuous relationship, they make decent progress on their trip. After a couple of days on the river, Doug admits they are lost. He decides they should beach their canoe and hike out of the woods because it will be faster and they are running out of food and water. Natalie thinks it is a foolish idea, but she agrees to go with him.

They don’t walk very far before they find the first dead body.

They wander lost in the woods for a couple of days until they really do run out of food and water. This is when we meet Kurt Pierson, a fugitive hiding in the Adirondack Park. After three years of living completely alone, Kurt is desperate for human companionship. When he discovers the newlyweds, he is attentive. He bandages their wounds, feeds them and gives them water. He is an empathetic listener but gives away very little information about himself. It doesn’t take Doug and Natalie long to realize that Kurt is mentally unstable. The hermit, who has built a series of deadly traps for human intruders, gets more attention than he has bargained for when the rescue team shows up. Without giving away too much more of the plot, Natalie grows stronger and more confident becoming a hero herself.

In 2010, Milchman founded Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day, which is celebrated in all 50 states on the first Saturday in December. She teaches writing workshops, conducts book tours and writes short fiction too. I have read a couple of her other books and enjoyed them as much as “Wicked River.” What I really liked about the female characters is their depiction as real-life women who have doubts and lack confidence but nonetheless learn how to solve their problems and figure out how to not only survive but also succeed.