I am just never disappointed with anything written by Catherine Ryan Hyde. I am so happy to see that she has two more books coming out soon. I'm still trying to read everything she has already written....a perfect reading experience. ( )

Spoiler Alert! The cover picture for this book is a lie. The main character in this book does not cross a river so shallow his horse's hooves barely get wet. He does not ride alone. He does not even ride a horse. It is a stimulating picture though, isn't it? The book is very much the same. The various characters do not act like normal people. And the writing style is stimulating. The author strings together snippets of moments and interactions, out-of-context with other moments and with real life, and asks the reader to believe them on their face. It all flows together...unless you are more concerned with how life actually is. Sorry, I can't list all the ways she does this without actually spoiling the book for other readers. At some point in reading this, I imagined the author as some person stuck inside their home, restricted to looking out at passers-by, unable to hear them talking. Or watching TV with all foreign-language dialogue, unable to understand a word they were saying. And yet, every so often the author's TV would hiccup and show a few minutes of Academy Award-winning movies in her native language, leaving her with some "truth" but being forced to make up all the rest of the world around her from her own conjecture. In reading about the author, I found she is well-traveled. So that means she doesn't pay that much attention to the details of what she has been seeing, or she just doesn't care to tell the truth about the human condition to sell her books. My wife said she thought this book was aimed at much younger readers. If she meant it's aimed at teenagers who think you can get pregnant by kissing, then she may be right. ( )

A very enjoyable read - loved the setting - sounded like the Rockies ! The supporting cast of Sam and Jone were perfect. Ethan's transformation - at the novel's core - was heartwarming, humorous, sad, and uplifting all at the same time - an ideal contrast to his repulsive father. ( )

Ethan Underwood is totally unprepared to search for his less-than-perfect dad in the Blythe River wilderness. With the help of three heinous, a 70 year old woman, a pack guide, and an actor with limited survival experience, set out to try to find Ethan's father. The character, Ethan, is a realistic teenager filled with angst and soon to grow up really quickly. ( )

Happy belated Father’s Day! Not all of us have wonderful fathers. In fact, some people actually have pathetic fathers. Such was the case for seventeen year old Ethan Underwood. Ethan is enthralled with Jennifer, also seventeen, who works in his dad’s office. But, he and his mom’s trip to Peru was delayed and they walk in on his Dad … with Jennifer. The author skips over the sordid details when his dad was ‘caught’, but by assumption, we know his dad left and Ethan and his mother were on their own. When his mom receives word that his grandmother is ill, she has to leave Ethan to go take care of his grandfather. Ethan has no choice but to go stay with his father in a remote cabin within Blythe River National Wilderness.

Living, even temporarily in Blythe River, is sharply contrasted to their home in New York. He has to learn to think about his dangerous surroundings … grizzly bears for instance. As he’s exploring, he comes to know two of their neighbors, Sam, a pack guide, and Jone, an eccentric seventy-year-old. His dad is still practically non-existent, taking off and running for fitness for many hours and about eighteen miles per day. But, his dad fails to return one day and the search is on. Then, the search is abandoned as the ranger and cops believe he just abandoned his son. Ethan keeps looking. He can’t live with himself if he doesn’t even try and his dad is actually out there in the wilderness, lost or injured.

After a meandering start, the thrusters kicked in and the story became a fast-paced emotional roller coaster. This Blythe River is fictional, located about 100 miles south of Casper Wyoming and Yellowstone. The author’s use of subheadings was innovative. Many would reference the time-line to Ethan’s dad’s disappearance. For instance, chapter three’s subheading was “Three months before his father disappeared.” Catherine Ryan Hyde was also the author of the bestselling novel, Pay It Forward. The story is one that will stay with you as you watch Ethan mature and breakthrough from a teen worried about ‘teen things’ to a very responsible young man. Rating: 4 out of 5. ( )