Rivers

A Novel

By: Michael Farris Smith

Narrated by: Michael Farris Smith

Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

It had been raining for weeks. Maybe months. He had forgotten the last day that it hadn't rained, when the storms gave way to the pale blue of the Gulf sky, when the birds flew and the clouds were white and sunshine glistened across the drenched land.

Following years of catastrophic hurricanes, the Gulf Coast - stretching from the Florida panhandle to the western Louisiana border - has been brought to its knees. The region is so punished and depleted that the government has drawn a new boundary ninety miles north of the coastline. Life below the Line offers no services, no electricity, and no resources, and those who stay behind live by their own rules.

Cohen is one who stayed. Unable to overcome the crushing loss of his wife and unborn child who were killed during an evacuation, he returned home to Mississippi to bury them on family land. Until now he hasn't had the strength to leave them behind, even to save himself.

But after his home is ransacked and all of his carefully accumulated supplies stolen, Cohen is finally forced from his shelter. On the road north, he encounters a colony of survivors led by a fanatical, snake-handling preacher named Aggie who has dangerous visions of repopulating the barren region.

Realizing what's in store for the women Aggie is holding against their will, Cohen is faced with a decision: continue to the Line alone, or try to shepherd the madman's captives across the unforgiving land with the biggest hurricane yet bearing down - and Cohen harboring a secret that may pose the greatest threat of all.

Eerily prophetic in its depiction of a southern landscape ravaged by extreme weather, Rivers is a masterful tale of survival and redemption in a world where the next devastating storm is never far behind.

©2013 Michael Farris Smith (P)2013 Simon & Schuster

Post apocalypse without the brutality

If I say this was a sweet post apocalyptic novel it will sound crazy, but this is a story of a man coming to terms with harsh realities where he has a choice - join civil society or remain in both an idealized past and brutal future. I loved the author's gentle, unpolished voice and simple style. This is a little bit adventure, mystery and love story - hard to classify but moving and compelling. I highly recommend it.

Loved The Book, Iffy on Author as Narrator

Outstanding book, went back and forth between Audible and reading on Kindle.

There were points where the narrator was Cohen and I let myself believe, but reverted to reading I couldn’t.

I’m suspecting that this was Smith’s first Audible book and decided to do his own narration. I understand but glad he chose Robin Bloodworth to read Desperation Road - another winner.

I’m thrilled to have found Smith and have become a big fan and evangelist (no pun intended as you’ll see).

Note: glad I read the short prequel prior to Rivers. It helped, but book stands alone without as well.

Here’s to the next Smith book I have just seen is coming in early 2020!

Author should write not read

The narration killed this for me. Author read aloud like a nervous gradeschooler. Very stiff.

Proud of this Mississippi author

What made the experience of listening to Rivers the most enjoyable?

I LOVED having Michael Ferris Smith read his own book. I believe it added to the experience.

What did you like best about this story?

I was never quite sure what was around the next bend and he kept me guessing. Didn't see the end coming at all.

What about Michael Farris Smith’s performance did you like?

He has a magnificiently smooth Southern voice which truly drew you into the book. You almost felt like it was Cohen telling you about his experience. Marvelous!

Narration distracts from story

I hate to give a bad review to an author reading his own work, but I cannot finish listening to this book. Mr. Smith's style of writing uses many, many conjunctions, particularly "and." Sometimes we get a a sentence that uses "or" instead. Because Mr. Smith also frequently uses steady or rising intonation instead of falling (declarative) intonation, the sentences run into one another and lose their power.

This pattern could, in small amounts, intensify the sense of dread and loss (and beauty) of the story, but instead is instead terribly distracting and then boring. And then, after about the third hour, infuriating.