A pretty good read but not exactly riveting. I like the storyline. Would definitely like to see this picked up as a movie. I feel like we darn near experienced this in 2017 with all the rains that came with Hurricane Harvey and so many homes flooded out, first in Houston. Then when it made landfall a second time, hundreds and hundreds of homes in Jefferson and Orange County, Texas, flooded out. Bayous and creeks were pushed past their holding point and caused catastrophic damage. Dams were nearly flowing and to their busting points. They were slowly opened to release more water, which caused even more flooding to homes that had never flooded before. The only difference from this novel is the fact that we were able to come back home and rebuild because, well, the waters eventually did subside. ( )

Very entertaining. I didn't really like the characters but the world was so compelling I could barely put this down. I want to know more about what's happening in the world the author has created. ( )

I had previously read Michael Farris Smith’s Desperation Road and loved it, so thought I’d check out one of his earlier works. Unfortunately, Rivers did not work as well for me. I liked certain elements, but the overall impression falls in the middle of bell curve.

The positives:
- The premise for this climate-related apocalyptic novel is unusual and creative. The US government abandons a region below “The Line,” which runs 90 miles north of the Gulf Coast due to the never-ending hurricane-force storms that are pounding the area. After offering to buy the land and relocate the people, those who decide to stay are on their own, leading of course to desperation, mayhem, and violence.
- The main character, Cohen, is one of the people who decide to stay below the Line in Mississippi. He is wracked by grief due to the loss of his wife and unborn child. He cannot let go of the past. His character is well-developed and complex.

The negatives:
- The rest of the characters are shallow and underdeveloped.
- Plot points that make little sense or are too obviously used as devices.
- The creepy relationship between the older man and the young girl (it would have helped if she were at least in her twenties).
- The pacing is highly erratic: long portions where not much happens, followed by super high-energy thriller-style action.

If you enjoy thrillers, you will probably like this more than I did. ( )

Excellent!

Michael Farris Smith has created in Rivers a world that might exist if the hurricanes beating the Southern USA were unrelenting and followed one upon the other until the population had to be evacuated and the area deserted. Some people would stay, some always do. Smith's main character, Cohen is one of those who stays. He is unable to part himself from the memories of his wife and unborn child who have died and are buried behind his home.

I must say I loved this book. It felt like a ride on the white water rapids, I barely breathed some of the time, I could feel the tension so palpably. Not being a fan of violent books, I liked that, despite the violent environment they had to cope with, the focus seemed much more on the people themselves. Cohen was a very alive character. I bonded with him immediately and very much cared what happened to him. Michael Smith nails his dystopian world...this is just the way I would expect it to be if such a disaster struck. After having watched the aftermath of Katrina (which none of us can ever forget), it was easy to picture the land as he describes it, the state of the cities, and the condition both mentally and physically of the people.

"Would he live in another place? And if they managed to get him somewhere, who would change his diapers and teach him his colors and ABCs and would he have friends and would he go to school and would he ever call anyone Momma and would he ever call anyone Daddy? Would he ever play T-ball or learn to ride a bike or not have to worry about being hungry? Would he ever now the story of how he was born and where he was born and who his father was and what a miracle it was that he was alive at all and would he ever now the story of the group of misfits who somehow managed to get him across the Line? He was a long shot. They were all long shots. In every direction, a long shot."

It is a story about endurance, perseverance, finding hope in the worst of situations, recovering from losses so great that you can never stand to face them, and the need for others...how others who are also beyond the edge can give you life.

"The ghosts will kill you, she thought, and then there was the image of Cohen living alone in that house, with his memories overwhelming hi when he thought they were protecting him. The power of what he had loved and what he had lost so incompetent against the careless strength of the living."

My dear Mr. Smith, if this is your first effort, I can barely wait to see your second. ( )

Smith must set some kind of record for the use of the word "and". He uses and when a comma would have sufficed and he uses and when it would have been better to just start a new sentence and as a result the writing has a monotonous and tedious quality and I didn't enjoy it and I was forced to conclude after a few pages I could not read 300 pages of this even though the concept is intriguing and the book has received plenty of praise. ( )