Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. New York, New York. 2019. First Edition. The narrative is presented in chapters, each of which is divided into a number of separate sections. Paragraph divisions in this analysis represent those sections. Longer paragraphs represent long sections, and the author’s apparent intent to have the ideas and events within those sections considered together.

The narrative begins with a Prologue, in which central characters Jack and Wynn realize that their long-awaited trip down a Northern Canadian river is being jeopardized by an approaching forest fire. As they realize their only way to escape is forward to their original destination, they encounter a pair of drunken Texans who ignore their warnings about the blaze. They also overhear a volatile argument between a man and a woman but, because they are in a hurry to outrun the fire, do not turn back.

A while later when they have set up camp, Jack and Wynn are found by a man who has clearly had a traumatic experience, and who says that his wife Maia has gone missing. They suspect that the man is part of the couple they heard fighting, and Jack also suspects that things between the couple are not what the man, Pierre, suggested they were. Jack and Wynn return to where they heard the argument and find the woman, who has been severely injured. They realize that there is no way she would survive the fire if she was left alone, and resolve to take her with them.

When Jack and Wynn return to their campsite, they discover that it has been trashed and most of their supplies either destroyed or rendered unreachable. Jack theorizes that it was the man they heard, but Wynn believes it was a bear, refusing to believe negative things about the man until they have a chance to talk to him and find out his side of the story. They then pack up their canoe and set on their way down the river, hoping to outrun the fire.

As they travel, Jack continues to speculate on the motivations and dangers associated with the man. Both he and Wynn keep a close eye on signs of the fire, which seems to be speeding up. They also keep a close eye on their dwindling supplies, and on the woman, who has moments of clarity even within her overall experience of being seriously injured. Eventually, Maia gains enough strength and consciousness to tell them more about what happened. Jack and Wynn learn Maia and Pierre, are married scientists. They also learn that Pierre assaulted Maia in the aftermath of the argument that Jack and Wynn heard, and that he is likely to be both violent and obsessive. All this confirms Jack’s fears and changes Wynn’s mind. They work together to get to the end of their journey even faster.

As they continue to move down the river, the travelers see more and more signs of the approaching fire. Eventually, they find themselves unable to outrun it, and take shelter when it jumps the river, roaring over them. While it burns in the tops of the trees, they find they are uninjured, and hurry to cross the river to the side where the fire has mostly burned itself out. They wait for a few hours for it to continue its passage. Eventually, they climb back into their canoe and continue on their way.

A dangerous trip through some rapids later, the travelers arrive at a bend in the river that the fire had not touched. There, they rest and find food. They are discovered by the two Texans, who have been continuing on their journey in their motorized boat. The encounter between the two groups is tense, but eventually becomes somewhat settled. That night, however, Jack discovers one of the Texans attempting to rape Maia. In the ensuing confrontation, Wynn is shot and killed. Jack hides with his body and with Maia. Once he is sure that the Texans have moved on, he follows, eventually discovering Pierre’s body – it would seem he was shot by the Texans.

In an Epilogue, Jack visits Wynn’s family. As he the story of what happened, the conversation with Wynn’s family reveals that Maia will be all right, that there will be no charges related to the deaths of either Wynn or Pierre, and that Jack was unable to attend Wynn’s funeral. As he realizes that the members of Wynn’s family are doing their best to move on, Jack finds himself able to start moving away from the guilt and self-recriminations he felt in the aftermath of Wynn’s death.