Customer Reviews

Dangerous River: Adventure on the Nahanni

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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"Dangerous River" is one of the finest Far North adventures ever written. R. M. Patterson and his partner Gordon Matthews were the last of a breed of men who tackled the Far North with nothing but stamina, courage, and consummate skill with rifle, pack and canoe. Trapping and searching for gold in the legendary South Nahanni River country in the 1920's, Patterson describes their adventures in language that makes the reader yearn to see one the premier rivers of the world. Patterson's style is laced with wonderfully dry British humor as well as a poet's skill in describing the breathtaking landscapes. You feel as though you're right beside him throughout his adventures and hungering to go there yourself. You can't ask more a writer and his book than that!

This tale of wilderness adventure is set in the unexplored region of the South Nahanni river valley in the Nortwest Territories, Canada. It tells of unexplained deaths (the reason it was called Dead-Man's Valley), and the survival tactics and techniques of explorers during the gold-rush days of the area. Patterson spins the tale in a way which makes you feel the icy cold winters and the lavish and wildlife filled summers. His writings are non-fictional, and he includes maps and photographs taken while he was there. It is exciting, and laden with danger about the rapids, ice-flows, and Indian legends. I highly recommend it to anyone with a love of the outdoors, adventure, or wilderness history!

Paddling upstream through "Hells Gate" rapids and past 4000 feet canyons on the South Nahanni River in Canada's Northwest Territories in the 1920's before the advent of the bush plane was northern adventure at it's best. After reading the book, I took the canoe trip and the beauty of the scenery actually exceeded the best descriptive prose in the novel. Look up Black Feather outfitters in Toronto and sign up. Rob Evan

Patterson makes a 200 mile snowshoe trek in 50 below weather to pick up the mail seem like slightly unusual walk to the post office!

I purchased Dangerous River: Adventure on the Nahanni to use as research for my latest release, The River, an exciting and terrifying techno-thriller that takes place on the Nahanni River.

I found Dangerous River to be invaluable to me, and after reading it, I yearn to travel to the Nahanni River to see this wonderful part of Canada.

I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys a true Canadian adventure. The photos take you back to a simpler life, and the author's humor and attention to detail are entertaining.

~ Cheryl Kaye Tardif
Author of Divine Intervention

This was a great book. If you like historical, biographical adventure, this is a must read. Also check out JON TURK; Cold Oceans, another great book.

I have nothing to add to the other reviews of this great, great book -- I wish only to say that this masterpiece has passed in and out of print several times, and that there is always the chance that the next time it goes out of print, it won't re-appear again. That said, please don't pass up this opportunity to acquire one of the finest outdoor adventure books ever written. I know of only two others in this class: Cache Lake Country,* by John J. Rowlands, and Elliott Merrick's True North. And I offer exactly the same warning about them. I m'self have cached [!!] several extra copies of each for gifts for very special people in my life; I guarantee that you will feel the same about all three.

* From the Introduction by Verlyn Klinkenborg: "... But if Cache Lake Country was the first real book my dad ever bought, it was an amazing choice because it is also the best book ever written. So I thought when I first found it in 'the library' and read it as a boy. So I have thought upon re-reading it every year since. So I think now, having just closed its covers again." :-)

The Oxford educated author, Raymond Patterson, chucked his staid life as London banker for the extreme conditions of the 1920's Canadian far north, traversing barely navigable rivers and wintering in 40 below conditions far from the nearest supply post.
The accounts are highly colourful, occasionally humorous and truly amazing as real life survivor accounts. Unlike some modern adventure story-telling, the author thankfully omits hyping the risks and achievements, avoids ominous foreshadowing and such devices, and relates his account in a modest but richly descriptive style.