The Devil You Know

by Wayne Johnson

When Max Geist plans a rugged canoe trip on the rivers of northern Minnesota, little does his son, ï¬fteen-year-old David, know that once they enter the unforgiving wilderness, their lives will be irrevocably changed.At the start of their trip, David€™s father and younger sister, Janie, briefly cross paths with a group of men who, unbeknownst to the Geist family, are on the lam. Fearing the family may have learned too much about them, the outlaws decide to track them down and, if need be, silence them.

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Literary Fiction

432 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a rare bird. A first-rate literary thriller. It's literary for its gorgeous, sensitive, Faulkner-esque style. For depth that cuts to the heart, reaches into the human condition, exploring family ties and the unknowable wildness of nature. For characters who cannot be summed up by one action, who have tender places even if they do unforgivable things. And it's a thriller for an unforgettable story that moves at breakneck pace, for tension that propels you forward, almost painfully, for searing scenes that force your eyes from the page, even just momentarily, allowing necessary relief.

This is the story of David Geist, a high school student who faces unspeakable challenges on a camping trip in the Northern Minnesota wilderness. He's with his father, Max, estranged from the family for good reason, who wants to mend and heal the relationship - hence, this trip. And his little sister, Janie, precocious and precious and worth protecting at all costs.

The story alone makes for compulsive reading (and full of details that the experienced outdoors person would appreciate), but it's not limited to that. Remember, it's literary. Written with elegance, there is so much soul in these pages, it's just as much bildungsroman as it is thriller. The more I try to describe it, the more I feel I'm not quite doing it justice. Because Wayne Johnson's singular writing transcends genres, doesn't quite fit into any one box.

Suffice it to say this novel held me in its grip, moved me with its heart, beguiled me with its art.

[Pa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is in part of coming of age story. A tale of a teenage boy and how he deals with a school bully and an abusive father. The father (divorced) is trying to worm his way back into the family by reconnecting with the boy and his 7 year old (adopted) sister. As part of trying to do so, he invites the kids to join him on a week long canoe/camping trip to the north woods. But the father runs afoul of a group of nogoodniks, and this later leads to two of the latter attacking the father and sister while they are camped on a small island (at the time of the attack, the son is off in a huff at the other end of the island). The son returns in time to kill one of the baddies and chase off another, but his father and sister are seriously injured. Knowing at least two or three of the baddies will return to finish the job, the boy must call on all of his skills (moving from island to island in a busted canoe) to save his family. He does not entirely succeed, but the chase is exciting and eventful.
Though a couple of events are stretched a bit, there are some interesting plot twists. The worst of the baddies (though considered dumb as a brick by his friends) turns out to be the cleverest adversary in the end.
The author obviously knows the area and is an expert on canoeing, camping, and survival skills.
This is a real page turner. Close to 5 stars.

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an extraordinary read.

I admit to multiple biases: the protagonist is nearly my age; the story is set at the precise time and place of my own late adolescence; and I am intimately familiar with the settings and milieus, having grown up in a Minneapolis suburb and having spent countless weeks in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. Not to mention that my decidedly down-market high school competed in track-and-field with Edina's best...

Mr. Johnson writes with authority, and an extraordinary ability to channel 15-year-old anxiety. The author refuses to back away from the irreducible progression of events. He has the courage to pursue a narrative that is stomach-turning and--at the same time-- oddly redemptive.

David Geist's ability to improvise, extemporize--his pitch-perfect introspection is breathtaking--places him squarely in Holden Caulfield's company. The difference is, of course, David's utter lack of guile. This is a boy (a man, in fact) who is prepared, by virtue of his familiarity with discomfiture, to address--and resolve--life-threatening events, with no regard to context or implication.

There is abject ugliness in this novel. But the journey is invaluable. I (literally!) slammed the book down at several points... but then picked it up, and pursued Mr. Johnson's logic and narrative.

It was (and will be, forever) worth the effort.

[Paula Trabosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Makes you think what can happen on a trip. David gives you a good look into the teenage mind. Sad and sickening in some spots but a good read.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the stray train of thought writing that occurs in this book, the interior mental space of the characters and the natural environment that gives it a foundation.

[Sandie · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Geist, fifteen, lives with his mother and little sister, Janie. David is finding his way after his parents split up. His father had been abusive those last months at home and David isn't sure why. The abuse seemed to have little to do with him, coming out of nowhere late at night. But he knows that its up to him now to protect his mother and sister.

Then his mother and father start talking about getting back together. To try to win the children back, Max, the dad, proposes a canoeing/camping trip on one of the big lakes around. David is leery but agrees to go. It's clear as they leave that his dad doesn't know much about canoeing or camping and has gotten a lot of the wrong equipment. David is able to talk him into letting him go to the outdoors store and get them things that will work better but it sets a strain as his father has to acknowledge that David knows more about camping and he is the type of man who doesn't like anyone to know more than he does.

Right before they set out, Max has a confrontation with four men who are also there to camp. The men are drinking and most people would give them a wide berth but Max gets into it with them. David, Janie and Max leave but his father decides they will go a different way than the plan they filed with the rangers in case the men try to follow. It turns out that the men are not just there to camp; they are there to commit a crime to hide their other crimes at work. They decide that the Geists need to be taught a lesson and take off after them.

The men know more about camping and there are more of them. They burst into the Geists campsite at night and at the end, Max is injured, Janie is hurt and one of the men is dead. It is now up to David to get them home and find a way to avoid the men who are now even more determined to find them and kill them. Can he do it?

Wayne Johnson has written a survival novel that also explores the father/son relationship and the way that men are always jockeying for position and the upper hand. David starts the trip as a boy who isn't sure of himself and who loves his sister and ends a more confident man who knows now what he is made of. The action is compelling and frightening at times, violent as men can be in a fight. The reader will admire David and hope that he can make it through. This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.

[Karyn Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not typically my kind of book, a "thriller," but it definitely kept me reading and a bit scared. A family canoe trip that goes wrong in many ways and calls upon the courage, trust, and loyalty of each member. Told from the perspective of the son, this book felt like it was a movie in my head every single page. "Something is always with us, in the darkness as well as the light. And if this is true, then one must walk through the world, even in darkness, by the same light one saw when all was light." (James McPherson)

[Mike Wallis · Rating 1 out of 5]

The story line was alright, but I found the writing style very strange. I counted 342 words in a single sentence with 42 commas. And a few sentences were even longer. I thought the whole school bully thing seemed unnecessary to the plot. I always finish a book once I start it, otherwise I would have set this one aside after the first chapter.

[Rica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous prose in a page-turning thriller. A perfect read for me.

[Sarah White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book, just about 200 pages too long.

[Lynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I forced myself to finish this book. Trim out about 75-100 pages and it might have been bearable.

[Errick · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

[Becky · Rating 1 out of 5]

The story of survival and the loyalty to his sister and his father, whom he had a very strained relationship with, was good but I personally did not like the language and some of the graphic details of some situations. I know there are several that really like this style of book just not me, sorry.

[Eleanor Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ahhhhh~! So refreshing!! This book may be for a particual taste, but it was delicous all the same to me. It had everything i could want, and then some. Action, even bumbling idiots! My description may sound a bit to whimsical though.... Really it was a story about revenge. His father and especially with his sister. I cant say what happened to her, but i'll just say that the fella who was gutted in the end had it coming to him. Not recommened for young readers, unless you're like me, i read this in 6th grade and adored it!! Try it, or at least try and find it. This book was truely a hidden gem for me, i merely picked it up on a sale rack at some book store that was closing. If intersted i think Barnes and Nobles carries it, but at all the stores i went to, you had to order it.... oh well i still have my original at least! >.<


give it a try, whats the worst that can happen? Besides a paper cut

[Jim Huinink · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comparisons to Deliverance are inevitable I guess, and Madison Smart Bell seems to think this is superior to the Dickey classic. While I disagree with that assessment this is still a good read because Wayne Johnson's lyrical yet controlled style. The prose style and narrative control were absolutely what held this book together and what made it worth reading, for me. There are certain plot cliches (daddy issues, stereotyped characters, I could go on) and other weaknesses that make this not nearly as original, compelling or elemental as Dickey's masterpiece, one of my favorite books ever. That said, this is a real page turner. I generally like more literate fare but this held my attention because Johnson is a very good stylist.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is nothing I like more than a survival book, and this book fits that description well. The main character, David, is loyal, resolute and well prepared. He's had to look out for himself for a long time and has collected skills that help him.
The setting, near the Canadian border, is a landscape that allows for little error. Add to that a passel of villains, some external and one in the group, and it makes an exciting story. The inside villain is David's father, an ass, ill-equipped to "rough it" by himself, and certainly not with two children.
Not for everyone, I suppose-my tastes run to adventure, thrillers and mystery. But I liked it and will look for others by this author.

[Katrina Bergherm · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a bad plot line, but the version I read was the uncorrected print, so I found myself catching all the spelling errors and what not while reading. I hope they managed to fix all those before printing. It had some plot issues that were a bit far fetched but it was still mildly entertaining.

[Wayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up because of our shared name, not expecting much. This was fantastic! A wonderful coming-of-age suspense novel with a familiar setting. I look forward to reading more by my Minnesota doppelganger.

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK book, story was good, but author kinda drifted off main plot, long book and not that much of an *easy read* persay

[David Holloway · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started out strong, but bogged down in the middle. Shot throughout with some very lovely passages.

[Matthew Stuart]

An excellent little adventure story

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zowie! What a read! Adventure story set on the boundary waters of Minnesota. Coming-of-age story. Father takes two children on canoe trip that ends in multiple tragedies . Test of a person's emotional and physical limits.