The River King

by Lane Walker

Book No. 2 in The Fishing Chronicles. Bobby thought a trip down the Cass River with his three best friends sounded like a great idea. They had a four-day fall break and were looking for an exciting adventure during the Halloween weekend. Just weeks earlier, their science teacher, Mr. Hill, had shown them pictures of a giant northern pike. These huge fish came up out of their deep hiding spots in the fall to feast before th long, cold winter. His pictures showed a fish with razor sharp teeth and a head that looked like a tank. The pike captured the boys' hearts, and they wanted to experience catching a 'River King' too. As the trip got closer, one thought started to haunt Bobby's mind. Was he brave enough to spend two nights on a raft without any adults around? The river was wild, uncharted water for the boys. Would they be ready for the surprises and hidden challenges they'd face on it? Before putting their raft in the water to start their adventure, David's dad reminded the boys of a local ghost story. The boys had heard about the legend of Scratchy but laughed it off as just a good story designed to scare kids. Or was it? It was a journey they would never forget. The boys thought it was just the four of them. Not long into it, they learned they weren't alone. This Halloween would be one that none of them would ever forget--if they survived to tell the tale!" -- Page [4] cover.

120 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2020

Reviews

[Steve Patton · Rating 1 out of 5]

I won't go into the full rant I did for the first book, The Monster of Farallon Islands - you can read all that under that review. Although I will repeat some here.

I am glad I read this book first before reading it to my son - which I did not. Again, my rant is Lane Walker state's he was/is a Principal and Educator and these books are for boys to show morals, good choices, and the like. Not. That is my disappointment in each of these. It does not need to be a Timmy and Lassie feel good, but in each book poor choices are made and these would be OK if they were addressed and the right or better choices were mentioned.

Four boys go on a river rafting/camping trip over Halloween weekend. (Alarm Buzzer Sounding). First, what parents would permit this, considering the age of the boys...and let me remind you, these are in no way comparable to the Stand by Me, don't mess with me boys. Next, one of the boys can't swim (Alarm Buzzer Sounding). Now that may be OK to some extent, except recent rains have the river swollen and dangerous. "Son, yes you may go on a dangerous raft trip on a swollen river (at night) even though you can't swim" said no mother ever to her son. Then add in the crazy (cliche) man with the hook legend, and you'll scare the barjeepers out of my son if I had read it to him!

Boo!

[Hunter T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bobby thought a trip down the Cass River with his three best friends sounded like a great idea. They had a four-day fall break and were looking for an exciting adventure during the Halloween weekend. These huge fish came up out of their deep hiding spots in the fall to feast before th long, cold winter. His pictures showed a fish with razor sharp teeth. O they try to . Lane is also good at making country books which I love because I love fishing, hunting and living out in the country. It also helps the reader when he describes little things.
I would give this book a great rating because I love it so much. He explains it like no other author and is the best at writing short country books.The cool thing about this book is it's in a series of books. So you can read a lot more books by Lane Walker. I encourage you to read this book. I would give it a 9/10.

[Emerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Student Recommendation #12

2 stars for writing style, sentence structure, grammar, etc. I was a little surprised at how uncomfortable this was to read considering the author was a 5th grade teacher at one point. There were more mistakes than I’d like to see in a book I give to my students to read.

3 stars for content! A couple boys in 4th grade are obsessed with this series and I can see these particular students love it so much! There’s a nice mix of adventure and mystery/thriller, and very outdoorsy! If I ever purchased the series for my library I could think of several students who would love the content/genre!

[Braylon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was fantastic and had some thrillers. So there is bobby and his three other friends. They go on a trip on there local river all weekend and they float all the way to there pick up destination. They don't they will be encountering some problems on the way read the book to find out what happens.

[Erik Lindstrom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite of the Lane Walker books. My son (9y) immediately recognized this was fiction and that rafting on a river with friends over halloween was a terrible idea and ways they could have been safer. Good talking points. He loves fishing and resonated with those parts of the story and dynamics of the friends group navigating the trip together.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been looking for some books for my 12 year old son who loves fishing. This series caught my eye and I thought I’d read it before recommending to my son. He’s going to love it!

[Tara Martin & Co · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read aloud to my 11yr old. He loved it!

[Zane Windle · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book never hooked me (pun). Same premise as the others, same paste very slow.

[Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

one my favorite books because of a lot of it was energetic and scary. My favorite part was when they got in the crash but then had a monster fish on! every person who wants to fish or anything should for sure read this book about the outdoors. I have never read a bad book by lane walker. I liked how he changed from school to fishing.

[Anna Timmer · Rating 1 out of 5]

The focus on Halloween and horror stories and ghosts in a fishing book is just all very out of place and ruined this book.

[ANdrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

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