The River Is Waiting

#77 in Crime & mystery

The River Is Waiting

Wally Lamb

First published 2025Original language EN

7.97.9 / 10
Score out of 1050 ratingsConfidence 25%: this much of the score is the readers’ own
#77 of 200 in Crime & mystery ahead of 62% of the category
  • NYT bestseller · 3 weeks on the list, peaked at #8

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About the book

Corby Ledbetter is struggling. New fatherhood, the loss of his job, and a growing secret addiction have thrown his marriage to his beloved Emily into a tailspin. And that’s before he causes the tragedy that tears the family apart. Sentenced to prison, Corby struggles to survive life on the inside, where he bears witness to frightful acts of brutality but also experiences small acts of kindness and elemental kinship with a prison librarian who sees his light and some of his fellow offenders, including a tender-hearted cellmate and a troubled teen desperate for a role model. Buoyed by them and by his mother’s enduring faith in him, Corby begins to transcend the boundaries of his confinement, sustained by his hope that mercy and reconciliation might still be possible. Can his crimes ever be forgiven by those he loves?

Description: publisher’s blurb via Hardcover

Where the score comes from

The sources average 8.5 across 50 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 25% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Crime & mystery average of 7.6. That is how 7.9 comes out.

SourceAverageRatingsWeight
Hardcover8.550 100%

In this book

Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.

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