A group of 4 diverse residents of LA head out on a backpacking trip in the Sierra Nevada. Their leader, Tracy, is each of their personal trainer, the others are just meeting. With varying amounts of outdoor experience--Tracy has a lot, for Todd it has been a long time, Oscar and Gwen have little to no experience. A forest fire derails their plans, and they take a tip and hand-drawn map from a ranger and go somewhere different. And happen upon a grow operation in the national forest. And soon they are in the middle of rival drug growers.
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I think this is every California hiker/backpacker's nightmare (probably other states too), though I would think legalization has made it less of a worry. I am out of that loop these days.

The story is pretty straightforward, with the 4 main characters alternating as narrator. When they first meet there is a lot of judging, but as the trip goes sideways and they learn each others' strengths, they gain respect for each other and for themselves. This is a thriller with a side of trust and friendship.

I have to commend Revoyr for her geographic accuracy. It is always a pleasure to read novels without huge errors. She keeps the locations in the mountains generic enough to possibly be real, but the cardinal directions are accurate, the snow, the lake colors, the multiple ranges, the granite, et al. Her locations in LA are much more specific and on point.

There is just one loose end that she leaves--on purpose--but UGH I hate that lol (no spoilers from me though!). Otherwise it pretty much went as I expected. 3.5 stars.

Narration was good, by Karen Chilton. ( )

Lost Canyon by Nina Revoyr is a survival story about a group of backpackers who find themselves in a world of trouble when they stumble upon a marijuana grow-op in the middle of the Sierras. What starts as a pleasant 4 day retreat from the bustle of Los Angles, becomes a nightmare trip as they are caught up in a battle between a drug cartel and some white supremists.

Of the four hikers only one, Tracy, is a seasoned back-country expert and she is the leader of the expedition. She works as a personal trainer and the other three are clients. Two of which, Oscar and Gwen, have very little experience in hiking, Todd, the last of the four, grew up in a rural place and has spent time in the woods and has hunting experience.

The story is told from three viewpoints, that of Gwen, Todd and Oscar. These people do not know each other well and have very different backgrounds. First they are turned away from their original planned route due to a forest fire. They decide to go far into the little travelled back-country for a thirty mile round trip but what begins as a trip to push their personal boundaries becomes a dangerous effort to survive.

I am the perfect audience for a book like this as I love survival stories. This exciting thriller kept me interested and turning the pages right to the end. Of course, as in all thrillers there was a certain amount of unlikely events that one has to swallow in order for the book to come together, but I was quite willing in this case to do so. The author did a great job in her descriptions of the scenic beauty that is to be found in the Sierra Nevadas but I wasn’t a huge fan of the twist at the end of book. ( )

Deliverance meets the movie Crash in this survival adventure.

Well, that summary is perhaps a bit too pithy for what this book is and what it's trying to be. It concerns four Los Angelinos--Gwen, an African-American youth counselor; Oscar, a Hispanic realtor; and Todd, wealthy white lawyer--who go for a four-day hike in the Sierra Nevada mountains, led by Tracy, their thrill-seeking Japanese-American female trainer. I mention race because it is important to this story, and Revoyr spends some time setting up the back stories of the three hikers, jumping into each of their heads. Despite the idyllic natural setting, the tension begins to build before they even start hiking, as they first stop at a strange country store and then are told by the park ranger that their chosen trail has been closed due to a wildfire in the area. Egged on by Tracy, they decide to take the ranger's suggestion and hike a little-known trail outside of the park, for which their only guide is a decades-old, hand-drawn map. After one nice day hiking, they take a wrong turn, and events get terrifying fast. As the suspense picks up, so does the pace, making this a very quick read.

Through this straightforward adventure story, Revoyr is trying to take on race relations and turn stereotypes on their head, as she fleshes out her three point-of-view characters and shows how they each rise above expectations and overcome the challenges being thrown at them left and right. She does a great job making these three feel like real people, allowing the reader to wonder what we'd do if we were in their places; however, her villain comes across as somewhat cartoonish in contrast. Of course, the character who most intrigued me was Tracy, whose decisions were pretty much responsible for their predicament, and it was frustrating that we were never allowed to really know her. At the end, she literally disappears, which left me feeling dissatisfied. Overall, though, this is not only an exciting adventure story, but also raises a lot of interesting issues, about how we view one another and ourselves, and how extreme situations can help us get to the truth. ( )

Four city dwellers of different ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds decide to take a weekend hike through the Sierra Nevada mountains. They’re led by their fitness trainer, who is ill-prepared and makes some bad decisions along the way. After taking a little used trail and coming across a marijuana field, the hikers run into some unsavory characters, who want to take their lives, and the story revolves around the four of them trying to get out of the canyon without being shot to death.

Although it starts out rather slow, giving background information on each hiker, the suspense eventually builds and kept my attention. The author did a good job of describing the scenery, both the beauty of the mountains and the dangers that lurk within.

Although some portions were hard to believe, and I wasn’t fond of the ending, all in all I’m glad I experienced the work of this author. ( )

Reviewed for LibraryThing Early Reviewers

At first, I was really unsure about this novel. My first reaction was that I was in for a 300 or so page lecture on victimhood and Political Correctness. I must congratulate the author because I think my misconception was her intention.

LOST CANYON addresses the weakness of Political Correctness subtly and potently without resort to the term itself or its myriad manifestations. In fact, it appears to be about racism, and in a sense it is, but in a nuanced and profoundly intelligent way. More, it is about the prevalence of racial stereotyping by one and all and all that we miss out on because of it. It is the story of four people whose limitations in perspective are overcome and transcended during the course of a week in the wilderness.

Gwen, an African American social worker; Oscar, a Latino real estate agent; and Todd, a white attorney are brought together under the leadership of their personal trainer, a Japanese American named Tracy. We are introduced to each of them individually and learn their backstories independent of the others. This is important because although, as it is in real life, the first impression we receive is their race or ethnic background, we also learn who they are beyond the surface and begin to care about them. As they meet each other and begin their wilderness adventure together, we are privy to their inner thoughts and perceptions of each other. Because we have already met each of them, we know how wrong they are about each other. It is a journey for us, the reader, to take with them as they learn to appreciate each other’s strengths and weaknesses, come to look to each other for help and finally to become united in their common experience.

Revoyr is a skillful and talented writer. It was a pleasure to read her. The beauty, atmosphere, wonder and power of the setting in the Sierra Nevada is beautifully evoked. Her characters are lovingly and compassionately fleshed out. And the plot swings you up and will not let you down until the very, very end. ( )