Jumanji meets Evil Dead in this horror novel about a group of river rafters who find themselves stuck playing a board game with the highest possible stakes—if you lose, you die.

Five years ago, tragedy struck in the wilds of Oregon. While leading a river rafting tour group on a day of adventure and rapids, rafting guides Alex and Ashley’s best friend Kevin died saving the life of a drowning child. Worst of all, it was Ashley’s fault.

After years of silence, Ashley reaches out to Alex, begging him to return once more to the Serpent’s Road, the storied river where they lost everything. Searching for closure, Alex agrees, and assembles a small group of close friends to go on this anniversary trip to help say goodbye.

Things get off to a rocky start when another tragedy strikes early on in their weeklong trip. The guide Alex hired goes missing after an earthquake knocks him off the boat. Things quickly go from bad to worse when their satellite phone refuses to find a signal, and frightening figures seem to watch them from the woods.

What’s even stranger, a board game built to be played along the river seems to be predicting one disaster after another, making them question whether they are trapped by coincidence, or fate. With no help on the horizon, their only chance to escape is to play the game, and paddle for their lives before they too get swallowed by the Serpent’s Road.