The River Is Waiting

First published 2025 · debut

Cover of The River Is Waiting

Reception

Mixed reviews. 5 of 7 critics were mixed or negative.

Rave 1 · Positive 1 · Mixed 2 · Pan 3

  • “Pivots sharply from the domestic sphere — where it’s initially so dramatic — to prison, with all the limits that a penitentiary setting imposes”

    The Washington Post · Ron Charles · Pan

2 more quotes
  • “All of this should make for a compelling saga, but the fly in the ointment is that Corby is a narcissistic character less concerned with the enormity of his transgression…”

    The Los Angeles Times · Leigh Haber · Pan

  • “Back-and-forthing makes Corby tiresome and unlikable. I feel little sympathy for him, nor do I particularly root for him. Other characters are more intriguing”

    The Star Tribune · Maren Longbella · Pan

All 7 reviews on Book Marks

About the book

Read the full description

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 from Open Library

About the author

Wally Lamb, born 1950, United States.

Catalogue record

Scribner, 2025 · 432 pages

Publisher
Scribner, 2025
Pages
432
LC · Dewey
PS3562.A433 R58 · 813.54
ISBN
978-1-6680-0641-2 +1
Full recordClose
Publisher
Scribner, 2025
Pages
432
LC
PS3562.A433 R58
Dewey
813.54
ISBNs
  • 978-1-6680-0641-2
  • 978-1-6680-0639-9
Editions
  • S&S/ Marysue Rucci Books, 2025, hardcover, 470 pages 978-1-6680-0639-9
  • Scribner, 2025, 432 pages 978-1-6680-0641-2
Author
Lamb, Wally, 1950–
Statement
The River Is Waiting / Wally Lamb.
Records
Open Library Wikidata

Subjects

  • United States
  • 2020s
  • Crime and mystery
  • Family
  • Mental health
  • Adult Fiction
  • Adult
  • Addiction
  • Corby Ledbetter

Catalogue data checked 3 October 2026