while I appreciated the the incredible writing skills of this book, I was having trouble staying engaged. It is definitely geared to those who are more interested in current world events, travel, and those who work in the medical industry (specifically in a hospital)

I decided to set this one down about 13% of the way through. However I do intend to pick up the flight attendant after this one!

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC. This review does not feature spoilers. I have read many books by Chris Bohjalian and am a big fan. The Red Lotus follows the story of Alexis, who is an ER doctor and Austin, who works in the same hospital, but in a different department. The meet one night when Austin is being treated by Alexis after suffering a gunshot wound he received in a bar. The two end up dating and seven months in to their relationship they take a trip to Vietnam. Austin is an avid cyclist and had always wanted to ride through Vietnam to visit the areas where his father and uncle served during the Vietnam war. During one day trip, which he took alone, he doesn’t return when he said he would. Alexis becomes worried and starts to search for him. I loved this book and I highly recommend it to Bohjalian fans and to those who may not have tried anything by him.

Another 5 star book from Chris Bohjalian.
I love love love all his books.
WOW!
I was never sure what was going to happen next and stayed up all night reading it.
Thank you so very much!
Lisa

I was given this book by NetGalley for an honest review -
Nothing is as it seems -
Alexis, a nurse meets Austin with a gunshot wound in the ER.
They begin a relationship and do a bike ride in Vietnam, he says to honor his father and uncle.
But then Austin vanishes, leaving only an energy gel on the road where he disappeared.
Alexis hires Ken to investigate and what she discovers will shock you - the reason for the trip, the lies, and the energy gel!

I liked The Flight Attendant, but this novel fell short for me.

Alexis is an ER doc who follows her boyfriend of six months to Viet Nam, where his uncle was killed and his father shot. Austin is huge into cycling, so they go to Nam via a bike trip. One day Austin goes alone—and doesn’t come back. Everyone says he died in a hit and run, but Alexis has found clues that his death wasn’t accidental. The search for the truth about Austin’s death is compelling since we readers know what happen, and the characters in the novel don’t. However, I never felt pulled into this story or its characters.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this novel, which RELEASES MARCH 17, 2020.

Reading this really makes me want to visit Vietnam- but just on a nice, tourist trip, not to sell anything illicit! Overall, I enjoyed this book, even though it was a bit hard to get into in the beginning. Once the story got going, it kept me guessing until the end.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book. I really liked some of Chris Bohjalian's earlier novels, but then there was a long stretch where I just found his books overwrought and annoying. This one felt much more like the earlier books to me. It was a bit predictable/heavy-handed at times, but overall the story really drew me in and I flew through it. The basic premise is that a young ER doc goes on a cycling vacation in Vietnam with her boyfriend, only to have him disappear without a trace during a ride. After his disappearance, she finds out he's been lying to her about some pretty fundamental stuff, and things spiral outward from there. The story was exciting and fast-paced, and the biological warfare aspect of the book was, well, frighteningly timely considering the state of the world these days. I definitely recommend this one. Note: I received an advance review copy of this book from the publisher, but the views expressed here are wholly my own.

I felt this book was just average and didn't enjoy it as much as The Flight Attendant. It wasn't bad, just not really compelling either. I figured out the bad guys pretty quickly.

Bohjalian has become an established international thriller author with The Red Lotus. Very readable and interesting, populated with compelling characters in tricky circumstances. I hope he continues in this vein of writing.

As always this author has written an excellent book. His detailed research always shines through in every novel he has written and this one is no exception. While the subject matter wasn't very interesting to me I still managed to enjoy the thrill of the chase as I turned the pages.

Bohjalian is one of my favorite authors and does not disappoint with The Red Lotus. It is fascinating and suspenseful. A young ER doctor’s hospital fundraiser boyfriend is killed while they are on a bicycling trip to Vietnam. But what is the real reason he has gone there and who is he...really?

I loved Chris Bohjalian's Midwives, was disappointed by The Law of Similars but had high hopes for The Red Lotus after reading the publisher's blurb.

"... a twisting story of love and deceit: an American man vanishes on a rural road in Vietnam, and his girlfriend, an emergency room doctor trained to ask questions, follows a path that leads her home to the very hospital where they met."

The Vietnam setting was original and interesting, and I would have liked more of it. After Austin vanishes on the rural road in Vietnam, his girlfriend Alexis eventually returns home to New York City, and the novel becomes a collection of conspiracies, biologic warfare, rats, and questions Alexis asks.

"Alexis uncovers a series of strange lies that force her to wonder: Where did Austin go? Why did he really bring her to Vietnam? And how much danger has he left her in?"

The questions are answered a little too slowly for me, with some very uneven writing from an author that I think is capable of better. The ending, however, is quite good and made wading through the rest of the novel worthwhile.

Thank you to Doubleday and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the book.

E.R. doctor Alexis and her boyfriend Austin are on a bike tour vacation in Vietnam. When Austin fails to return from a solo ride to honor his father and uncle who fought in Vietnam Alexis is worried something has happened to him. As she tries to find out what happened she discovers that he had been lying to her about his family's time in Vietnam. But why? The more questions she asks, the more confused she becomes, the more she realizes that she didn't really know Austin, and the more dangerous it becomes. How well do you really know a person and will what you don't know kill you?

Alexis and Austin are dating and decide to visit Vietnam. While there, Austin disappears. Alexis is trying to find out why. This to me was a very slow moving book. I had to make myself continue reading instead of not being able to put it down. I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

Ohhh this was so good. Definitely surprised me in a lot of ways and the ending really had me on the edge of my seat. Stayed up all night to finish it. Excellent!!

This novel has firmly entrenched Chris Bohjalian in the suspense/mystery genre.
His description of Vietnam, is so vivid the reader can truly experience the sights and smells of the country.
A simple bicycle trip there for Austin with his fiancée is not what it seems. After his disappearance she uncovers the deadly truth behind their visit.
I’ve read everything by this author, and this novel does not disappoint. Great read!

I like thrillers because they are written for the curious, the nosy, the ones that cannot let things go. A novel seduces, it doesn't have to thrust you into its story. It needs a good narrative, gorgeous prose, great structure, maybe the unveiling of the human truth. I love novels that let you linger, but I'm not too fond of thrillers where the pages don't turn. Long story short, I wouldn't say I like writing bad reviews — Especially when you enjoyed a writer's previous work. Midwives, the Flight attendant, and the Double Bind are fantastic. But Chris Bohjalian's the Red Lotus had several elements that could make compelling magazine articles, but together didn't work.
The Red Lotus is well researched; it had an appealing protagonist and a flowing style. But it lacked in tension and an engaging premise. It is difficult to write about a pandemic, about infectious diseases, it's a scary subject, one that most people have an aversion to. That's why we have zombie stories, where the pandemic has gone in extremis, and we can distance ourselves, while still being grossed out. I would have preferred zombies to a story about rats, the plague, and mercenaries trying to sell biological weapons. Just writing this last part sounds exciting, but in the Red Lotus, the bad guys are almost as dull as bureaucrats. We never get the why they do it; the one trait the bad guy has, he is into darts. Apart from giving him a quirk just for the sake of it, this Douglas is tedious. Seeing that we are talking about a guy messing with a disease that could kill millions, it is peculiar.
Setting this story partly in Vietnam, Bohjalian explores or, rather, touches on veterans' stories. Still, these accounts come over as anecdotal, don't merge with the central theme, and never rise to the ones that have already entered the canon.
The part I liked is the description of the protagonist; she is sympathetic, believable, a girl on a cycle tour of Vietnam with her boyfriends of six months, was an intriguing starting point. Maybe if we had read more about the boyfriend while he was still alive, this would have worked. Again, never reading about their interactions, their relationship, watching him lie to her, removed me from this tale. The culmination was the only well-executed and tense part, but these days a thriller needs more than a last shootout to compete with the many fine ones out there. This book feels like the restaurant I ate in Edinburgh this year. It jumped on the fusion trend many years too late, and the ingredients didn't marry at all.

The gist:

After six months of dating, Alexis joins her boyfriend Austin, on a cycle tour through Vietnam. One day he goes off alone to pay his respect to the place where his father and uncle respectively got wounded and died. Austin never returns. When his body is found, and his death is ruled an accident. Alexis can't believe it. Back in New York at work in the hospital, where she met her boyfriend, Alexis continues her search for the truth. Not only she learns her boyfriend was a liar, but he may be involved with people messing with deadly infectious diseases.

Being a big fan of Vietnam war era novels I was totally excited to read this. The story hooked me at first but I myself getting confused and uninterested halfway in. Maybe I needed more of the war, not sure. The book wasn’t bad but not as good as I’d hoped. Thanks to Netgalley for my advanced ebook copy.

I have to first start off by saying, “The Guest Room” was my favorite 5-star book that I read in 2016. I also very much enjoyed “The Flight Attendant” in 2018. I was ecstatic when I saw that I was approved by Netgalley to read a Chris Bohjalian book prior to it being released.

What I love the most about Chris Bohjalian’s books are how detailed and engaging they are. He describes settings and characters in the best kind of way. This story gave me exactly what I needed when reading a book labeled mystery thriller, and that is: 1. Action 2. A connection to a character/or characters, and 3. Anxiety.
I highly recommend this book to any fellow thriller lovers out there.
-Also, I have to comment on the gorgeous cover. I will be purchasing my own copy to add to my bookshelf at home.-

I really liked this book! This author’s work keeps getting better and better. This was an engaging page turner about a unique topic, and unlike many of today’s thrillers, refreshingly educational as well! Thanks so much for giving me the opportunity to read it, I will definitely recommend!