Unfortunately, this book just wasn't for me. The author is clearly a wonderful writer and it's not hard to become immersed in the writing, but the entire plot was uninteresting to me as a reader. For those who plan to read this one, take my review with a grain of salt. Not all books will be perfect for everyone and this one just wasn't something I consider a book that would fit me.

As a fan of Chris Bohjalian's work, I was eagerly anticipating reading The Red Lotus. I was not disappointed. In fact, The Red Lotus takes place in Manhattan and Vietnam, and may be one of his better novels. It is a page turner and a thriller, with plenty of substance and well-researched content. The characters are richly developed and readers will stay up late to find out how the story ends. I highly recommend The Red Lotus to Bohjalian fans and for readers who enjoy books by Jodi Picoult and Jojo Moyes.

When an ER doc and her boyfriend take a bike riding trip to Viet Nam, things go horribly wrong when the boyfriend never returns to the group. Things go from bad to worse, when his body is found after he's been killed by a hit and run driver. Bohjalian kept me turning the pages as fast as I could to find out what would happen next. Highly recommend.

This was another one of Bohjalian's plot building thriller! You never know where he is going to go until you get there and the trip is always worth it.

This book is about a new relationship, Agent Orange, Vietnam, rats, lies, lies and more lies, disappointment and so much more.

For all fans of Chris Bohjalian you will not be disappointed and for those fans who have not read anything by him, I encourage you to pre-order The Red Lotus today.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Doubleday Books for this advanced readers copy. This book is set to release in March, 2020.

3.5 stars

I originally thought I had never read anything written by Chris Bohjalian but then it dawned on me I read Midwives many, many years ago. (Thanks Oprah for the recommendation!) And since I enjoyed The Red Lotus and that book, I need to make sure next time I don't let twenty years go by in between reading his books.

Alexis is working as an emergency room doctor when she meets a man named Austin. He arrives at the hospital with a bullet wound in his arm, she fixes him up, and soon after they start dating. About six months into the relationship they take a trip to Vietnam, where Austin wants to pay his respects to the place his father fought during the war as well as where his uncle died. But after embarking on a solo bike ride, Austin goes missing. On her quest to find answers, Alexis soon discovers her boyfriend might not be the most honest person in the world. Alexis might be putting herself in danger if she continues to seek out the truth and uncover the lies.

So first of all I would like to commend the publisher for not giving away too much in the synopsis. It was nice to go into a book not knowing too much ahead of time and therefore I was actually surprised when the story took a few turns.

The story follows multiple characters but it's fair to say Alexis is the main character. She's not my favorite female lead ever but the author did give her a bit of a backstory so that gave her some depth. She just wasn't a character I particularly liked but that wasn't necessary in order to be interested in her search for the truth. My only real criticism about the book is I don't think Austin was a fully fleshed out character. I felt like my simple question of why? was never really answered.

Without giving away spoilers, this book was different from the typical missing person stories I often read. It's pretty much equal parts mystery as it is thriller. The author explores some frightening but yet relevant topics in the book. And for that reason this book would be a decent book club pick as there's lots of things to discuss about the story.

Overall a good read even if I had a few problems with the characters. Definitely recommend checking this one out and I look forward to reading other books by the author.

Thank you to Netgalley and Doubleday for providing me with an advance digital copy in exchange for an honest review!

Like all of Bohjalian's novels, this one begs to be read straight through. The depth of research the writer performs with each novel has been surpassed this time. This thriller is filled with fully-developed, charismatic characters, and their actions flow together to create a strong piece of mystery writing. The unknown character who speaks throughout the novel keeps the reader guessing. As always, the lyrical prose is so engaging that, again, this is writing that can't be put down. Thanks again, Chris Bohjalian, for yet another satisfying reading experience!

This was such a strange book. I walked in expecting a taut thriller and I got a...kind of slow mystery? I think the thing that really messed up the tension for me was getting Austin’s POV in the first few chapters. It really chopped up the feeling of “WHAT is going on?” Because - you knew he was into some bad stuff from the beginning, you were NOT wondering about it like Alexis was. It could have added a layer of mystery to the whole story, and it was yanked from us. There is no whodunnit, it’s only a whydunnit.

And the why was just...so obvious from the beginning? I mean, where else could this have really gone? There was about 1 semi-surprise thing that happened, but even that was not a huge shock.

Honestly, the scariest thing about this book is the actual science/plague/antibiotic resistance aspect of it. Truly chilling!

Alas, this book was not. It was a fine story, I didn’t dread picking it back up. But it wasn’t super compelling, the pace was very unspool-y, not driving. It kind of felt like it didn’t *quite* know what it wanted to be.

This was my first book by the author, and I’m not really that sure I’ll pick up another. Maybe! I do have Midwives sitting on my shelf.

My first Bohjalian and it won't be my last because I just couldn't put it down!! A fantastic mystery with a little thriller and spy action thrown in for good measure. Loved how fleshed out the characters were and the emotions they pulled from me. Great storytelling!! Now I need to read more!

Couldn’t put this book down. The Red Lotus is an exciting edge-of-your-seat thriller that will keep you reading well into the night.

I always learn something new when I read a Bojhalian book. Love the Vietnam setting. I know what the long term effects of Agent Orange has had done to American soldiers but had not considered the long term effects to the people and wildlife of Vietnam.

Alexis takes us into the exciting world of an emergency room doctor in a large NYC hospital. Her new boyfriend Austin works in the research laboratory of the same hospital. What should be a relaxing bike riding trip to beautiful Vietnam turns into a nightmare for Alexis. When Austin does not come back from a solo bike trip it throws Alexis into a spiraling mystery that follows her home and takes her to places she never knew existed.

Another compelling novel by the super-talented Chris Bohjalian who can a;ways be relied upon to develop a great story, believable characters and compelling plot lines.
This novel is set in both modern day Vietnam and NYC and centers on an emergency room doctors discovery of her boyfriends shocking secret life and deception. I found the author’s descriptions of Vietnam today and references to the damage wrought by the war most interesting.
At turns a finely wrought character study and a medical thriller, this will be enjoyed by a wide range of readers I am sure.

Slow-burning and intensely suspenseful, Chris Bohjalian delivers another splendidly fresh and fiercely probing novel. The early scenes in Vietnam will haunt the reader and the underlying minefields of greed and warfare and betrayal provide a tale which will keep readers awake long after the lights should be turned off. Not to be missed!

Another great mystery by Chris Bohjalian. Alexis and Austin seem to have everything. Then they go back to Vietnam where he was paying tribute to his veteran father and fallen uncle and he disappears and Alexis goes at every length to find out what happens. A great book .

4 1/2 stars!
Chris Bohjalian was born to be a storyteller!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, yet if I knew beforehand what it was about I would have avoided it. Mr. Bohjalian has a way of making any subject matter interesting and makes you want more. Like previous books of his that I’ve read this one makes you think. Read it!
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Thank you to Net Galley, the author and Doubleday Books for an e-ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review. I often stay up late reading., but I don't often read until I'm falling asleep and set my alarm for two hours later so I can read again before morning. I did that with The Red Lotus. I do love the writing of Chris Bohjalian, and I love finding little pieces of his life in his writing (cycling, bits about Armenian culture, etc.), but this plot is timely, troubling, and will scare you in a way only things that could really happen do. This isn't about ghosts in an attic, but it's about greed, pandemics, and a scenario that could really happen. I loved the character development and the "voices" of the narration. I don't want to go into the plot; you can see that online. I do want to tell you to preorder this now. I promise you will thank me. This is probably Bohjalian at his best.

Another limbo book moving back and forth between 3 and 4, but this time, my 3.5 stars are going to be rounded down to 3. Don’t boo! Maybe it’s because of my mood to read something more reliable with more likable characters easy to resonate with.

I mostly like the slow-burn but gripping and multi POVed surprising writing style of the writer. But I had some kind of disconnection as I started flipping pages. Maybe I wanted to read something more concrete than biological war conspiracies and secrets the disappearing boyfriend kept, the danger of big plague threatening the world kind of book was not cup of my tea!

At some parts of the book “red lotus” defined as heart-healer and its daily moves as sinking in the water at the night, curling up water and rising at the dawn is a metaphoric resurrection! But this book is all about the plague created by mice so nothing is about resurrection, it’s about extinction so my idea is changing the book name as

“The invasion of vengeful mice” or “New York Mice Infinity War”, “Mice’s jetlag after their vacation in Vietnam”
I had several other options but I think I continue to write it down, the author may be banned me from reading his books forever. So I shut my mouth.

At least we have a somewhat likable heroine meets a guy at the ER when she works on his arm wound. She falls for him and follows him to the end of the world. No they didn’t go to the Mars, they just travel to Nam so no big deal but still great sacrifice for heroine! The guy has a bucket list to visit the places in Nam where his father and uncle have fought at 70’s. (He acted like Kevin from “This is us” but luckily we didn’t read flashbacks from his dad and passed away uncle’s dysfunctional, competitive relationship.)Then she finds out everything they had was a big, bold, irritating lie. But she doesn’t fall back or grieve. She finds out the hidden truth and fight with those shady bastards! Atta girl!

We had a really entertaining hero (I reject to call him hero actually. Let’s call him “kidnapped boyfriend”) He doesn’t do anything literally entertaining, he lies, cheats and makes his girlfriend believe he has good intention to travel to Nam and hides his secret agenda by putting her life into danger. So best thing about this hero is he gave me so many reasons to slap him day and night. Surprisingly my name’s meaning in English is also “lotus”. So I may sink at the night but I can work on his nasty cheeks from dusk till dawn. Payback is a bitch!

I liked the conclusion of the story. Some parts could be omitted to fasten the pace just a little bit but last third part of the book was more intriguing and gripping. I even thought, I should have rounded up the stars but my dislike about the kidnapped boyfriend a.k.a liar liar his pants should be on fire bastard stopped my fingers in the air.

It’s definitely not a bad reading but it is not my kind of story. I only wanted to read it because I enjoyed the previous works of the author.

Special thanks to Netgalley and Doubleday for sharing this distinguished ARC COPY with me in exchange my honest review!

The Red Lotus is full of twists and turns and wonderful characters. Chris Bohjalian is a masterful storyteller and this thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat. Alex meets Austin in the ER when she is suturing up his bullet wound in his arm. They start dating and he invites her on a bicycle tour of Vietnam. Once there, he disappears. Who is he really? Alex is left wondering what she really knows and what lies in store. I loved this book! Can't wait to recommend it to patrons.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview THE RED LOTUS by Chris Bohjalian. I read the Flight Attendant and I liked it very much. The Red Lotus is more of a espionage, thriller type book.
The author introduces you to a young ER Doctor, Alexis, and her boyfriend, Austin who are on vacation in Vietnam. Austin is a serious bike rider, and he wants to make a pilgramiage to Vietnam where some members of his family had fought during the Vietnam War. Alexis has been with Austin for about 6 months, and she is falling for him. The book opens as she is waiting for him to return from a ride he took alone in the countryside. Austin is late arriving, and Alexis starts to worry - where is he, why is he not returning her texts?
The couple has taken this trip with other bike riders and she informs them that she is beginning to worry about Austin. His disappearance is reported and Alexis and some of the others at the hotel decide to go and look for him. They don't find him, but they do find some of his belongings on the road. Some gel packs that are like energy bars, but that is it, but no Austin.
Soon all her questions are answered - and Alexis finds herself caught up in a mystery full of lies and deceipt. Alexis knows something is very wrong, and she is determined to get to the bottom of it. But will she live long enough to get to the truth?
Good book - 3.5 stars

Chris Bohjalian is one of my all time favorite authors. His books are amazing and always leave me learning something new (whether is's about midwives, or dowsing, or Vietnam, rats, and bike tours). Loved the mystery in this one and felt that Alexis was certainly a likable character). I could not put this down. Great read. Thank you for the advanced reader copy. The library will be purchasing!

In The Red Lotus, we meet Alexis, an ER doc, and her boyfriend Austin, who works in administration at the same hospital. Six months into their relationship, the two go for a bike trip through Vietnam, partly because Austin's father was injured during the Vietnam War and his uncle was killed there. Austin takes off by himself for a day's ride to revisit the sites where his father and his uncle had served, but as night falls, he hasn't returned and Alexis is worried. Austin's body turns up a few days later, the victim of a hit-and-run, and Alexis is devastated. When she returns to NY, she decides to dig further into Austin's death because of some discrepancies she identified when she examined his body and a big lie he told her before he died. She hires a charming PI to aid her investigation.

The Red Lotus is not for the faint of heart. You will definitely hear strains of Michael Jackson singing Ben as you learn more than you ever wanted to know about NY and Vietnam rats!! Bohjalian clearly dug deep into his research for this novel, and I learned a lot about the biological warfare that took place during the Vietnam War and its frightening potential for our future. It really is a terrifying subject.

I've read and enjoyed several other books by Bohjalian, and I love that each one is so unique. He is an exceptionally talented author, skilled at character development, dialogue, and plotting. He has another winner with The Red Lotus, scheduled for publication in March 2020.

Big thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday for providing me a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is exactly what a great mystery should be. It is exciting, well-researched, engaging and IMPOSSIBLE TO PUT DOWN.

A young ER doctor goes to Vietnam with her boyfriend on a biking trip. What should be beautiful and restful quickly begins to unravel when Alexis’ boyfriend disappears. Alexis learns about his lies and soon there is a trail of death surrounding this visit.

As she returns to NYC, more pieces click into place as she begins to put together mysterious happenings right in her own hospital. She is aided by a detective in trying to figure out what the trip was really about. The reader gets to figure out who the bad guys are as this book goes on.

No more clues...mystery lovers, you have to read this!

Thank you Netgalley for this absolutely perfect mystery!