I believe this is my first read from Anna Downes. It kept my attention pretty well but wasn’t the shocking thriller I was expecting going into it. If the synopsis interests you, I would give this one a try.

'People do not just vanish. There is no 'thin air,' no 'without a trace.' Everyone leaves traces; you just have to find them. And if you can't, it's because you're not looking in the right place.'

Red River Road is the perfect summer read. A Road trip thriller taking place in Australia after a woman goes in search of her missing sister.

Phoebe is a woman that decides to embark on a #vanlife adventure on her own along the western coast of Australia. She documents her trip on social media where she connects with some followers and shares her trip and tips of traveling on your own as a woman. When Phoebe disappears, her sister Katy takes it upon herself to follow in Phoebe's footsteps to hopefully find her and to find answers. Along the way, Beth enters the picture and soon infiltrates the road trip as she is running from danger. These two women find solace in one another, but secrets are being held from each other and little mysterious things are happening on their trip. Who is telling the truth and what is being covered up?

Red River Road is told from multiple POVs that sometimes was difficult to see how everything was connecting. Those POVs included Phoebe's social media posts, Katy, Beth and Wyatt. With each person, we get a piece of different puzzles and you are left wondering how they all connect. Because of that, I had to believe that the narrators were somewhat unreliable. In addition, the questionable things happening on the unusual road trip made me curious and filled me with anxiety.

Each character definitely had their own voice and I may have had favorites, but I was always trying to figure out how everything was going to be brought together. I do love a good unreliable narrator, so I was very weary of everyone. With a few clues, I did guess a major twist of the story, but it was still entertaining to see how the author was going to bring each character's story together and connect everyone. While the beginning captured me right away, I did feel the pacing was kind of slow in the middle part, but still gave the reader enough to keep them on a string. When the twist comes, it's like a big lightning bolt of an "ah-ha moment". From there, the action escalates and keeps you on your toes until the end.

Overall I enjoyed this story that focuses heavily on women, their independence but also the violence against them, and the tales and setting of Australia. I liked that Anna Downes gave us a solid and satisfying story with twists and connections that were not so far out there. The beginning and end were strong, but the middle lulled at points and had me pushing through, but Downes gave a great ending and brought it all together quite well. A thrilling summer read.
3.75 stars.

First off, I love anything Australia and the idea of taking a van and driving around and having adventures sounds like a dream! But that's the things with dreams isn't it, the ones we have at night, we know aren't real. That we are safe. But what happens when you're living your dream and it turns into a nightmare? One you can't wake up from.

Phoebe is taking matters into her own hands and travelling and seeing Australia but then she goes missing so her sister Katy makes it her mission to find her. While on this journey, Katy meets Lily and on their hunt for the truth, things start unraveling. It may be a good thing or it may not be.

I think one of the reasons I enjoyed this book so much was how well it was written. It has different povs, different writing styles (Instagram posts, letters, and regular chapters). I loved how the twists and turns had me set on one thing and then just whiplashed me some where else. The ending was a tad unbelievable but i don't think i hated it either.

I would definitely read from this author again!

A

Anna Downes has become one of my must-read authors, and every new release is my current favorite. There isn't anything I didn't love about Red River Road. The Australian coast is the perfect setting for Phoebe on a solo travel adventure, and the use of multiple narrators to provide details without letting us know quite how they were going to tie together kept me anxiously reading, but what sealed my five-star review is the very last line. No spoilers, but mind blown.

Solo traveller Pheobe hired a van and set off to travel around Australia, blogging about her journey on Instagram along the way. Just weeks later she disappears without a trace. One year later her sister Katy is following in her footsteps, literally, as she tries to find out what happened to Pheobe.

Not long after Katy sets out, Beth, another solo traveller sneaks into her van battered and bruised and looking to hitch a ride, she promises to help search for Phoebe in exchange for a lift...anywhere.

The two women become fast friends but can you ever really trust a stranger??

As they dig into Pheobe's disappearance the dangers of travelling aka the "van life" become all too apparent, especially for women.

Red River Road has three storylines playing out; Katy, Beth and a boy named Wyatt's. This one had a bit of a slow start while the reader gets to know the character's in each of the storylines but it had an action packed second half and while I guessed how a few of the story arcs would play out this book definitely had a big twist I never would have guessed.

We've all seen the travel blogs on instagram with perfect photos and stories that make us incredibly jealous and want to just pack up and go travelling so I loved the inclusion of Pheobe's instagram posts in the story and that the book looked at the sometimes darker side of travelling.

This was a very clever, twisty, Australian crime novel, that I thoroughly enjoyed.
It’s definitely best to go into this book without knowing anything at all. So all I’m going to tell you is that it’s told from Katy and Beth’s points of view, as well as a boy called Wyatt.
I did find it a bit slow to begin with, but once I was hooked I couldn’t stop listening, I wanted to know what was going on. There was a lot more to the mystery than I was expecting, which made it a lot more exciting.
I’d read a book years ago with a very similar synopsis, and so I was expecting the same sort of story, but this was even better! It was quite dark in places and would definitely put me off solo travel in Australia!
This is my first book by Anna Downes, but definitely won’t be the last

I received a gifted ALC copy of RED RIVER ROAD by Anna Downes from Macmillan Audio!

RED RIVER ROAD follows multiple points of view. Phoebe is a young woman who took off on a #vanlife adventure for some solo travel along the coast of Western Australia. She documented her adventure across social media until she went missing without a trace. With no answers from police, Phoebe’s sister Katy is setting out on her own, following in her sister’s footsteps, looking for answers.

Beth is a young woman on the run who stumbles into Katy and her van. The pair agree to team up, giving Beth a path away from her dark past and Katy some help in the search for clues. A third POV, a young man who’s mother also went missing while living life on the road adds to the mix and the search for answers.

I really enjoyed this author’s THE SAFE PLACE, so I was excited to check out her newest release! This book starts off very slow and I think you need to go into it expecting a very slow burn. I think the slow build up was needed to bring all of the information together that the reader needs as the characters Katy and Beth get to know each other and start to discover new information about Phoebe. I think the author did a fantastic job peppering in clues and leaving little cliff hangers as the POV switched back and forth to keep up the intrigue.

The end of the book really takes off before a bit of a final slow down in the end as the characters deal with all that has happened. I was theorizing throughout this book about what was going on with our characters and the author managed to surprise me! I started to make a couple of good guesses that came close to some of the truths, but not too far before the reveals.

I had a great time with this book and will definitely be reading more from this author in the future!

Having been to Australia and having gone on a back packing and horse riding safari I could not wait to read this book! The descriptions of scenery did not disappoint. The story was a slow burn and I could not wait to find out how it all came together. I did guess what happened with one character, no spoilers from me! It does come together and it was good, just a little to long. I will look for other books by this author. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This was difficult to get into. There are 2 main characters plus a mystery character writing in all caps. The 2 main characters have various names. Sometimes the 2nd character goes by one and sometimes by another. The 2nd character also has multiple back stories which I guess we're supposed to keep straight along with just who is who.

I'm sure it's a worthy read, but it was just too, too confusing for me to keep everything and everyone straight. I had to give up at about 30%.

I appreciate this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars / This review will be posted on BookwormishMe.com and goodreads.com today.

Whoa. What a twisty, turny crazy novel. This book had more unexpected moments than I ever could have imagined.

Katy Sweeney has hit the road in a van conversion on a quest to find her missing sister, Phoebe. Phoebe had planned to do the ‘big lap’, a trip around the perimeter of Australia. Phoebe’s trip began in Perth, but ended somewhere near Ningaloo. That was the last that Phoebe was heard from. Now Katy is trying to recreate Phoebe’s trip, to try to find any information that the detectives may have missed a year ago.

Beth found herself in a relationship that was far less than what she expected. When things go very wrong, she finds herself hiding in Katy’s van. Together they become friends and investigators, trying to piece together what happened to Phoebe. Bit by bit, we find out more and more about Beth. And bit by bit, Katy’s obsession becomes more strange, especially when frightening notes and messages begin appearing in the van.

Add in Wyatt and Lucas Cleary, brothers whose mother disappeared in a van many years ago. She was never found, as happened with other vanlife women as well. Wyatt is a teenager, and Lucas just happens to be Beth’s ex.

The web keeps getting more tangled, until it all untangles at the end. Don’t miss it.

Truly one of the best and most unexpected novels I’ve read. The whole background makes me want to fly off to Australia (even with all it’s deadly critters.) The characters are so well written that you almost think you know them. But the tricky part here is, does anyone really know any of them?

Excellent read. Impossible to put down.

This was such an anticipated release for me. I wanted to like this book so much more than I did. I've read from this author before and really enjoyed her writing. This one though, it didn't live up to my expectations. It was.... boring? The multiple POVs weren't unique enough and I kept getting them confused. It didn't connect with the characters at all, so I wasn't at all invested in the mystery of what happened to her sister. The plot was slow going, not very exciting, and lacking in suspense. I ended up DNFing because it just never made me actually care about anyone or anything.

Red River Road by Anna Downes, I love a fast paced complex story and that is definitely this book. Kate is on the hunt for her sister Phoebe she was traveling northern Australia in a camping van. She posted on her Instagram and was never heard from again. It is a year later and Katie has put everything on hold to fine her. She is following the clues left on her social media site and when we meet her she is speeding away from her last campsite, she can barely remember being there it is nighttime and after playing chicken with what looks like another camper in a Troopy she pulls over to catch her breath and falls asleep. This is when she meets “Lily “a girl whose real name is Bethany and is Australian but pretending to be an American she is really battered and has been running for days and begs Katie to help her and despite Katie‘s hesitancy she does just that. They eventually make a duo and travel together looking for Katie‘s missing sister a story Bethany gives her new savior is eerily similar to what she thinks happened to Phoebe. This book has multiple POVs and one is why it carry he lives with his dad and brother Luke although Luke hasn’t been home in months the mom left years ago. Wyatt loves horror stories and since he’s been down with some kind of viral infection all he has been doing is watching them he is also suffering from some kind of either delusion or schizophrenia and hears things that other people do not. His dad Rory is the landscaper and wants Wyatt to go into business with him something 13-year-old why it doesn’t see happening. As we follow Katie and Bethany strange things start to happen clues or left and things just keep getting eerier eventually the past in the present meet, secrets come out but who’s secrets? What happened to Phoebe and the other missing campers? If you love a complex well told story then you will definitely enjoy this book but trust me when I say do not skip any pages and do not look away because one missing plot point and you will be lost this is a great awesome superbly told thriller. It is always easy to pass up a book that doesn’t look that appealing and so when I find one it’s good is this I feel so lucky I got to read it as an early reader and hope everyone loves it as much as I do.#NetGalley, #SaintMartinsPress,#AnnaDownes, #RedRiverRd.,

I previously read and enjoyed The Safe Space, so requesting an ARC of Red River Road was a no brainer. Coupled with the book's description, I thought I was sure to love the newest work from Anna Downes -- and I was right. Downes has a way of weaving together a complex narrative without making it difficult to follow. Her plot, including the underlying family drama, made for an enjoyable, fast-paced read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
Wow. What did I just read???
I finished this in one day. At the start I wasn’t too sure about it but then it got really good. And then the surprises started.
Nothing is as it seems in this book. Multiple POV’s and timelines. Everything comes together at the end with a lot of surprises!
The audiobook version was also phenomenal too!

This was a very interesting novel - and it certainly didn't go where I expected it to.

Kate Sweeney is living the 'vanlife' - traveling alone along Australia's coastline in a camper van - searching for her sister Phoebe who set out on a similar journey a few months previously, and then disappeared. Kate is trying to retrace Phoebe's steps. Several other young woman have disappeared under similar circumstances so the concern is whether there is a serial kidnapper, or worse a serial killer, on the loose.

When Kate meets up with Beth, they continue the trip together. But Beth is running from her own dark past and neither woman is being truthful.

Several twists and turns in the plot of this book certainly took this novel in different directions than I expected, but it was a really gripping story, I really didn't want to put the book down.

The author did a great job painting the location - the isolation and beauty of the rugged coastline - and the fear of the unknown that the women felt - especially when they were traveling alone. I loved the way the characters unfolded, and we realized how unreliable each of them had been.

Great novel.

Genre: Thriller

Synopsis:
Katy’s sister Phoebe went on a solo van trip around Australia & disappeared without a trace. A year later, Katy is determined to find what happened to her while retracing her steps. With the help of Phoebe’s social media accounts, she buys a van a takes the trek herself finding out the dangers of a woman on the road alone.

I went into this one completely blind and really enjoyed it!
It was one of those books that I couldn’t put down and had to find out what happened. Any book with serial killers targeting women and creepy suspenseful writing has me hooked! I loved the Australian setting and the description of life on the road alone. It is extremely twisty and you are not sure who entirely to believe. The two main characters, Beth and Katy each have dark secrets that you uncover piece by piece as the book goes on. By the end, their mysteries intertwine and come to a satisfying conclusion.

I will definitely be reading her other books!


What to expect:
Stalkers, serial killers, social media hacking, survival, free spirited women, women fighting abuse, Australian setting, missing women cold cases

Thank you Minotaur Books for the ARC! 🦘

"Red River Road" takes readers on a thrilling journey across Western Australia, following a woman's quest to unravel the mystery of her sister's disappearance.

The story is told from the perspective of a few characters, plus the missing sister's Instagram posts. Nothing -- and no one -- is what it seems here. The twists and turns kept me guessing right until the end. Unfortunately, the resolution to the mystery was far-fetched, and for me, not very satisfying.

Overall, this is a fun road trip thriller, especially for readers who are drawn to the Australian setting.

Thank you Minotaur Books for sending me a free copy for review consideration via NetGalley.

This book surprised me. I had loved the synopsis before starting it but then it felt a little slow to begin. As the story unfolded I was kept in suspense of guessing what happened to missing Phoebe but in the end did not guess that she was in fact Katy all along!

Red River Road by Anna Downes is an Australian set thriller that fans of an unreliable narrator are sure to enjoy. Katy is searching for her sister, who disappeared a year earlier just three weeks into a planned solo van trip around the coastline of Australia. She vanished without trace and the case has now gone cold, frustrated with the lack of police action Katy decides to follow in her sister's footsteps in the hope of finding something that the official investigation might have missed. Things take a turn for the unexpected when Katy rescues Beth, a young woman on the run from her abusive boyfriend. Beth may not be all that she seems but at least she is taking Katy's mission seriously and so an unlikely alliance is formed, but will it be enough to uncover the truth about what happened on a remote road a year ago.
I really enjoyed the setting of this novel, I felt like it captured van life very well and I liked that it highlighted the positives of solo travel as well as the dangers. It was easy to feel for Katy and to root for her in her quest to uncover the truth, I thought it was clever to give us a character like Beth who was more obviously complex, she is clearly a liar who will do and say whatever it takes, but as the book unfolds we learn the reasons behind that duplicity and I for one certainly found my attitude towards her softening, The author did a really good job of building the tension, particularly through a thread of social media comments which if the reader is paying attention become increasingly deranged and threatening. While things start slowly the pace certainly does pick up in the final third or so of the book, and if I am honest I think it went just a smidge too far, the ending felt unnecessarily convoluted and contrived, perhaps there was just one twist too far. That being said this is definitely a page turner and I could certainly imagine many readers enjoying it poolside or on the beach,
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own .

Katy is retracting her missing sister, Phoebe’s steps, as she travels in her van. Phoebe posted her travel on her social media as a van life influencer. When she comes across Beth, who is on the run from a dark past, they team up.

This is a slow burn but if you’re interested in travel, that aspect, as well as the mystery, will keep you going. I found the van life traveling pretty fascinating, especially Phoebe’s old social media posts. The entire read there is a creepy feeling that something is not quite right. The ending suddenly spirals as twist after twist is revealed; all of which make sense and cleverly tie together.

“Yes, we’ve all heard the tall tales, we’ve all seen the movies, we know they’re all just stories. Or are they? Think about it. All those missing people….they’ve got to be somewhere.”

Red River Road comes out 8/27.