I liked the atmosphere and the general eeriness of the story. My favorite thrillers are typically ones where I can't get a good sense of what's going on and this story definitely did that. I think seasoned thriller readers will pick up on some hints to the big reveals fairly quickly. While I enjoyed the book, the ending quickly became convoluted and an instance of an author trying to do too much,

This is the third book by Anna Downes that I have read, and boy she can write a great thriller! In Red River Road, we are introduced to Katy, who is new to the "van life." Katy's trip is different thought - she is retracing the steps of her sister, who went missing a year a go. Katy quickly runs into Beth, a fellow traveller, and the two realize that they may be better off together than alone. Twists and turns follow Katy and Beth, as we learn what really happened to Katy's sister.

The plot of Red River Road is intriguing and adventurous, a mystery about missing women who travel solo. The story is told from 3 different POVs that slowly reveal the plot. This book starts out extremely slow, I found it difficult to get into until a little over halfway when the pace picks up. I enjoyed the descriptions of the scenery and the inclusion of the Instagram posts as Katy retraces Phoebe’s steps was fun. The connection between all the characters was a satisfying resolution, but I felt like it could’ve been done in fewer chapters. (3.75/5)

**This ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.**

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for this ARC!!

I absolutely DID NOT see the turn of events that happened 3/4 of the way through this book. It was written super well, but slightly slow progressing in the first half. Overall a really good and twisty read.

Red River Road is a mystery set in Australia. It had a creep factor which is usually fine but this one was almost confusing, with the changing points of view and no likable characters. It's did keep me guessing until the end but with no relatable characters it's just 3 stars for me.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for my review copy of this book.

Red River Road is a haunting and atmospheric novel that skillfully incorporates the Australian landscape to create a sense of isolation and beauty. The breathtaking views contrast with the endless roads and loneliness of the van life, adding depth to the story. The narrative shifts between Katy, Beth, and Wyatt, all somewhat unreliable narrators, adding complexity to the plot.

Anna Downes' writing in Red River Road is exceptional, masterfully keeping readers on edge and evoking a sense of internal anxiety that mirrors the characters' experiences. The vivid imagery she employs adds to the suspense, making the story all the more compelling.

While Red River Road touches on sensitive topics like gender violence, the author handles them with care, and nothing is too explicit. Overall, it is a gripping and atmospheric thriller that will keep readers on the edge of their seats from beginning to end.

This is a fun book and an easy read. It is a mystery thriller, and I can see being a great quick easy beach read. I would recommend this book.

US pub date: 8/27/24
Genre: thriller
Quick summary: Katy is on a mission to locate her spirited sister Phoebe, a #vanlife enthusiast who vanished in Western Australia. As Katy retraces her steps, she meets the mysterious Beth and realizes that this rural setting may be even more dangerous than she thought.

As #vanlife gets more popular, so too are thrillers of #vanlife gone wrong. I enjoyed getting the chance to visit Australia from my couch - it sounded so beautiful! The book started off fast-paced as Katy retraced her sister's steps, but I think it would have been stronger if it had been closer to 300 pages rather than 400. I also didn't love the big twist - it felt a little too unrealistic to me. It seems like a lot of reviewers liked this one more than I did, and if you like travel thrillers, you might too!

Thank you to Minotaur Books for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book and it was entertaining. This wasn’t my favorite book of the year, but it’s a great beach read. I enjoyed the atmospheric writing which made the setting really great in this story and I liked the pacing of the book and twists and turns. Overall, I’d recommend to others!

Red River road by Anna downes
Is a new psychological thriller with unreliable narrators. Katy is following Instagram posts of her missing sister, Phoebe, the magnetic camper-van-life influencer who has been missing for the past year. Along the way, she meets Beth, (or is it Lily?), who has just escaped an (tw: domestic violence) abusive on-road relationship by climbing into Katy’s van. Luckily for Beth, Katy takes her in, and the two continue the search for Phoebe. The search takes them along the coast of beautiful Western Australia, the picturesque intertwined with confusion and intrigue. There’s something wrong with Katy, but will Beth figure it out before the end of the road?

I really enjoyed this book. I think the pacing was fantastic, which is just what I want with a thriller. I could not put it down in the last 75% as everything was coming to a head. I also like how difficult it was to guess what was going on and how everything was connected. I feel like I guessed a couple of the twists, but was completely floored when the entire picture was revealed.

The characters were great! Beth and Katy were both deeply flawed, and by only sharing parts of the truth with each other and the reader, created tension that you could cut with a knife. I enjoyed them both as a team and separately. I also think the amount of other characters was great as it created a question about who all was involved in the actual crimes.

Overall I give this a 4/5 because I really enjoyed the story.

I always enjoy Anna Downes’ novels and this one was also good! I was a bit disappointed with how the twist unfolded and I can’t say much more because I don’t want to give it away but I always am on the edge of my seat when she writes a story and there’s always an adventure to take!

t seems as if I am an outlier with my opinion of this book. This is a vanlife mystery.

Phoebe takes a vanlife trip out in the remote coastal area of Australia. A year later, her sister Katy sets out looking for her. I will say the setting was my favorite part of the book. It was so eerie and perfectly described. Along the way in her search, Katy meets 2 different wayward souls who may be able to provide answers. But can they be trusted? The book is told in 2 timelines plus social media posts made by Phoebe.

This was a very very slow burn. I found it interesting and as I said, I loved the location. However, I didn't find it to be very thrilling. The ending felt rushed to me, after all of that slow burn. However, it is a good mystery if you are interested in vanlife.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC. I greatly appreciate it. I do recommend this book as it was well written and many will enjoy this.

This was a fun mystery thriller. I loved the setting and the cover just really drew me in. I'd classify this as a popcorn thriller, fun and entertaining but nothing that was groundbreaking. Recommend for a beach day!

When I read the description for Red River Road, I interpreted that the plot would be centered around Katy slowly unraveling the clues to her sister's disappearance. Instead, it was more around the connection between three characters. Multiple POVs are a hard sell for me, and this one wasn't structured in a way that kept the pace consistent. Even though the end had a few good twists, I wish it would have been more of a thriller than a slow burn.

Setting off on a epic road trip trip around Australia in a camper van sounds wonderful, stopping as and when the notion takes you, the serenity of the beauty of the coastline and the summer seems as if it should be on everyone’s bucket list. Except if you are a young single female adventurer in a world of dangerous predators where the violence of men is never too far away. Katy is following the Instagram stops her sister recently made on exactly this journey. Her sister., Phoebe, is missing and we are trying to find her. Hundreds of women go missing, some murdered, some never found. Against the beautiful background of the trip Katy unravels some mysteries but mostly herself. Grief and desperation don’t go well together. Great writing, twists and turns, harrowing beauty and harrowing sorrow.

📚 PRE-PUBLICATION BOOK REVIEW 📚

Red River Road By Anna Downes
Publication Date: August 27, 2024
Publisher: St. Martin's Press - Minotaur Books

Swipe ➡️ for GoodReads Synopsis

📚MY RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

📚MY REVIEW:

Wow. Just wow.

I had to let this one simmer for a bit before I could write my review. This book took SO MANY twists and turns in the last 25% of its pages, I almost felt like I needed time to recover from it.

What a thrilling and wild ride this was! It started out with a slow burn. There were three POVs alternating from chapter to chapter, and all these people were unreliable narrators. I didn't believe anything they said and they all seemed like they were hiding something unsavory. Initially, I wasn't quite sure how everybody was going to connect. But I kept reading, because this book was written in such a way that I just KNEW it was going to pick up -- and the underlying creepy factor was definitely present in this one.

Then I hit the 40% mark, and there was no turning back. My level of captivation had been slowly building, but at 40%, I was riveted and I did not want to put this book down till it was done and the mystery was solved. Okay, I won't lie - ALL the mysteries. And there's a lot of suspicious shit going on in these pages.

If you're in a reading slump, this book will pull you out of it. It's creepy, it's got stalker vibes, it'll remind you of every Dateline episode you've seen about people just disappearing, and nothing is as you think it is. I thought I might have guessed what was going to be revealed, but Lord have mercy, I could NEVER have predicted the way this one turned out.

When you have the chance to read this book, don't hesitate. It' ll be published in late August 2024, but you don't want to wait that long. Get your hands on this creepy and twisty thriller as soon as you can -- just don't take it with you on a solo road trip! 😉

A HUGE thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin's Press - Minotaur Books for gifting me this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

#RedRiverRoad #AnnaDownes #NetGalley #ARC #bookreviews #bookrecommendations #bookcommunity #thrillerreads #thrilleraddict

Wow what a story full of twists and turns. I really liked that it was set in australia, I have a lot of family there. I also liked the three POVs it always makes a story more fun when you can hear multiple points of view. I loved the red herrings. It kepts me on my toes. Beth (lily) was unexpected especially how she comes to be in the van lol. I read this in one sitting and honestly not a lot of books do this to me.

My first time reading Anna Downes did not disappoint! Taking place in Western Australia, Katy is searching for her missing sister. Her sister, Phoebe, went missing without a trace a year ago while road tripping along the coast. Fully immersed in the vanlife influencer culture, this thriller takes on a ride through beautiful Australia while Katy is following the cookie crumbs left from Phoebe's instagram, trying to retrace her sister's steps. After a close call with another van, Katy pulls off the road for some fresh air but when she returns to her van she is not alone. Another woman, Lily, is bruised, shaken and with no belongings, not even shoes. Katy let's her stay as she is worried this situation could easily have been her sister. The two work together to try and find Phoebe but we quickly discover neither lady is being 100% truthful. This was a super entertaining psychological thriller. It also showed just how unsafe social media can be when in the wrong hands. Thank you Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

Ok. I’ve had this book since February. And I’ve been reading it since, February!! I give up. I’ve tried so hard to like this book and I know it has really good reviews, but I can’t keep torturing myself. It’s very much a slow burn. And I’m the type of person that likes things to pick up quickly and keep me interested. Although it starts off with a bang, it couldn’t hold my attention. I didn’t care about the characters or what happened to the sister. I made it 68% and still had no clue what was going on. The writing is good and atmospheric but I just wasn’t the right audience for this. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review. I tried lol.

This was a book that I had to think about for some time. It's very trippy in that I was never sure about what was going on, who was being honest, who to believe, was everything real, who is being reliable, who is unreliable, etc. I just didn't know what to think, and that is the beauty of this book. Anna Downes created the sensation in me that I believe that her main character was feeling.

Katy Sweeney is searching for her sister, Phoebe, who vanished a year ago on Western Australia’s coral coast. Katy doesn't have much to go on except her determination and drive to find her sister. She will rely on Phoebe's social media posts as a guide. Along her search, Katy meets Beth, a woman on the run.

The setting and atmosphere in this book were wonderful. Plus, this book has an eerie and creepy vibe to it. It is unsettling in many ways. As Katy experienced many things along her search, she meets many people. Things get intense at times and having the POV of Katy, Wyatt, and Beth made the book interesting. I had an inkling around the 60% of the book about one aspect and was right; however, that did not affect my enjoyment of the book at all.

One downside of this book for me was it is a bit of a slow burn. I don't do well with slow burns. I don't care for them, but I found I was able to overlook this to a small degree in this book.

While I guessed one major reveal at the end of the book, I think many will be shocked. Even when I had that element figured out, I still had some aha moments when I learned even more.

Red River Road kept me on my toes and turning the pages. As I mentioned, it has an unsettling feeling to it. I can see this being made into a movie.

Atmospheric, creepy, unsettling, well written, and well thought out.