EXCERPT: 'Hi everyone! I'm Phoebe and I'm a travel addict and van-lifer. I'm about to take me, myself and I off on the adventure of a lifetime - the big lap of Australia. Only two more sleeps to go. And before you ask, no I'm not scared. The first thing people say when I tell them I'm travelling alone is "Be careful". Don't even get me started on my parents' response. But the world is full of magic, and solo travel offers way more rewards than risks. It's just that the bad stories get told way more often than the good. . . .'

A year earlier, just three weeks into her solo vanlife trip, free-spirited Phoebe disappeared without a trace on Western Australia’s remote beautiful Coral Coast. Katy Sweeney is now determined to find her sister and figure out what made her disappear. Using Phoebe’s social media accounts as a map and clues. Katy starts to retrace her steps, searching for the clues that the police have missed. The police said with no witnesses, no leads, and no DNA evidence, the case is cold. Katy’s path collides with Beth, a young woman on the run from her own dark past. Katy soon realizes that Beth may be her best and only chance of finding her sister. Soon the two women form an uneasy alliance but just how how do their fate connect them? With danger at every turn will she find the answers she desperately seeks? Or will she disappear like her sister.
It became apparent that both women were hiding things and there is more that meets the eye. This book showed the struggles for women who travel on their own, it was very realistic and I felt like I was in the van with them.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the copy. Red River Road follows Katy as she is traveling throughout Western Australia looking for her missing sister. Along the way she meets Beth, a stranger who is desperate for help. They both have their own secrets. Wyatt is a fourteen year old boy who has unexpected ties to both Katy and Beth. I enjoyed the different character perspectives. There were a few points in the story where I was confused. I debated putting down the book, but I ultimately decided to finish it. I found myself more interested around the 30% mark. I thought I knew where the book was heading, but I was wrong. Overall I enjoyed the book and would recommend it!

I love Anna Downes and I'm always quick to pick up her books. Red River Road had a unique premise with Katy on a mission to find her missing sister Phoebe who disappeared a year prior while trying to make it as a van life travel influencer. The novel bounced around a bit with posts from Phoebe, the present day story with Katy and a grifter Beth, Beth's past, and a mystery narrator. There were subplots, mixed timelines, and overall just a lot going on.

Between all the subplots, various narrators, and fake names, it was easy for me to get lost. There were times I wasn't quite sure who was who or how they fit in though everything did come together without any loose ends. The plot was definitely unique and fairly exciting, but I wanted more of the van travel life and less of the jumping around to other stories.

I listened to this novel on audio and enjoyed the narrator. It kept me interested and the accents were really well executed.

Overall, I enjoyed this book but I don't think it'll be super memorable for me. I'm still eager to pick up more by Downes and excited to see what she comes up with next!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press/Minotaur and MacMillan Audio for the copy.

I’ve enjoyed AD’s previous books ever since her debut novel and I did enjoy this one too! I will say it was a slow burn, but once it picked up and the twists came in, After reading the authors note at the end, it added to my like of the book. To hear where and how this story came about helped me to understand the travel aspect of the story. The end of the story picked up for me and pulled everything together and made more sense of the slow burn of the story. That happened about the last 25%

Thanks to NetGalley for the free advance copy of Red River Road by Anna Downes in exchange for an honest review. Note: I received this pre-publication but it is out now so you can - and should - run to get it!

Red River Road is a propulsive psychological thriller that reveals itself in layer upon exciting and surprising layer from beginning to end. The story takes place in Western Australia and follows a few main characters: Katy, who is tracing the camper van journey of her missing sister, Phoebe; Phoebe, whose Instagram stories and the inevitable comments provide clues to Katy; Beth, who is running away from her abusive boyfriend; and Wyatt, a sickly young teen who loves horror movies and his older cool brother in equal measures.

As the story lines converge, more questions than answers emerge as the reader tries to figure out what’s going on and what happened to Phoebe.

I raced through this one in a few days and switched back and forth between the ereader copy and the audio book; both were excellent (I’m a sucker for an Australian accent). I’ll be heading to the author’s back catalog shortly; she is a superb writer and the pacing on this one was just tremendous. Five enthusiastic stars.

Red River Road follows a woman desperate to discover what happened to her sister on a solo road trip through the Australian outback. With twists, you won’t see coming and realistic portrayals of characters, this book is utterly addictive and deliciously dark.

Highly recommended for anyone that loves a twisty thriller with somewhat unreliable narrators. It also has fantastic detail and descriptions about the Australian setting. Truly one of the best and most unexpected novels I’ve read recently.

I liked this. I definitely realized pretty early on that this wasn't really my cup of tea thematically and what not, but I still thought that it was well done. The characters were compelling, the setting and mystery were both interesting. Definitely a solid story!

Anna Downes’ psychological thriller explores the world of solo female travel and its inherent dangers as well as the exhilaration felt by the exploration of the Australian Outback. This was a slow burn but heated up with a twisty highly satisfying ending.

Read this if you like:
-van life solo travel
-multiple POVs
-unreliable and unlikeable narrators
-tension filled, and at times dangerous Australian outback setting
-travel influencer instagram posts along with responses from followers that add dimension to story reveal
-rich character development
-family bonds and memories
-satisfying, twisty ending

My rating 4 out of 5

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press Minotaur Books that will be published August 27 2024.

🛣️Australia setting
🛣️multiple POV
🛣️solo female traveler
🛣️influencer - instagram posts throughout
🛣️thriller

This was an entertaining thriller! The twist was crazy - I never would’ve guessed it. I thought it dragged a little at times, but overall it was good!

This book somehow made me want to and not want to go on a solo road trip. I loved the author’s note at the end that gave a little more context. I remember following the Gabby Petito case when it was happening - it was gut wrenching. I’m glad I wasn’t the only one strongly affected by it and that it inspired the author to change this story a bit.

I loved this! I think Anna Downes wrote this as a PSA for women who want to travel alone. Phoebe decides to do a "van life" trip solo through Australia and experience the beautiful coast, she is met with well-wishers, skepticism, and caution. With her optimism and sunny disposition, she sets off. Until she disappears. A year goes by and the case is cold when Katy, her sister, decides to do her own sleuthing and sets off on a van life trip of her own looking for clues and answers. Yes, you guessed it, alone.

The journey is eerie and suspenseful with hair raising chills. The atmosphere alone is worth the read. Along the way characters are added with superb effect. I kept asking myself if I would do the same in her situation. Yes, of course. Alone? Hell no! This book had me wanting to pick it up when I wasn't reading because it's so addicting and relatable in the "what would I do" way.

Pick this up for a good edge of your seat thriller! Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for an advance copy.

This book was very interesting. Phoebe decided to take to the van life and travel the Australian outback. She would blog about where she was at and what she was going to do next until she just disappeared. Her sister, Katy decides to take the same route as her sister to see if she can find her and find out what happened. Katy meets Beth, a mysterious stranger who up in her camper one evening. She has a checkered past with an abusive boyfriend. She convinces Katy to let her help in finding Phoebe. And so is the twisty story of these two women. You go on a journey of how how van/camper life would be for women traveling alone. The story gets dark and scary at time and the ending threw me for a loop! It was a great read.
Thanks to #netgalley, #minotaurbooks and @anna_downes_writer for an ARC of this great read.

Psychological thriller set in Australia
When Phoebe goes missing while traveling solo through Western Australia, her sister, Katy, decides to follow her trail using her social media posts to find her. Along the way, she meets another lost woman, Lily, with a mystery of her own. The writing is suspenseful and atmospheric. I loved the descriptions of the scenic places Phoebe is visiting along her solo journey. The beginning is a slow burn but it does pick up more towards the middle. There are definitely some unlikable characters along the way. The story alternates between three characters
Katy, Lily, and Wyatt and it is unclear how they all tie together until closer to the end. Overall, this was a tense suspenseful thriller with an interesting twist at the end.

Thanks to Minotaur books for an advanced reader copy.

Red River Road is a slow burn, character drama mystery that surprised the ever living socks off of me - twisting in ways I never saw coming.

Anna Downes knows how to create the perfect simmering tension, characters that are unreliable and yet hugely intriguing, and plop them all in a setting that is ripe with intensity. From the very first chapters right through the absolutely WILD ENDING, I was entirely hooked on this plot and could not set this book down to save my life.

From the very start you know something is just not quite right, and that there is an evil lurking just out of sight. The moving character POV's created the most intense suspense build, and I spent the first two thirds of the book trying to figure out how these three character perspectives were going to tie together.

I then spent the last third of the book on a massively entertaining rollercoaster ride of twists, reveals and omg moments that had me frantically reading forward to see how it would all play out.

No spoilers, but holy crap was it good.

Don't sleep on this one - this is must have reading for this autumn, you won't regret it.

Many thanks to the publisher for my copy!

From one unreliable narrator to another, Anna Downes’ latest novel trudges down the Red River Road. The premise of a solo female van-lifer missing and her sister anxiously looking for her is great. The odd encounters on the road interspersed with Instagram posts by the missing woman and the creepy responses from followers sets the tension and eeriness to high right from the start.

The story is told by three narrators: Katy, Lily and Wyatt. Wyatt’s one off chapters are odd at first and grow increasingly creepy as increasingly creepy things keep happening to Katy and Lily on the road. Lily’s narration gives away her entire story—at least to the reader. Katy on the other hand, is fairly guarded and fixated on her sister Phoebe’s Instagram posts, so her backstory is limited. As Katy gets closer to the area where Phoebe last posted anything, her reliability as a narrator becomes questionable.

While I did not find any of the characters engaging, I was engaged in the story. The big twist is a bit of a surprise, and it made for an intense story climax. While I found the denouement to be questionable, I did appreciate how the story wrapped up for the characters who made it alive to the last page…

This book kept me awake on a long red eye trip to Aruba. I literally could not close my eyes! The star of the show for me was the setting - I had no clue that Australia was the place where bloggers highlight their travels, especially single women. The premise of women traveling alone are disappearing with their travel vans was so very eerie. I enjoyed Katy’s persistence in tracking her sister, Phoebe, one of the women who have disappeared, but her weird behaviors had my mind whirling…and then along came Beth. So many predictions dashed to the side of the road along the way. Loved Anna Downes’ use of multiple points of view as it contributed to the eerie mood the setting evoked. And those piles of rocks kept me wondering. As each character becomes a suspect more and more connections are revealed until the unforgettable ending which had me gasping in shock, much to my husband’s dismay as I was grasping his arm and ended up waking him up.
My sincere thanks to Anna Downes, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for affording me the absolute pleasure of reading an arc of this book, published on August 27th. If you love reads that leave you guessing as details are revealed only to have to continually put the clues together in a new scenario repeatedly that ends with a spectacular conclusion then this is the read for you. Four and a half stars.

A thriller that starts with Katy, who is looking for her sister that went missing a year ago. Her sister was enjoying the vanlife traveling around the outside of Australia. She was posting updates on where she was and where she was going but suddenly disappears. This story had several twists and turns that left me wanting to keep reading to see what the final outcome would be.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. My first from this author and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The writing is phenomenal. The plot and story beautifully laid out. Kind of a slow burn, but a really good domestic suspense.

I think I’ve read too many stories lately about missing women who set out on road trips. I struggled to feel connected to anyone in this story and even though it had some clever twists, it ultimately fell short for me in comparison to the other similar stories I read.

A very twisty thriller! The book kept me engaged and I didn't want to put it down. I really was pulled in to the mystery of what happened to Phoebe. There were so many links and surprising twists. I found it well plotted. The pace of the story picked up at a good speed. I really didn't know who or what to believe. I really kept trying to put the pieces together and was really surprised at how it all did fit. I will look for more from this author. I received an advance copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

One of the better thrillers I've read in a while!!!!!!!!! Anna Downes has done ii again!!!!!!! A thrilling mystery that keeps you guessing until the last page.