While definitely full of suspense and plot twists that prompted me to keep on, this book was heavily filled with profanity keeping from rating it higher. The narrator did a great job.

I enjoyed this read very much. The pacing is the only reason that I did not give this one five stars. I felt that this one did get quite slow at times. Other than that, this was an enjoyable read from beginning to end. Loved it!

Thanks, Macmillan Audio, for the advanced audiobook review copy. #macaudio2024

'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 traveling 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. . . .'

Katy’s free-spirited sister, Phoebe, disappeared without a trace on a solo van trip along the coast of Australia. The case has gone cold with no witnesses, DNA, or a trace of evidence, but Katy’s just can’t stop looking. Desperate, she uses Phoebe’s Instagram feed as a map to recreate her final days, hoping for a clue.

This was a trippy, twisty, and addictive story that kept me on my toes the entire time. Told from three unique POVs, Katy, Beth, and a 15-year-old boy, Wyatt, whose mother is also missing, I couldn’t stop listening. The audiobook narrator was exceptional, producing different accents and genders to help me follow the story easily.

If you’re fascinated by Australian scenery, van life, solo female travel, the perils of social media, or just love a well-executed thriller, you will enjoy this ride!

I did enjoy this book and was interested in the plot, but struggled to keep things straight at times. The varying narrators, alternate names, locations, and past/present wasn't always made really clear. Maybe this element would have been easier reading rather than listening?
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audio ARC

#vanlife! Phoebe wanted a career as a travel influencer when she set off on a road trip along the western coast of Australia. She illustrated her trip with photographs and diary entries. It is those that her sister Katy follows now, hoping to find a trace of her missing sister who disappeared a year ago. From her first day on the road, Katy seems to be a troubled young woman. Soon, after Beth hides in Katy’s van, there are two troubled young women on the road. Beth is fleeing from something and neither telling the truth about what happened nor where she is from. She and Katy bond to search for Phoebe and the story alternates between their narratives and Wyatt’s. Wyatt, a boy who lives in the area, may know what happened to Phoebe.

Red River Road is a suspenseful but slow moving mystery/thriller. I listened to the audiobook, read by Maddy Withington. She was an excellent reader but it was hard to add excitement to this unhurried plot. 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, Anna Downes and Maddy Withington for this ARC.

Great book for crime lovers! Fast paced, attention grabbing thriller. Lots of twists I didn’t see coming.

TW: domestic abuse, sexual assault, violent assault.

A very enjoyable psychological thriller. I liked the twists and turns in this story a lot, and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good confusing (in the best way!) read. I enjoyed the journey with these amazing characters, and loved the viewpoint shifts. These characters were lovely to get to know, and the really deeply twisting story had me guessing for longer than most.

The only critique I had was specific to the audiobook, the voices sometimes sounded quite similar and I forgot who's POV we were in. That said, that's mostly a me problem, and for a large part of the book they do have different accents.

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.

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.

Katy is trying to find her missing sister who disappeared during a van trip around the coast of Australia. She is using Phoebe's Instagram postings to visit each site on her sister's journey. She meets Beth, who has many personas, trying to escape a bad situation. The two team up but the trip is anything but smooth. There are many twists and turns in this book. You will at times wonder what is going on with these two women. There is also Wyatt, a young boy, who had been leaving DM's for Phoebe. How is he connected to everything?

This book will make you wonder how safe it is to travel alone. Who can you trust in any camping situation and who are your friends? I was caught up in the story and was trying to figure out what is going on? The police do not seem interested in the disappearance so Katy feels she has to do it on her own. In this book Katy is an unreliable character and Beth is also not to be trusted. What an interesting and thrilling read.

What a bizarrely wild ride this one was and I was completely absorbed in the journey!

Having backpacked through Australia several years ago, I found it easy to fully immerse myself in the #VanLife plot and the eerily atmospheric setting.

Downes did a fantastic job at creating and building an ominous suspense from start to finish and it was truly pulse pounding!

Now I don’t want to say too much and give anything away, but I was extremely impressed with the reveal that I truly never saw coming but applaud that looking back, there were clues! Always my favourite type of twists!! 👏

Make sure to stick around for the authors note to get a little more intriguing insight into Downes motivations for writing this road trip thriller!

What a fascinating novel! I was gripped from the first chapter. I was shocked at all the twists and turns and really appreciated everything I learned from the authors note. The narrator did a beautiful job. I’m looking forward to reading more from this author.

I was so excited about this book, but I was confused the majority of the time. Once I figured out why, I still wasn’t a huge fan. The book is just okay for me. I don’t mind twists, but I don’t like floundering throughout the majority of the book. I’ve rated 3 stars, because it is a good story. I think I wasn’t the ideal reader for this one. The narrator did a good job.

This is my third read from Anna Downes and it was vastly different than her other book that I have read, though it was a welcome divergence.

Things I enjoyed about this book:
- The Australian setting: it was fun to hear about all the natural destinations for sightseeing in a landscape so unknown to me.
- Multiple points of view: there are times when a story switches from one narrator to another that I find myself favoring one perspective. but that was not the case for this book! I enjoyed all three voices as the story developed.
- The Twists: I didn’t see them coming! Isn’t that what we all want from a thriller?

Why wasn’t this 5 stars? There were a few times that I found the jumps in the timeline to feel a bit disjointed and harder to follow. Additionally, some concepts seemed implausible but after listening to the author’s note, I was able to have a better appreciation for the plot decisions.

Thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Minotaur Books for the ARC of the audiobook!

This book is set up around the events of a young woman who travels alone across Western Australia in order to find her sister who has been missing for a year. We get multiple POVs from seemingly random people, but they are all interconnected. What I loved about this book was how there was an interesting twist, and before the reveal you are trying to piece together what is going on. I also felt like I could not fully trust any character as they all had secrets. The ending was awesome, and a twist that was a bit jaw dropping. I absolutely recommend this book as a psychological thriller.

Red River Road by Anna Downes was fast-paced and twisty. Katy is looking for her sister, Pheobe, who vanished without a trace in remote Australia. Katy travels the same path with the same itinerary with the hopes of finding out what happened. She meets Beth, who was running from her own past. It was totally creepy and really tense.

Stories with unreliable characters are so fun - and this did not disappoint! Multiple POVs are Katy, Beth/Lily, and a boy named Wyatt, a 15 year-old boy whose mother is missing. Check the trigger warnings. Very surprising ending - I only guessed a bit of it!

Maddy Withington did an amazing job narrating. She was able to keep the three characters very distinct, and brought so much energy to the storytelling. This was a joy to listen to.

Red River Road by Anna Downes and narrated by Maddy Withington was an engaging listen. Ms. Withington did a great job narrating, keeping me interested the entire time.

Katy Sweeney is looking for her sister that has gone missing, following along her sister's Instagram account's activities, retracing each step of her prior year's road trip along the coast of Western Australia.

This book takes a lot of twists and turns and had me frequently question, "who did it?", "who is innocent?", "is Katy telling the truth?", etc. I did not know what to believe.

It definitely had me on the edge of my seat.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillian Audio for the advanced audio version in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

3.5 rounded up to 4

I loved the setting and the unreliable narrator aspect of this. The mystery itself is intriguing -- how could Katy not do something when her twin sister Phoebe disappears? I kept feeling like the story itself wasn't working, although I might feel differently if I revisit this. There were so many details and clues that built up a little at a time. The narrator was great, and helped bring balance to this dark story. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me listen to this audiobook.

Australia has always been on my bucket list but I could never solo travel there. I think I have always seen Australia as an isolated wasteland and this thriller kind of gave me that vibe. Missing women, a sister traveling to try to find her sister, and another woman attempting to escape her life. I enjoyed this one more than I thought I would. It had quick chapters and all of my guesses were 100% wrong. As the story unfolded, I couldn’t put it down. The audiobook helped because I really liked the narrator. While I liked the audiobook, I think I would have enjoyed reading it a bit more because there were quite a few characters and POVs that may have been easier to keep track if I read the physical. Overall, a great way to end summer and start spooky season.

I'm a sucker for any story set in Australia, and the premise for this one was intriguing. It took a bit for me to get into the story with multiple POVs jumping into the action. However, it didn't take too long to get acclimated. There were times I thought I might not continue, but the story ended up coming together in an unexpected and satisfying way.

The narration was good.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #MinotaurBooks for a free copy of #RedRiverRoad by Anna Downes. All opinions are my own.