Alexis and Austin travel to Vietnam on a bike tour and Austin mysteriously disappears while out riding solo. The regional FBI attache and Vietnam police quickly get involved and when Austin’s body is found consider it a hit and run on a mountain road. As we hear Austin’s account of what happens in the first few chapters he is missing we quickly know that there is so much more to the story. As an ER doctor, Alexis puts together signs that this was not an accident and is caught between mourning a man she believed she was falling in love with and finding out he wasn’t who she thought he was at all.

I found The Red Lotus to be a slow burn with a little bit of everything. I didn’t love reading about the rats, but understood their significance to the story line. I was intrigued overall as we watch on the news currently how fast a new disease can spread and it certainly makes you wonder. I did enjoy the book and recommend!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher Doubleday Books for this complimentary advanced copy of The Red Lotus in exchange for an honest review. The Red Lotus will be released on March 17.

The Red Lotus is the ideal basis of a script for a crime procedural, or HBO mini series; there's international masterminds, and biological warfare, and secrets, and corruption and the betrayal of love. It should be on the screen, but maybe not on the page.

The Red Lotus was written to be visual, and every page transports you to exactly where the author wants to take you; although the visualization is there in full force, the connection with the charecters is not. Which, may be due to the fact there is so much action and backstabbing that there left little time to develop any attachment to anyone.

If this comes out on screen, watch it. But as a book, you're ok to pass.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for the honor of an advanced copy of The Red Lotus in exchange for my honest review.

This book is about secrets, betrayal, loss, cycling, the plague, self-harm, espionage, greed, murder, and the history of rats. This topic is very relevant given today's current events and how quickly transmittable diseases/viruses can be spread.

As with all of his other books, author Chris Bohjalian does a lot of research before he develops a story. The careful research reflects in his writing and I always end up learning fun facts about a bunch of new topics. And, his style of writing keeps me engaged no matter the subject. 

I love the way Bohjalian describes Vietnam. I've never been there, but the description of the beautiful countryside in Vietnam and the Vietnamese people made it a vivid place for me. There were many references to the Vietnam war, and the impacts to the country which I found fascinating.

The plot is layered and complex but a bit of a slow burn, so I had to read carefully to catch all of the clues. It's chock-full of science and I learned many new things about rats, the evolution of rats in different regions, and biological weapons. I learned the history of rats and why they are used for research. This topic is very relevant given today's current events and how quickly transmittable diseases/viruses can be spread.

The characters are very well developed and the POVs switch around so that you really get to know them. There is Alexis, the ER doctor and main character; Ken the Private Detective; Alexis' mom the widow; and Ellie, her vet best friend. Rats are also a central character that was explored in great detail.

When Alexis' boyfriend, Austin, disappears while on a bike trip in Vietnam, her world is turned upside down. But when Austin is found dead, that is just the beginning of the story. Alexis, an ER doctor, is thrown into an investigation of what happened to her boyfriend and eventually discovers much more than she bargained for.

Coming after The Flight Attendant, I had high hopes for this book but it fell a little flat for me. I wasn't connected to the story and it seemed a little disjointed for me. You had multiple narratives, lots of comparisons to the ER, and then these flash forwarded segments, the ones in italics. This story is most definitely not about the disappearance of Austin but about containing a global plague. While I enjoyed parts of this book, I'm pretty apathetic to it overall. I feel like more of the relationships could have been explained more and the reliance of Alexis being an ER doctor didn't seem to add anything to the story but detract from it overall.

I liked the pace of the book and the characters. The use of the rats was troubling to read, but also thought provoking, especially with the twist at the end.

This is my second Chris Bohjalian novel. I love that his thrillers are more than just a straight forward murder mystery thriller. The Red Lotus starts as a story of a missing person and develops into a story of biological warfare and a market for deadly pathogens.

I found myself heartbroken for Alexis in the aftermath of losing Austin and I felt her anger and confusion as she tried to unravel the man she thought she knew and reconcile everything she was finding out when digging into Austin's life.

The only thing that kept this from being 5 stars for me is that we never find out the motivations of several of the most despicable characters I've read about. I'm left wondering why and all I can think of is Alfred in Batman saying "some men just want to watch the world burn" as far as reasoning, but I want more.

I really enjoyed The Red Lotus. It's a character driven slow burn. It's different from your typical mystery or thriller, but a great read.

Special thanks to Netgalley and Doubleday Books for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Austin goes missing and soon his body is found. His girlfriend Alexis wonders if it truly is an accident or something more! She goes digging in search of the truth. A fantastic read from start to finish. I recommend this book!

This was an intriguing read! It had twists and turns, and lots of gasping moments! It was so much more different than I expected it would be. I really enjoyed the plot line and the authors writing style.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Alexis and Austin are on their first trip together in beautiful Vietnam. Though they’re on a bike tour with a group of tourists, Austin chooses to go it alone one day to pay homage to his uncle and father who served in the country. When he isn’t back hours after he should have been, Alexis starts to panic.

The police in Vietnam and the United States embassy quickly get involved when there’s still no sign of Austin. The next day, his body is found and it appears he was killed in a hit and run bike accident.

Alexis is an ER doctor and when she has to identify the body, she sees some indications on Austin’s body that don’t line up with a bike accident. Back home and unable to properly mourn her boyfriend’s unexpected death, Alexis starts to question that the death is accidental and takes it upon herself to investigate what really happened.

Super relevant and fast paced, I had a hard time putting this down! I loved Alexis and the balance of her character - we saw her weaknesses but she exudes a strength and power that was commendable. I liked that this was a bit of a mix of thriller, mystery and sci fi and I’m generally drawn to medical dramas. This is definitely one to check out!!

After really enjoying The Flight Attendant a few years ago, I was excited to get my hands on the author's newest.


Sadly, I struggled to stay focused or engage with this one. It was definitely a slow burn and just didn't work for me. I was bored with the characters and really just wanted to finish (skimming did occur) and move on to a more entertaining and engaging novel. I actually had started reading and stopped several times before finishing. Probably would have been better to d-n-f this one, but its hard for me to give up on a book (I need to work on that).

I do seem to be an outlier, so please read the higher reviews before deciding if this would be a winner for you.

The Red Lotus by author Chris Bohjalian is a great mystery with a lot of thrill! The plot is awesome and characters are deep!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Red Lotus by Chris Bohjalian follows ER doctor Alexis and her new boyfriend, Austin. Austin, an avid biker, has gotten Alexis to tag along on a bike trip in Vietnam. One morning, Austin leaves and doesn't return to the hotel. After a day or so, Austin's body is found and appears to have been a victim of a hit and run. But Alexis sees clues that lead her to wonder if there isn't more to his death. After poking around, Alexis also realizes Austin has lied about small things and eventually decides to look further into his death. Austin was clearly mixed up in something sinister, and Alexis must find out without putting herself in the same danger.

This book had a truly unique plot. It was well written, and the characters had enough detail and complexity to them. This book does get technical at times with diseases and epidemiology. It can also be a little graphic at times. I personally do not like anything involving animal testing or cruelty, so trigger warning there. Overall, this book was different and well written. Personally, it was not my favorite due to some heavy science and animal testing, but I think many others will really enjoy it. Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read and review.

The blurb for this book made me request it from NetGalley. It sounded good. A strong, successful woman is on a vacation in Vietnam with her boyfriend. He ends up going missing and then dying under mysterious circumstances. Smart woman starts to investigate and uncovers that her boyfriend is a liar. I mean, haven't we all been there?

Alexis meets Austin when he comes into the ER where she works for a bullet wound. 6 1/2 months later they are taking a biking tour through Vietnam together. After Austin dies, Alexis becomes fixated on the fact that Austin lied to her about why he's in Vietnam. She obsesses to the point that you want to reach into the book to slap her and tell her to let it go.

The book continues as Alexis hires a private investigator to look into Austin and his death. The author drops dribs and drabs of information as the story progresses. As much as I wanted this book to be a page turner for me, it sadly wasn't. Scientific and medical explanations interspersed with the talk of rats made this book a bit boring and very slow at times. The most action packed parts of the book were the last 3-4 chapters.

It's a good book and well written but there was absolutely no connection to any of the characters for me. Characters were put in danger and I just shrugged and continued the book.

This book might probably appeal more to people into medical or scientific mysteries. It's not a bad book overall, I just simply didn't like it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday for the chance to read this book.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book should have grabbed me. It sounds so good. But I just couldn't really get into it. Austin goes missing in Vietnam. His girlfriend Alexis goes on a quest to find him, but finds a ton of secrets and lies. It just never gained momentum for me.

I recieved an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I loved this book and will recommend it often!

This book was such a page turner! I really wanted to know what Austin was up to and what happened to him in Vietnam. I liked Alexis and I was rooting for her. This book has trigger warnings for self harm. And rats. Lots of rats.

—r e d l o t u s—
I really wanted to love this book. I enjoyed Bohjalian’s last book, The Flight Attendant, so much. It was a thrill ride and I sort of expected the same kind of experience with The Red Lotus. Unfortunately, the book could not have been slower, it meandered, belabored plot points that were unnecessary and over emphasized parts that, while central to the plot, felt tired by the end.
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What Bohjalian does so extremely well is his use of dramatic irony. He torments his characters and let’s his reader in on secrets — so often his writing is somewhat delicious. Eventually it becomes clear that he is tormenting (and I mean this NOT in a negative way) his audience too by holding back particular tidbits and parsing them judiciously. This is his strength. The problem is it took way to long to reach the punchline or any real action.
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The book follows Alexis, an ER doctor whose boyfriend goes missing while they are on a trip to Vietnam. The story then pivots to follow Alexis back in NYC as she tries to figure out what happened to her BF and who he really was. It includes multiple perspectives but mostly focuses on Alexis so the others don’t feel quite as useful.
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The premise was interesting. The ways in which the author divulges information works well (but it worked better in The Flight Attendant). Ultimately, the story did not deliver the way I wanted. I think it could a very interesting book for many people (eg the elements related to Vietnam, cycling, laboratory science could be intriguing to some). It was not my favorite by I respect Bohjalian’s craft and will continue to read whatever he produces!
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A creepy twisty thriller that is best read with the lights on, while everyone around you is healthy. I have enjoyed Bohjalian's works since the beginning and this one is as original as the others.

Bohjalian has been one of my personal favorite authors since Midwives. Again with this book he has managed to keep up the suspense and romance while throwing in a bit of history and travel. The setting and plot are different from the ordinary. Definitely would recommend this.

The Red Lotus by bestselling author Chris Bohjalian is a thriller that is difficult to put down. Alexis Remnick, ER physician, and her boyfriend, Austin Harper, a researcher at the same hospital, are enjoying a wonderful biking trip in Vietnam. Austin goes off by himself to explore the areas his father and uncle had been years ago during the war while serving there. Unfortunately Austin doesn’t come back, and is later found dead, a victim of a hit and run. Alexis doesn’t buy it because there are circumstances that don’t add up, like a puncture wound in his hand that has broken bones and isn’t something that is consistent with the hit and run, and when Alexis gets home, she hires a private investigator to clear up the loose ends for her. As she also investigates, she becomes entrapped in a conspiracy that may prove deadly for all involved.

Bohjalian is an excellent storyteller, and the story flows in an organized way while suspense builds. He does a good job defining the characters, and they seem real and like people readers are familiar with. Things are not as they appear -with the story, and with the characters - and the dénouement is surprising and unexpected. Alexis is fairly pushy and Austin’s family is on the defensive, which makes it difficult to investigate Austin’s death. Austin lied about several things, including where his father and uncle were in Vietnam, and it is puzzling to Alexis as to the reason. Alexis suspects they made the trip to Vietnam for reasons other than the bike tour.

Readers who enjoy high suspense and a good plot will want to pick up this book. It will keep readers on the edge of their seats.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.