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.

No question about it. I read a lot of thrillers. So many that you think I'd spot the plot lines a mile away, and yet I still get caught off guard. This one does that for sure. Yet this is only 4 stars for me instead of 5 simply because I personally did not love the reveal of what was actually going on. But that's me, not the story!! It's a real adrenaline read as you try to figure things out and I was wide eyed and glued to the pages late into the evening until I finished it.

This was the first I've read of this author and I've got to say, I could not put this book down. It was the perfect thriller to get lost in over a weekend as the reader gets to travel through Australia with the protagonist in search for her missing sister. There were various twists that I did not see coming and it's definitely made me interested in anything else by this author.

This is a cleverly written road trip thriller set in the Australian outback. A woman takes a road trip by herself searching for her missing sister. She met up with a woman who was running from her own troubles. There were quite a few twists that I didn't see coming in this well written thriller. It was a fast-paced read from start to finish. Thank you, NetGalley, and the publisher for the ARC.

I have been provided with a review copy of this title from NetGalley for an impartial review. I just absolutely had so much fun getting to go along on these characters journey. I was just swept away and I just absolutely can’t get enough of this series or its wonderful characters. This author just has a way of drawing you in with her wonderful stories and you just can’t get enough of them. I can’t wait to see what’s next from this author.

In Red River Road, we meet Katy Sweeney, a young Australian woman on a road trip in the Australian outback. This isn't just a fun adventure--she's retracing the steps of her sister, who disappeared while on a road trip of her own. Along the way, Katy meets Beth, who is on the run. While initially wary of each other, the two team up in an effort to solve the mystery of Phoebe's disappearance.

The author paints a vivid picture of the Australian outback, while also managing to keep the reader guessing about what's really going on with Katy and Beth. Lots of twists and turns along the way, with an ending I did not see coming. A very enjoyable read!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This definitely kept my attention from beginning to end! But when I’m reading a thriller I tend to like to be on the edge of my seat and really feeling the suspense and I didn’t get that so much with this one. I definitely didn’t guess what was going to happen though and I was shocked at the twist. The pacing felt a little bit off in the middle but overall this was a decent read!

Thank you @stmartinspress and @netgalley for the eARC of Red River Road by @anna_downes_writer in exchange for an honest review!

📖📖 Book Review 📖📖 A year after her sister Phoebe disappears on a camping trip, Katy is still holding onto hope of finding her. Meanwhile, Beth is fleeing from danger and the two women pairing up may just be what they both need. As women, we are constantly aware of the precautions we should take to stay safe and both Phoebe’s social media accounts and Katy and Beth’s narrative highlight this in an all too true and too relatable fashion. Told from multiple perspectives and in a wonderful format, Red River Road is a gripping read that absolutely captivates the reader! Anna Downes creates a suspenseful and powerfully written book that is rich with layers and so many questions that leave you furiously turning the pages!

4.5/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Review is posted on Goodreads and will be on Instagram ahead of the publication date.

Thank you to St. Martins press and NetGalley for providing me this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

um wow? This book was such a twisty ride I have no words. Each chapter left you second guessing yourself and definitely have you that eerie feeling that something was definitely wrong. The plot twists??? I DIDNT see them coming at all!! I was major shocked how it all went down!! The characters each went through their own versions of trauma but ended up dealing with them very well if you ask me. I DIDNT expect to love this book as much as I did but I was wrong! Very twisty, and leaves you second guessing yourself every chapter!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Minotaur Books for this fantastic ARC of Red River Road
by Anna Downes.

Wow, what an amazing story!
This book is about an RV-travel search by our main character Katy for missing Australian Vanlife Influencer Pheobe, and Beth, a woman on the run from danger who joins her.
Both women have secrets!

Also featured is sweet and sickly Wyatt, kid brother to the villain character of Lucas. Their mother also went missing from her Vanlife adventure after leaving them and their father.

This book has many exciting features: of course, fascinating (and sometimes evidently scary!) #Vanlife, the gorgeous Australian coast, suspense, social media warnings, mystery, monsters real and imagined, secrets, with a foreboding and increasingly dangerous vibe.

Katy’s chapters are written in first-person POV while Beth’s and Wyatt’s are told in third-person POV. This initially caused me to relate to Katy more than to the others but as the story progresses and Katy becomes our unreliable narrator, they all became central to my mind.

There are a few twists to the story but wow! The main one toward the end of the story made me want to start the entire book over!

There are some triggers in this book including violence, domestic abuse, and mental illness. None of these detracted me from the entertaining plot.

For me a five-star read is one that I would re-read, and this one qualifies! It offered increasing suspense and kept me page-turning toward its highly-satisfying conclusion.
Red River Road is a truly propulsive and thrilling read.

Author Anna Downs is a renewed favorite author and I have already downloaded an earlier book of hers.

What a thrilling read! I was left in suspense the entire novel and constantly guessing. Usually I can predict twists and plots, but couldn’t with this novel!

Oooh this book is so creepy and suspenseful! I know it’s early in the year, but I’m predicting this will be in my top five of 2024.

Phoebe Sweeney is a young lady who gets some wanderlust and decides to get into #vanlife. She starts an Instagram account, “PheebsInWonderland”, and is documenting her solo journey through The Big Lap - a giant loop around Australia, starting and ending in Perth. We follow her Instagram posts/comments as the book goes on, and one commenter in particular posts some pretty creepy things…

After a few weeks, her posts stop and her family can’t reach her. Phoebe often goes off grid, but they’ve never gone this long without contact. The police get involved, but they come up with nothing - no traces of Phoebe, no sightings of her van, and no witnesses. It’s considered a cold case - just another woman gone missing in the massive state of Western Australia.

Her sister Katy, despite being someone who is scared of this kind of travel, decides to get a van and follow her sister’s social media posts, trying to find any clues or people who may know something. She begins her journey, but as she’s taking a break at the side of the road, someone sneaks into her van.

Beth (who calls herself Lily) is soon found hiding in the van, and after the initial screaming and shock wears off, Katy listens to her story- well, at least Beth’s version of her story. She says her name is Lily, and she’s an American who was also traveling around Australia, but she was attacked and all of her belongings were taken. She’s injured, she has no ID, no money, not even any clothes. Katy relents and lets “Lily” join her on her quest to find her sister.

The book is written from the perspective of three people: Katy, Beth and Wyatt, a 15-year-old boy with a troubled home life. His mother is also a #vanlifer who’s gone missing, and his big brother has been traveling trying to find her, leaving him alone with his angry father. All three of these characters are fantastic, and as the ending approaches, everything about them begins to fall into place.

The ending did get a little crazy, and that’s my only complaint about the book. It’s almost like every twist possible was packed in, and it used a trope that isn’t used often, but is pretty unbelievable. Other than that, this book is flawless. It’s pretty ignorant for anyone traveling (especially a female on their own) to do live updates on social media, and this is a cautionary tale…you never know who’s watching. Packed with breathtaking scenery and a thrilling plot, I loved this book! 4.5 stars, rounded up.

(Thank you to Minotaur Books, Anna Downes and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review. This book is slated to be released on August 27, 2024.)

Red River Road was a very well written thriller with an Australian setting that had you feeling like you were there. I really enjoyed the twists and turns in this one, but it is on the slower side, I usually enjoy my thrillers to be faster paced.

I found this to be a page turner - completed in a few short sittings.
The lead is an unreliable narrator, and you glimpse part of the way through that the mysterious hitchhiker may be IN danger versus being the source of danger.
Also, it appears trouble is following the two girls around as multiple missing women cases weave together. There is loads of suspense which builds to a worthy - if not very far fetched - ending. Thanks NetGalley!