Red River Road
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Author: Anna Downes

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: Katy Sweeney is looking for her sister. A year earlier, just three weeks into a solo vanlife trip, her free-spirited younger sister, Phoebe, vanished without a trace on the remote, achingly beautiful coastal highway in Western Australia. With no witnesses, no leads, and no DNAevidence, the case has gone cold. But Katy refuses to give up on her.

Using Phoebe’s social media accounts as a map, Katy retraces her sister’s steps, searching for any clues the police may have missed. Was Phoebe being followed? Who had she met along the way, and how dangerous were they?

And then Katy’s path collides with that of Beth, who is on the run from her own dark past. Katy realizes that Beth might be her best—and only—chance of finding the truth, and the two women form an uneasy alliance to find out what really happened to Phoebe in this wild, beautiful, and perilous place.

My Thoughts: Katie’s sister vanished on Western Australia’s coral coast a year ago. Katy does not have many clues, only the feeling inside that something has happened to her sister and her motivation to find answers. Phoebe vanished without a trace, no witnesses, no DNA, no leads as to what might of happened. She will use her sister’s social media posting as a guide to her last location. During her search for her sister, she runs across a woman on the run, Beth. The creepiness and eerie setting of this story was perfect and created a unified tension. This is a slow burn story.

The story is narrated by Katy, Wyatt and Beth, in their respective perspectives. Katy is the older sister on the search for her younger sister, Phoebe who disappeared. Beth is someone that ran across Phoebe when Beth was escaping her abusive boyfriend and later unites with Katy on the search. Wyatt is a young sick boy whose mother also disappeared after leaving the house one day. At times, our narrators are unreliable. The characters were well developed with depth, tension, were mysterious, and engaging. The author’s writing style was complex, multifaceted, twisty, suspenseful, mysterious, and written very well. I love the mixed media format that the author uses for this story, it really gives another layer of creepiness.

There are several plot lines that are developed that merge together in the end for an unpredictable twist. The characters were built during the plot lines. Then the ending was not only satisfying but explosive and a perfect conclusion. The secrets, lies, myths, town folklore, palpable tension, all creates this masterpiece.

The audiobook is narrated by Maddy Withington, who does an amazing job with voice variation and character distinction across the three main characters. She had the perfect pitch and flow where i could listen at 2x speed. This story had an unsettling feeling for the duration. You did not know who to believe, what characters were unreliable, who was reliable, who had secrets, and who was being honest. This thriller was creepy, atmospheric, gripping, captivating, and unsettling, the perfect mix for a thriller. I would recommend for other readers.

I DNF'd this.....It was so slow for me. I felt like I was reading it for actual YEARS....years of my life.

I'm not going to post a review on Amazon, because I really think this may have been just a "me" thing.

But here on Netgalley....it's a 1 star.

I struggled so much. And it stinks because I really wanted to know what happened, but I just couldn't do it.

Thank you so much to Netgalley for giving me the wonderful chance to read this book!

One sitting read that made me really shocked. I would recommend to people in a reading slump.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher!
I don’t know what they’re putting in the Australian water, but their horror/mystery/thriller/suspense genre has been popping off lately. This book was creepy, and suspenseful, and I had to finish reading it, just for the relief of finally knowing what was going on.

Take a journey in WA (Western Australia)! Katy is not there for fun; she is there to look for her sister Phoebe who disappeared while traveling in this area. I’ve never been to Australia so I loved seeing it through this book. My favorite part was the twist! I didn’t see it coming and wow!!!

Thank you to Minotaur Books for the digital copy to review.

While this was slow to get going, and the pace did not pick up until the last half of the book, it held my attention until then, and man, that last quarter was crazy. I am a fan of traveling solo, and hopefully, I never experience anything like this lol. I switched back and forth between the audio and ebook and enjoyed reading this way. Australian settings never disappoint, and this is definitely one that sticks with you.

Red River Road, masterfully crafted by Anna Downes and impeccably narrated by Maddy Withington, absolutely captivated me. Tense, twisty, atmospheric, and utterly addictive—these are just a few of the superlatives I could use to describe this thrilling novel. I found myself holding my breath so often throughout the story, it’s a wonder I didn’t black out!

Upon starting the book, I admittedly thought, “Not another alcoholic, unreliable narrator!” But to my pleasant surprise, that’s not the direction the story takes at all.

The narrative unfolds from three perspectives: Katy, Beth, and Wyatt, a 15-year-old boy whose mother is also missing. Each of these central characters occasionally exhibits moments of unreliability, adding layers of complexity and intrigue. The tension is palpable from the very beginning and persists throughout, never truly letting up. If Anna Downes’s goal was to make me reconsider traveling alone, she’s certainly succeeded!

The plot is intricately layered, with numerous threads gradually woven together to reveal a conclusion that was both unexpected and far from what I had imagined. The novel delves into some heavy subject matter—sexual assault, mental health issues, and stalking, both physical and online—but does so with remarkable restraint, offering little graphic detail. There are plenty of clever red herrings, as well as lies, secrets, and twists that keep you guessing until the very end.

This was one that surprised me.

At first I was worried about the multiple POV's, but the distinction between the characters was fantastic, so I had no issues with that whatsoever.

I will say that the book starts off a little bit slow, but I highly recommend people stick with it because it picks up and the story is worth it.

Katy is looking for her sister, Phoebe, who went missing while camping in Australia in a van. She decides to travel Phoebe’s route to ask people if they have seen her. One night on a dark highway, a woman runs out into the road needing help. Katy picks her up and …..well, I am not going to give away the plot, but this one was really good. It slowed some in the middle but the last 1//4 picked up and great ending.

#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.

Wow!! What a story. It started out a bit slow for me, and I stopped listening for a bit, but then I read some of the reviews and decided to keep going. I am so glad I did. There were twists and turns that I really didn't see coming.

I listened to the audio and it was so well done. The narrator really captured the characters. The book follows Katy as she retraces the path her sister, Pheobe took on her solo van ride through Australia. Phoebe has vanished and Katy figures that the best way to figure out what happened, is to follow the exact steps Phoebe took. Phoebe has documented all of her travels on Instagram, which makes it easier to retrace. The destinations are so well described, I felt like I was there. I enjoyed the characters and learning more about them.

At times I didn't know who or what to believe and who was good, who was bad. It was an awesome read and I am so glad I stuck it out!

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

I found this to be rather slow which was unexpected. Going into it knowing that it was going to be a slow burn might have effected my rating. I do think it was well written with the clues, cliffhangers, etc.

I loved Anna Downes's thriller Red River Road . I’m
fascinated by stories that take place in rural parts of Australia. This was a terrifying tale of a woman who is searching for her missing sister who disappeared while on a solo road trip through the Australian outback. I found myself reading late into the night, eager to find out what happened as I felt myself falling deeper and deeper into the mystery unfolding for Katy. I highly recommend this book! I’m telling everyone about it. Bravo Anna! Can’t wait to read more of your books.

Just another read that didn't do it for me. I struggled to get through this one, and overall I just didn't enjoy it. There was just too much going on that I couldn't keep everything straight half the time. Unfortunately just not for me.

*Thank you partner @minotaur_books for the #gifted e-galley.*

With constant twists and a palpable sense of unease, Red River Road takes readers on a journey through isolation, deception, and the dangers of both the physical landscape and our own minds. It’s a compelling, multi-layered thriller that’s as thought-provoking as it is suspenseful—perfect for fans of atmospheric mysteries and emotionally driven suspense.

The premise of this book was good, really good so I was excited to read it, gave some Gabby Petito vibes but I wasn't quite expecting what I read.

I expected this to be more dark and twisty, how did these two seemingly unrelated girls come to be in the same van and teaming up to find another missing vanlifer? I felt like the two POVs had a very similar voice and at times it was hard to tell them apart. I couldn't get attached to either of these girls perhaps because we didn't have enough back story of emotional material here.

This wasn't a hard story to get into but this was one that I had to get myself to pick back up instead of reading something else. I expected a bit more from this book but it wasn't a bad read. I have travelled the WA coastline so I already had in mind what the exterior backdrop looked like but I can see if you don't know what it looks like the story may have had less backdrop.

I also wasn't sure about the ending. The book foreshadows a serial killer but I couldn't wrap my brain around that last twist.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley.

Unfortunately I couldn't get into this one. Ive tried several times. But im very thankful for the opportunity to read it.

This was a great book. I loved every paragraph, every sentence and every word of this masterpiece! I read it in 12 hours, which is a lot for me to do! It had everything and more laid out in the novel! I sure hope There is more to come from this author! I am totally hooked!

I really enjoyed this van life mystery that this was. I appreciate that it was not a knock off of the missing van lifers or missing persons that occurred in 2021. I loved the twist it was so interesting and done so well!

This was a slow burn thriller that did keep my interest because of the obscure details so well placed in the plot well before any twist happens. The author was able to capture the vast setting beautifully in the plot, also setting up an eerie tone of things being “too perfect”- and ultimately gearing up for that one moment when the mystery is revealed and then all the previous details click into place. A young woman sets out on the same journey of her missing sister, hoping to find out what happened as she isn’t satisfied with the current police investigation. Along the way she meets another drifter whose story is too similar to her sister’s. The story is intriguing, and as mentioned above, slow burn.