Thank you to NetGalley for giving me a copy of this book.

The premise got me excited and I loved that Australia was the backdrop. It took me over 2 months to read this book, and majority of that time i was stuck under 10%. This book is extremely slow. Painfully slow. I forced myself to read it. The climax was underwhelming and not really well explained until the end. There was so much fluff - it could have been 100 pages shorter. I would not recommend this book.

RED RIVER ROAD by Anna Downes

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press | Minotaur Books for the ARC ebook to read.

This story is told in three narratives: Katy who is grieving her missing free-spirited sister, Phoebe, while on a solo road-trip along WA’s Coral Coast; Beth who is escaping an abusive relationship with Lucas and comes in contact with Katy; and Wyatt, Lucas’s younger brother living with his father after the disappearance of their mother.

This twisted and terrifying fast-paced thriller of a trip through the Coral Coast is frightening right from the start of the book. Not many thrillers scare me when reading alone at night, however this one had the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. Katy uses Phoebe’s social media account as a rough map to follow in trying to find her. Things are becoming stranger and more darker than Katy ever expected. Was Phoebe being followed? Did she meet up with danger or get caught up in some nefarious behavior? Or is she just having a good time as all her pics show? The less you know about the book going in, the better.

I’ve never read anything by Anna Downes before, but she will now be a go-to-author for a good thriller.

Katy is living the #vanlife but not for fun, she’s searching for her missing sister, Phoebe, who went missing the previous year while on her own van life expedition in western Australia. During her travels, she is surprised by Beth, who shows up in her van. Katy allows Beth, who was abused by someone, to travel with her and help her look for her sister. Along the way, they experience, unsettlingevents as they try to uncover what happened to Phoebe and face the truth of their unhappy pasts.

I thought “Red River Road” by Anna Downes was interesting and had some good twists in the book. I like the Australian setting and the van life aspect, which was pretty unique.

Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of this book.

This was such a good book. I felt for the main character in this book, looking for her sister when she vanished on a solo trip. I loved the story line and the characters. I would definitely recommend this book.

Red River Road is a thriller set in Australia. Katy is looking for her sister, Phoebe, who disappeared a year ago after solo traveling the coast in a van. Vanlife is just one of the hashtags she used in her Instagram posts.

The beginning begins a little creepy as Katy is traveling along a road at night. It looks like someone is following her. Turning off the main road she comes upon a woman needing help. But who is this woman? She has a mysterious past of her own, but with her help Katy continues to search for her sister.

This is a pretty unique thriller. It's slower paced and characters driven. There is also an element of creepiness sometimes. I liked the setting, but I wasn't fully able to envision it. I wish the vanlife community had been incorporated more.

Chapters are told from Katy, Beth, and Wyatt's point of view. I enjoyed Wyatt's chapters the most as that is where things seemed to happen the most. Otherwise there is a lot of repetition and things that don't make sense. We get answers later but in the meantime I was annoyed by Katy. Beth is more likeable.

I can't say much about how Katy and Beth go about finding what happened to Phoebe without spoilers. I enjoyed the scenes when some major things happen. There is a twist that I don't think readers will see coming. It makes me appreciate the story more after everything is finished. The journey to get there is long and not always satisfying, but story is one to remember.

3.5/5 stars

WOW. What a read! I thriller that does not rely on overdone tropes and offers a new and unique story.

Around one year ago, Katy's sister, Phoebe, went missing. Phoebe was taking a solo trip, in her camper van, across Australia. She vanished without a trace. Katy is determined to find out what happened to her sister. Katy believes that she is still alive. The police are no longer offering any assistance. So, Katy decides to set out on her own solo van during across Australia, following Phoebe's itinerary. Along the way, Katy meets Beth, a young woman who clearly needs help. Katy decides to take Beth under her wing. The girl clearly needs help.

Beth is on the run from her own struggles. Katy provides her with a sense of security. When Beth asks Katy to join in the search for Phoebe, Katy reluctantly agrees. The two women form a surprising alliance. As they travel across Australia, they are determined to figure out what happened to Phoebe.

I absolutely loved this book! The twist at the end was CRAZY! I will definitely be thinking about this book for some time. One of the things with this book is that you'll never really know who is reliable or what is going on. Everything ties up nicely at the end, but it makes for a crazy ride throughout the book.

The twists and turns in this book were completely unpredictable. I was shocked to find out what happened to Phoebe - I never would have guessed in a million years.

Red River Road is a must read!. Well done Anna Downes! Cannot wait to read more of your books.

Thank you St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

As someone who is very interested in the #VanLife trend, I loved how this story interweaved that phenomena with a thriller. The story follows the sister of a van lifer who has disappeared and her journey to try to find her. The twists kept coming!

Katy is determined to find her sister Phoebe, a vanlifer who disappeared during a trip through Western Australia. Using Phoebe’s social media posts, Katy tries to retrace her sister’s movements, trying to gather clues along the way. During the trip, she meets Beth, another young woman who may help uncover the mystery of Phoebe’s disappearance. Red River Road is an intense, suspense-filled journey that explores the depths one will go to find a loved one, and it touches on many issues including mental health, violence and domestic abuse. Plenty of unexpected turns in this one, as this well-written book flows smoothly from the start, the mystery grabs the reader and firmly holds on, and keeps getting better and better until the unexpected ending. Under the radar, but well worth a read. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great read, difficult to put down. It was very engaging from the beginning, and kept me guessing. The twists absolutely got me! I enjoyed trying to sus out some suspects in the instagram comments. I am so grateful for the opportunity to read this, and will be looking out for more work from this author.

Mystery, mostly because you aren't told everything all at once and sometimes thriller, this novel is told in 3 pov's along with some blog posts. Different fonts and short chapters break up the story in a good way. I felt a little off kilter while reading this, the revelations came in small measured doses, knowing there is more to come but the pace was very even throughout.

Ominous most of the time, particularly if you are a woman reading this. Predator vs prey, this can be quite disconcerting. Some useful tips if you choose to be a predator.

I took many notes, questions, etc but things were tied up neatly at the end. Overall a great read but unsettling.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I just finished reading the ARC for Red River Road by Anna Downes and if I could I would give it 10 stars!

This was incredibly well written, descriptive, fast paced and I LOVED it!!

I am fascinated by #vanlife & that was one of the reasons I requested it. The story was vividly written that I felt like I was in Australia on the adventures with Katy/Beth. There is a general air of creepiness, lots of lies, secrets and red herrings . The ending blew me away!!
Just how can someone and their van just disappear off the face of the earth? Well, it turns out it's quite easy . . .

I cannot say enough good things about this book and it is by far one of my favorite reads for 2024.

Thank you to Netgalley, St Martin's Press and the author for providing me an electronic ARC to read in exchange for my honest review. #redriverroad #annadowneswriter#vanlife

Red River Road
Anna Downes
Pub date: August 27, 2024

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for this ARC. This was a perfect example of a “who done it “novel. It’s based on a girl named Katie, who is searching for clues as to what happened to her sister Phoebe, who was traveling alone on a trip to the Australian outback. I loved the social media representation in this book and the eerie atmospheric setting as well. There was so many twist and turns and I literally did not know what was truth and what was false and who to trust until the very end!! I will continue to read more books from this offer, and I would highly recommend this book for fans of psychological thrillers!

Red River Road follows our main character Katy Sweeney as she traces the steps of her missing sister, Phoebe's solo vanlife trip. Katy is determined to figure out what happened to Phoebe who went missing, without a trace, a year ago. Along the way, Katy runs into Beth and they form an uneasy alliance, as Katy is hesitant to trust a complete stranger. We are introduced to a slew of other characters throughout the story and I felt myself questioning if they could be trusted.
Overall, Red River Road had a slow start for me. There was a lot going on and the story is told from three different POVs. However, it became clear as the story continued that it was necessary to lay the groundwork for different aspects of the storyline. While it started slow and some of the plot twists were predictable I did find myself invested in the story and did end up enjoying it as a whole.

Thank you Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book was absolutely riveting, from the first page to the last! I will be following Anna Downes from now on!

Red River Road is an Australian thriller with alternating points of views. Flipping between a first person unreliable narrator and the people she meets, the story twists and turns until you cannot tell up from down. There is a lot going on in this book and I spent a lot of time not really sure what was happening except everyone was lying or hiding something. I am still unsure exactly how I feel about this book except to say it was a little bit overwhelming. The conclusion tries to wrap everything up in a neat little package but there is just a lot. The story has elements of suspense and touches on mental illnesses and traveling safety. I never really connected with the main characters but I don’t usually enjoy unreliable narrators in my stories. I am sure some people will love this but it’s just not really my cup of tea. My voluntary, unbiased, and non mandatory review is based upon a review copy from NetGalley.

Red River Road is a thriller by Anna Downes that follows Katy on a solo road trip through Australia to find her sister, Phoebe, who vanished without a trace during her own vanlife adventure. With no leads and no DNA evidence, the case has gone cold. But Katy refuses to give up. Using Phoebe’s social media accounts as a map, she retraces her steps, searching for missed clues. Along the way, Katy’s path intersects with Beth, a young woman on the run from her own dark past. The book examines the dark side of solo female travel and family bonds. Additionally, the book celebrates strong female characters, touches on domestic violence, trauma, and the human psyche.
Red River Road is a captivating read that keeps you guessing until the very end.
Thank you to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I love when I do not see a twist coming, but makes me go back and rethink everything from the start. In Red River Road we meet Katy Sweeney who is searching for her missing sister Phoebe. Phoebe disappeared last year shortly after embarking on her first solo van life trip. As Katy follows her sister's path in Western Australia in an effort to find someone who knows what happened, she meets Beth. Beth has a difficult past and is keeping secrets from Katy, but they end up traveling together in the hopes of finding Phoebe. The story unfolds slowly and it took a while for me to understand the multiple points of view and how they played together. The ending was worth the wait however and is truly satisfying.

Thank you Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

📚 B O O K R E V I E W 📚

Red River Road by Anna Downes

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“At its heart, Red River Road is about the joy of travel and the right of all women to move through the world without harassment, judgment, or constraint. It explores perceptions of safety, personal responsibility, and gendered violence. It’s a story about stories, those we tell each other and those we tell ourselves, and the power we each carry within us to break a particular cycle.“

I don’t often read a thriller that I know I’ll be thinking about long after it’s over, but Red River Road is one I know I’ll be replaying in my head for a while. The book is atmospheric, twisty, gripping, and perfectly unsettling.

Set on the Coral Coast of Western Australia, the book is told through three perspectives as two of the characters journey up the coast on a long distance road trip. As clues are dropped, more questions arise, and as the story progresses it is less and less clear which (if any) of the narrators are reliable in their perspectives. We start to question what is real, what is perception, and what is being covered up.

I had correct predictions about parts of how the book would conclude by the halfway point, but I didn’t guess the whole end by any means. As someone who usually figures most of the twists out early on, it thrilled me to no end that I didn’t have a completely clear picture of how the book would end! But even if I had, I would have enjoyed the book even with that. The slow build of suspense, the gorgeous descriptions of the stops along the way, and the growing sense of unease kept me glued to the pages, and I truly didn’t want to put it down.

This is a thriller I definitely recommend, and if you read it, definitely read the author’s note at the end! Also, be aware of the content warnings that include domestic violence and stalking.

Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the advanced copy!

Kate is following her sister Phoebe’s social media posts. She left a year ago, traveling in her custom van and vanished without a trace. When the police come up with no leads, Kate decides to follow her path, hoping to find someone who knows where Phoebe went.
She soon discovers a woman, Beth in her van. Beth has no money or identification and is terrified of something or someone. Kate agrees to help her and Beth joins her on her journey to find her sister. I found it to be a bit of a slow burn, but that twist caught me offguard. I love reading about Australia and the descriptions of where Phoebe traveled, and the places that Kate went sounded amazing.

The longer I sit with this one, the more I realize how much I enjoyed reading it! It starts as a slow burn, which isn’t always my favorite, but I became more invested in the storyline and characters as time went on. The setting and atmosphere in this book were well done, and there were plenty of twists along the way! I’m ready for more, Anna Downes!

Thank you to the publisher for providing an ARC via NetGalley.