Anna Downes’ psychological thriller explores the world of solo female travel and its inherent dangers as well as the exhilaration felt by the exploration of the Australian Outback. This was a slow burn but heated up with a twisty highly satisfying ending.

Read this if you like:
-van life solo travel
-multiple POVs
-unreliable and unlikeable narrators
-tension filled, and at times dangerous Australian outback setting
-travel influencer instagram posts along with responses from followers that add dimension to story reveal
-rich character development
-family bonds and memories
-satisfying, twisty ending

My rating 4 out of 5

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press Minotaur Books that will be published August 27 2024.

🛣️Australia setting
🛣️multiple POV
🛣️solo female traveler
🛣️influencer - instagram posts throughout
🛣️thriller

This was an entertaining thriller! The twist was crazy - I never would’ve guessed it. I thought it dragged a little at times, but overall it was good!

This book somehow made me want to and not want to go on a solo road trip. I loved the author’s note at the end that gave a little more context. I remember following the Gabby Petito case when it was happening - it was gut wrenching. I’m glad I wasn’t the only one strongly affected by it and that it inspired the author to change this story a bit.

I loved this! I think Anna Downes wrote this as a PSA for women who want to travel alone. Phoebe decides to do a "van life" trip solo through Australia and experience the beautiful coast, she is met with well-wishers, skepticism, and caution. With her optimism and sunny disposition, she sets off. Until she disappears. A year goes by and the case is cold when Katy, her sister, decides to do her own sleuthing and sets off on a van life trip of her own looking for clues and answers. Yes, you guessed it, alone.

The journey is eerie and suspenseful with hair raising chills. The atmosphere alone is worth the read. Along the way characters are added with superb effect. I kept asking myself if I would do the same in her situation. Yes, of course. Alone? Hell no! This book had me wanting to pick it up when I wasn't reading because it's so addicting and relatable in the "what would I do" way.

Pick this up for a good edge of your seat thriller! Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for an advance copy.

This book was very interesting. Phoebe decided to take to the van life and travel the Australian outback. She would blog about where she was at and what she was going to do next until she just disappeared. Her sister, Katy decides to take the same route as her sister to see if she can find her and find out what happened. Katy meets Beth, a mysterious stranger who up in her camper one evening. She has a checkered past with an abusive boyfriend. She convinces Katy to let her help in finding Phoebe. And so is the twisty story of these two women. You go on a journey of how how van/camper life would be for women traveling alone. The story gets dark and scary at time and the ending threw me for a loop! It was a great read.
Thanks to #netgalley, #minotaurbooks and @anna_downes_writer for an ARC of this great read.

Psychological thriller set in Australia
When Phoebe goes missing while traveling solo through Western Australia, her sister, Katy, decides to follow her trail using her social media posts to find her. Along the way, she meets another lost woman, Lily, with a mystery of her own. The writing is suspenseful and atmospheric. I loved the descriptions of the scenic places Phoebe is visiting along her solo journey. The beginning is a slow burn but it does pick up more towards the middle. There are definitely some unlikable characters along the way. The story alternates between three characters
Katy, Lily, and Wyatt and it is unclear how they all tie together until closer to the end. Overall, this was a tense suspenseful thriller with an interesting twist at the end.

Thanks to Minotaur books for an advanced reader copy.

Red River Road is a slow burn, character drama mystery that surprised the ever living socks off of me - twisting in ways I never saw coming.

Anna Downes knows how to create the perfect simmering tension, characters that are unreliable and yet hugely intriguing, and plop them all in a setting that is ripe with intensity. From the very first chapters right through the absolutely WILD ENDING, I was entirely hooked on this plot and could not set this book down to save my life.

From the very start you know something is just not quite right, and that there is an evil lurking just out of sight. The moving character POV's created the most intense suspense build, and I spent the first two thirds of the book trying to figure out how these three character perspectives were going to tie together.

I then spent the last third of the book on a massively entertaining rollercoaster ride of twists, reveals and omg moments that had me frantically reading forward to see how it would all play out.

No spoilers, but holy crap was it good.

Don't sleep on this one - this is must have reading for this autumn, you won't regret it.

Many thanks to the publisher for my copy!

From one unreliable narrator to another, Anna Downes’ latest novel trudges down the Red River Road. The premise of a solo female van-lifer missing and her sister anxiously looking for her is great. The odd encounters on the road interspersed with Instagram posts by the missing woman and the creepy responses from followers sets the tension and eeriness to high right from the start.

The story is told by three narrators: Katy, Lily and Wyatt. Wyatt’s one off chapters are odd at first and grow increasingly creepy as increasingly creepy things keep happening to Katy and Lily on the road. Lily’s narration gives away her entire story—at least to the reader. Katy on the other hand, is fairly guarded and fixated on her sister Phoebe’s Instagram posts, so her backstory is limited. As Katy gets closer to the area where Phoebe last posted anything, her reliability as a narrator becomes questionable.

While I did not find any of the characters engaging, I was engaged in the story. The big twist is a bit of a surprise, and it made for an intense story climax. While I found the denouement to be questionable, I did appreciate how the story wrapped up for the characters who made it alive to the last page…

This book kept me awake on a long red eye trip to Aruba. I literally could not close my eyes! The star of the show for me was the setting - I had no clue that Australia was the place where bloggers highlight their travels, especially single women. The premise of women traveling alone are disappearing with their travel vans was so very eerie. I enjoyed Katy’s persistence in tracking her sister, Phoebe, one of the women who have disappeared, but her weird behaviors had my mind whirling…and then along came Beth. So many predictions dashed to the side of the road along the way. Loved Anna Downes’ use of multiple points of view as it contributed to the eerie mood the setting evoked. And those piles of rocks kept me wondering. As each character becomes a suspect more and more connections are revealed until the unforgettable ending which had me gasping in shock, much to my husband’s dismay as I was grasping his arm and ended up waking him up.
My sincere thanks to Anna Downes, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for affording me the absolute pleasure of reading an arc of this book, published on August 27th. If you love reads that leave you guessing as details are revealed only to have to continually put the clues together in a new scenario repeatedly that ends with a spectacular conclusion then this is the read for you. Four and a half stars.

A thriller that starts with Katy, who is looking for her sister that went missing a year ago. Her sister was enjoying the vanlife traveling around the outside of Australia. She was posting updates on where she was and where she was going but suddenly disappears. This story had several twists and turns that left me wanting to keep reading to see what the final outcome would be.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. My first from this author and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The writing is phenomenal. The plot and story beautifully laid out. Kind of a slow burn, but a really good domestic suspense.

I think I’ve read too many stories lately about missing women who set out on road trips. I struggled to feel connected to anyone in this story and even though it had some clever twists, it ultimately fell short for me in comparison to the other similar stories I read.

A very twisty thriller! The book kept me engaged and I didn't want to put it down. I really was pulled in to the mystery of what happened to Phoebe. There were so many links and surprising twists. I found it well plotted. The pace of the story picked up at a good speed. I really didn't know who or what to believe. I really kept trying to put the pieces together and was really surprised at how it all did fit. I will look for more from this author. I received an advance copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

One of the better thrillers I've read in a while!!!!!!!!! Anna Downes has done ii again!!!!!!! A thrilling mystery that keeps you guessing until the last page.

Red River Road by Anna Downes was a twisty thriller that takes the reader down a path of uncertainty throughout the entire book.

Katy Sweeny is on the hunt for her missing sister, Phoebe, in Australia where she went missing while on a solo road trip in her van. During the hunt she runs into Beth aka "Lily" with plenty of baggage of her own. Together they set out to seek the truth about Katy's missing sister. Throughout the journey there are many obstacles that take them in various directions.

The story is somewhat all over the place. One minute I'm thinking on thing and the next another. It was such an inter-tangled web of characters and at time hard to keep them straight. I was anxious to see how it turned out which is why I kept on but yet a bit annoyed at the same time. I felt like the story took me down various paths and the author maybe tried a bit too hard for get the "shock factor" from the reader.

Story was mostly likely very thought out and I really liked the two female main characters but had a hard time because I didn't know who to trust thought out the story. This is how I felt throughout the entire book. I kept waiting for the ball to drop since it had so many times throughout the story. Just kept me on edge but not the way I like. The ending was unsettling as well.

Overall just an okay read for me.

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!

This was a captivating, slow burn mystery paired with travel tips for the wanderlust. I enjoyed the alternating perspectives and clues that were slowly revealed, although it took me awhile to see where the storyline was going. About midway through, the pace picked up where I began to form some predictions but was still surprised until the end! The premise of this book describing van-life was surely unique and atmospheric which made for a solid reading adventure!

Australia: One year ago, Phoebe was taking a solo trip in a camper along the coast. She posted on social media often stating where she was, what she had seen and where she would be next. Three months into her trip the posts stopped and Phoebe hasn’t been heard of since. Katy decided she would trace Phoebe’s posts and find out what happened to her. Early in the trip she discovered a disheveled frightened girl hiding in the camper. Between them, they believe they can help each other, though they each have secrets.
Soon, strange things begin to appear in and around the camper. Katy thinks it has to do with the disappearance of Phoebe. Beth, her passenger, believes the stalker is looking for her. They both sense danger.
This novel is told in alternate voices of the two girls. It is a twisted book about 2 damaged girls.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Publishers

So...you want to be an influencer, describing every bit of your itinerary with selfies and next destinations, in real time?

Don't be like Phoebe. Phoebe is an Australian van lifer, with, an infectious smile, traveling solo around the coast of Western Australia, when all of a sudden who social media goes dark. Her parents haven't heard from her and her sister Katy is worried. She gets a van and sets off to follow her sister's trail, from starting point to the last place she was seen.

Along the way, Beth, who is running from something or someone stumbles across Katy and her van. The two make an unlikely pair, each with their own secrets, trying to solve the mystery of the missing Phoebe.

Clues are left throughout the book, each one scary in its own right, but Katy is secure in her lockdown checklist. That doesn't keep the stalkers and fans away, and the way that Downes has several threads converge into the final reveal is masterful!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advance reader's copy.

Red River Road - Set in WA, this Australian story is interesting, intriguing and a bit confusing. After reading a bit, it was easy to follow the story without being confused. Characters with multiple names, flashbacks and a different but well done writing style. Lots of mental problems, some out there, some hidden but the underlying causes and effects made the foundation of this story. A variety of characters ranging from psycho to likeable. Good story lines; a bit wordy but still immersing. Source: Netgalley. 4*

Anna Downes' Red River Road is a gripping and atmospheric thriller that plunges the reader into the wild beauty and lurking dangers of Western Australia’s coastal highways. The story follows Katy Sweeney, whose relentless search for her missing sister, Phoebe, takes her on a perilous journey through both physical and emotional landscapes. Downes skillfully captures the isolation and vastness of the setting, which mirrors Katy’s own desperation and determination. The tension builds steadily as Katy, using Phoebe’s social media trail, uncovers unsettling clues and confronts the chilling possibility that Phoebe may have crossed paths with someone dangerous.

What makes Red River Road stand out is the complex relationship that develops between Katy and Beth, a mysterious woman with a troubled past. Their uneasy alliance adds depth to the narrative, as both women are forced to confront their own fears and the secrets they’ve been hiding. Downes excels at creating suspense, weaving in twists and turns that keep the reader guessing until the very end. While some aspects of the plot may stretch believability, the novel’s strong sense of place and the emotional resonance of Katy’s quest make it a compelling read that lingers long after the final page.