The Red Lotus by Chris Bohjalian

ARC from Netgalley and Doubleday for an honest review.

Book Blurb:

The first time Alexis saw Austin, it was a Saturday night. Not in a bar, but in the emergency room where Alexis sutured a bullet wound in Austin’s arm. Six months later, on the brink of falling in love, they travel to Vietnam on a bike tour so that Austin can show her his passion for cycling and he can pay his respects to the place where his father and uncle fought in the war. But as Alexis sips white wine and waits at the hotel for him to return from his solo ride, two men emerge from the tall grass and Austin vanishes into thin air. The only clue he leaves behind is a bright yellow energy gel dropped on the road.
As Alexis grapples with this bewildering loss, and deals with the FBI, Austin’s prickly family, and her colleagues at the hospital, Alexis uncovers a series of strange lies that force her to wonder: Where did Austin go? Why did he really bring her to Vietnam? And how much danger has he left her in?

My Review: 3.5 stars

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Skeletons of the Feast is one of my favorite books so I was excited to dig into The Red Lotus, Chris Bohjalian novel. Chris is a born storyteller, and his earlier work, without the thriller components, remain my favorite. No matter the genre, however, he can still craft original stories. I was firmly glued to my chair for the beginning and end of this novel, but the middle fell short. I kept putting it down and then picking it back up again hoping to get back to the tension and awe. Perhaps this was meant to be a slow burn, maybe too slow for my liking.

As far as characters go, they served their purpose in keeping me entertained, but weren’t memorable. Although Alexis, the protagonist, was likeable, her motive wasn’t there for me. She had only been dating her boyfriend for six and a half months yet starts a full-blown investigation into his accidental death when they hadn’t even said I love you yet. Austin, the “kidnapped boyfriend” (what I’m calling him to avoid any spoilers), wasn’t a character I particularly related to or cared too much about. I found myself constantly asking “why?” in regards to his actions and never getting the answers I was looking for.

I’m a huge Chris Bohjalian fan, so this pains me to write. Although not my favorite of his, it still kept entertained enough to see how it ended. Although I finished the book with more questions than I started it with, I found a thriller combining travel, biological warfare and murder to be an interesting topic. The timing of this book is quite apt based on the contagion rate of the Corona 19 virus.