I received an ARC of this novel from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
Katy Sweeney is unwillingly living the van life on the west coast of Australia as she searches for her sister, Phoebe, who disappeared without any trace. The cops aren’t looking for her and there are no clues about her fate, but Katy is determined to find her. In desperation, Katy uses Phoebe’s past social media posts as a trail of breadcrumbs, following the same route her sister took before going dark. In one of the traveler campsites, she meets and accidentally rescues Beth, filthy and bruised and running from an abusive boyfriend. Beth lies to Katy about everything in her past: her boyfriend and abuser Lucas, her background, even her name: Katy thinks Beth is Lily, an American who hit hard times and lost all her documentation. Katy lets Beth/Lily stay and ride with her to the next stop, and Beth becomes vested in helping Katy find Phoebe. But someone is following them, and as they follow Phoebe’s footsteps things get more and more complicated.
Anna Downes’s Red River Road is a fast and interesting read. Each chapter is from a different character’s point of view: Katy, Beth, and eventually Wyatt. Each character is missing the full picture, so the reader is also missing the full picture, and it becomes clear within the first few chapters that none of these people are reliable witnesses. They’re all hiding something from each other and the reader. I was able to predict a couple things in the plotline, but nowhere near all of it, and the creepy factor that simmered in the background in the beginning escalated slowly until the tension kept me completely glued to finishing the book. From a mystery/thriller standpoint Red River Road absolutely killed it. Pun intended.
The psychological twists and turns within a multi-layered web of lies, missing information, and incorrect assumptions made Red River Road an engrossing story with an intense and unexpected ending. I enjoyed the exploration of both the freedom of living on the road and the inherent dangers, and rather loved the resolution in the epilogue. Red River Road by Anne Downes is an excellently twisty tale and enjoyable read.
Red River Road is currently available in all the usual book places and platforms.
No Pithy Phrase 