From the New York Times bestselling author of The Flight Attendant comes a twisting story of love and deceit: an American man vanishes on a rural road in Vietnam, and his girlfriend follows a path that leads her home to the very hospital where they met. Alexis and Austin don’t have a typical “meet cute”—their first encounter involves Alexis, an emergency room doctor, suturing a bullet wound in … doctor, suturing a bullet wound in Austin’s arm. Six months later, they’re on a romantic getaway in Vietnam: a bike tour on which Austin can show Alexis his passion for cycling, and can pay his respects to the place where his father and uncle fought in the war. But then Austin fails to return from a solo ride. Alexis’s boyfriend has vanished, the only clue left behind a bright yellow energy gel dropped on the road.
As Alexis grapples with this bewildering loss, she starts to uncover 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? Set amidst the adrenaline-fueled world of the emergency room, The Red Lotus is a global thriller about those who dedicate their lives to saving people—and those who peddle death to the highest bidder.
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Love the author…so well written and very timely in today’s world with pandemics
Alexis is an emergency room doctor in a New York City hospital. One evening she treats Austin for injuries related to a bullet wound incurred at a bar. The two have never met before but he works in the same hospital. Eventually, they become romantically involved. Six months into their relationship, they go on vacation to Vietnam where Austin is planning a bike tour.
Austin takes a ride one morning to the area where his father and uncle served in the war. Alexis becomes concerned when he does not return and is unreachable by phone. Eventually, the local police find his body on the side of the road. They conclude that he was killed in a hit and run accident. When Alexis views his body, she suspects that his hand injuries would not have resulted from this type of collision. She returns home and decides to hire an investigator and sort out Austin’s mysterious life.
The Red Lotus by Chris Bohjalian is a mystery full of twists and turns. As the details begin to get unveiled the story explodes into a suspenseful tale that has relevance to our current environment. I have enjoyed previous books by this author and look forward to his future novels.
Sue Roberts’s Reviews > The Red Lotus
The Red Lotus by Chris Bohjalian
The Red Lotus
by Chris Bohjalian (Goodreads Author)
690922
Sue Roberts’s reviewMar 25, 2020 · edit
really liked it
bookshelves: psychological-suspense
Read 2 times. Last read March 22, 2020 to March 25, 2020.
Chris Bohjalian is one of those few authors whose books I will buy before I know anything about it. I’ve read most of his books and they have all had 4 or 5 star ratings. Once again he brings his readers a book that is hard to put down with characters who are well written and unforgettable. The setting in Vietnam was beautifully described and I could see how beautiful it was through his descriptions.
Alexis, an ER doctor, is in Vietnam with her boyfriend Austin on a bike riding tour. Near the end of the tour, Austin wants to ride alone to go to the area where his uncle was killed and his father was injured during the Vietnam war. Alexis gets more worried the later it gets but Austin doesn’t return to the hotel. She and the tour guides call the police and the embassy and they all get involved with his disappearance. When they find his body, Alexis is distraught but after she identifies his body she begins to question what really happened to him. Was Austin a boy friend who wanted to bicycle in Vietnam or were there sinister reasons behind the reason for this trip. Did he truly care about Alexis or was his life full of lies and cover-ups? When Alexis gets back to the US and continues her search for clues, she realizes that she, too, is in danger. Will she find out the answers to Austin’s death or will she be killed before she understands why he died? It’s a global thriller that will have the reader anxious to find out what happened.
This would have had a 4.5 star rating from me. I made it a 4 because of the rats. I know the information about the rats was crucial to the story but it just totally freaked me out to learn more about rats than I ever wanted to know.
One additional comment about this author — he writes the best female characters than almost any male authors currently publishing. His main female character is entirely believable – flaws and all. I cried with her and felt her pain and confusion and she is not a character that I’ll soon forget.
If you want a great book to read during the current pandemic , The Red Lotus in a thriller that you don’t want to miss.
This is a work of fiction that has much history in it. Since I was a student during the Vietnam War, I found the information on Agent Orange, the rat testing, and the lotus flower very interesting. The author always delivers a good read.
“Let’s face it, in all of human history, the most effective delivery vehicle for mass death ever to exist on earth has been— wait for it— the rat.”
This was a different type of deadly disease story. It’s a cautionary tale of the use of Agent Orange in Vietnam and its effects on living creatures. I’ve read books by author Bohjalian before but have found the writing uneven – and it was in this one too.
The action alternates between Vietnam and New York City. It is also told from different points of view.
The main protagonist is Dr. Alexis Remnick, emergency room doctor in a NYC university hospital. She’s been seeing her boyfriend, Austin Harper, for a few months now. She first meets him when he comes into the ER to be treated for a gunshot wound. She finds out he works in the development department of the same hospital she works for.
They head to Vietnam for a biking vacation (Austin is an avid bicyclist) and Austin disappears on a solo ride.
As Alexis starts to look into his disappearance, she finds that Austin has been lying to her during their entire relationship and has some deadly secrets.
This was an okay book. Some of it was scary (especially during this time of COVID-19), some farfetched, some tedious.
I received this book from Doubleday Books through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.
It took me a bit to get into The Red Lotus. Although Chris Bohjalian has a talent for writing domestic relationships, I was waiting to get into the cat and mouse chase that so often comes when someone steals a virus and others are trying to get it back.
Once I hit that point, about 20% in, it was a thrill ride… although I do have a bit of an issue with how easily Alexis was able to get information out of the various police services. I’ve never been in trouble with the law, but I can’t see the FBI just giving a civilian names of suspects or other people Alexis can go to for more information. Once Alexis hired Ken Sarafin, a private detective, it became a bit more realistic for me, since he would have contacts in law enforcement.
The descriptions that Bohjalian gave of Vietnam made the country sound gorgeous and a place I would like to visit. And his information in regards to the Vietnam War made a part of history come alive. That is one part of the book I really enjoyed.
Bohjalian does a fantastic job making all the loose ends come together at the end, and this would make a great beach read, or if you want to increase your fear in regards to the Covid-19 virus, give The Red Lotus a read.
Infectious disease, animal/human transmissibility, threat of pandemic, conspiracy, the world could end with one sneeze…oh and rats. Lots and lots of rats. The timing of this book’s release will be positive or negative depending on each individual reader. For me, let’s just say it wasn’t fun. I needed an escape, not to be thrown into an equally threatening world. But this was out of the author’s control, so I now discuss (and rate) the book apart from reader circumstance.
Engaging if not a bit slow moving. I enjoy mysteries/thrillers that prove we don’t ever truly know the person sleeping next to us at night, and this one hits the mark in that regard. However, there was too much telling versus showing within the character development in my opinion and this prevented my full investment, which in this case wasn’t a bad thing. I was happy to find easy closure in at least one stressful world.
(4.5) Boy! Is this timely or what? The Red Lotus was a pretty intense read. I thought it was very well written and the plot was incredible, twisty and thrilling. It did have a slightly slow start but the pace certainly picked up about half-way. I didn’t want to put it down but unfortunately had many interruptions while reading this. When I finally made it to the end, I was not disappointed. I think this book will be one of my favorites of Chris Bohjalian. Well done.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.
Linda’s Book Obsession Reviews “The Red Lotus” by Chris Bohjalian, March 17, 2020
Chris Bohjalian, author of “The Red Lotus” has written an intense, edgy, captivating, and enthralling novel just perfect for our times. The Genres for this story are Mystery, Suspense, Global Thriller, Psychological Thriller, and Fiction. The timeline for this story is in the present and goes to the past when it pertains to the characters or events. Some of the places that this story takes place are in laboratories, and an emergency room in a hospital in the United States, and travel to Vietnam. The author describes his dramatic characters as complex, and complicated. There are twists and turns, secrets, lies, threats, danger, and murder.
Alexis is a 33-year-old Emergency Room Doctor, who has seen life at its best and worse. She never would imagine meeting her boyfriend as a patient in the emergency room one evening, after he had been shot in the arm. Within the next 6 months, they travel to Vietnam, where Austin is on a bike tour.
Alexis doesn’t have the strength to negotiate the land the way Austin does, so he goes on by himself, and tells her that he wants to visit the places in Vietnam where his father and uncle were. As Alexis waits behind with other people, it gets later, and she gets worried.
The tour company goes with Alexis to the places Austin was. The only things that they find are packets of energy gel that he would use if he needed it. The Police and FBI become involved.
When Alexis returns home, she becomes obsessed with finding what happened to Austin, at any cost. As Alexis searches for clues to what had happened in Vietnam, she finds she is headed for more danger. So much more is involved than meets the eye.
I love Chris Bohjalian’s vivid descriptions of the characters, events and landscape, and his amazing storytelling. I would highly recommend this chilling and thrilling novel.
The Year of the Rat
Chris Bohjalian’s latest story revolves around a young couple who go to Vietnam for some biking tourism. Alexis is the earnest and (in some ways) naive emergency room doctor. Her boyfriend Austin works for the same hospital as a fundraiser. When he disappears on the trip, she is plunged into a world of deception, violence, and communicable disease research.
I really loved this book and the characters are well-crafted and memorable. Don’t get too attached though, as everyone might not make it to the end. Rats as disease carriers and laboratory specimens are explored, at times with a generous dose of ickiness.
Part mystery, part thriller, part warning alarm, and part spy novel, The Red Lotus kept me on the edge of my seat. As the story unspools, Alexis hopes to learn what happened to Austin and why, and she meets his friends, family and coworkers to aid her puzzling it out. You may feel like you need a hot shower and a vaccination when it’s over, but those won’t save you either.
Bohjalian makes you squirm but also shares the beauty of Vietnam, its people, its cuisine and its biking trails. I highly recommend…. Bohjalian’s fans from The Guest Room and The Flight Attendant will enjoy it tremendously.
Once again, Chris Bohjalian proves that he is a master of his craft: great story, wonderful characters, twisting tension, perfect pace, language that evokes without getting in the way. Bravo!
Another great read from Chris Bonjalian. Absolutely loved the puzzle he creates to keep the main character and the reader tracing the clues to dissect this scary plot. Original and frightening are just two words that sum up this creative plot.
I am hit or miss with this author, I loved “The Sandcastle Girls” and “The Midwives”, some of his earlier work. This one fell short for me.
The premise of this novel is extremely relevant to our times. I will quote just a bit from the blurb from for this novel “Set amidst the adrenaline-fueled world of the emergency room, The Red Lotus is a global thriller about those who dedicate their lives to saving people, and those who peddle death to the highest bidder.”
Alexis is an ER doctor who has fallen in love with Austin, a man whom she met in the ER when he came in for a wound in his arm. Alexis is the doctor who stitched him up, he claimed that the wound was from a drunk who was wildly brandishing a loaded weapon in a bar, when it went off it hit Austin in the arm.
Six months later Alexis and Austin are headed to Vietnam, he told her he wanted to visit the places where his father fought as well as his uncle, who ultimately perished in the war. Austin is an extremely high level cyclist who has ridden many tours and so it wasn’t seen as that unusual when he decides to take the last leg of the tour in a different direction. However after several hours have gone by and he doesn’t return, Alexis is certain that some harm has come to him.
After much searching by Alexis and others they are about ready to give up on finding Austin either alive or dead. The next day his body is found at the bottom of a cliff, the presumed victim of a hit and run driver.
Alexis isn’t willing to accept this answer, she is sure that there is more to this story. She begins to understand that there is a lot about Austin that she doesn’t know. He worked in the same hospital as she does but in the research lab where many experiments are performed on rats.
It takes a lot of detective work on her part to finally unravel all of the secrets that Austin was hiding. We meet some truly despicable characters, ruthless and evil but also a PI who joins Alexis in her hunt for the truth and is there for her when she needs him most.
My problem with this novel is that it is extremely slow moving. Three quarters of the book is taken up with repetitive ruminations about what Alexis is thinking and doing. I was 70% into the book before it really engaged me. I enjoy a novel with strong characters and a plot that keeps me interested and engaged throughout.
I’m sure that fans of Chris Bohjalian will enjoy this novel but for me it was a mediocre read, not bad but not memorable.
I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through Edelweiss.
A thrilling, unputdownable mystery of a book that I thoroughly enjoyed … like most of Bohjalian’s books.
A young ER doctor goes on a biking trip to Vietnam with her boyfriend. Then he disappears, and the story is about finding out not only what happened to him, but about who he really was.