The Red Lotus
A Novel
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4.5 • 11 Ratings
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • 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 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.
Look for Chris Bohjalian's new novel, The Lioness!
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Rats, both four-legged and human, roam everywhere in Chris Bohjalian’s ultra-gripping and intricately plotted thriller. But the only person initially concerned is emergency room doctor Alexis Remnick, whose hospital administrator boyfriend dies under mysterious circumstances during the couple’s biking vacation in Vietnam. Best-selling author Bohjalian—whose smash hits include Midwives and The Flight Attendant—weaves together a life-and-death story of international bioterrorism and greed, pushing his brave but damaged heroine to use her keen diagnostic skills to decipher her boyfriend’s tangle of lies. As Alexis encounters a slew of bad actors, Bohjalian slyly toys with our suspicions. Unspooling at an expertly controlled slow-burn pace, The Red Lotus is the kind of mystery we love: utterly unpredictable.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A bicycling tour of Vietnam takes a dark turn when Manhattan ER doctor Alexis Remnick's boyfriend, Austin Harper, disappears in this intricately plotted thriller from Bohjalian (The Flight Attendant). Austin, an experienced cyclist, fails to return to the couple's hotel after a long solo ride, during which he planned to pay his respects to his father and uncle, who were American soldiers in the Vietnam War. His uncle was killed, and his father was wounded. As the hours pass, Alexis, worried for Austin's safety, contacts the authorities, and learns that Austin lied about his father and uncle. When Austin's body is found, it's suspected that he was a victim of a hit and run. But after identifying his body, Alexis has reason to suspect foul play. Back home, Alexis hires a PI to unearth the truth behind Austin's lies. Austin may have been enmeshed in a scheme with global implications, and Alexis is drawn into a diabolical plot reminiscent of a Robin Cook thriller. Each character, including secondary players, is carefully drawn, and Bohjalian keeps the tension high all the way to the surprising finale. Bohjalian's many fans and newcomers alike will be satisfied. Author tour.
