The Red Lotus

A Novel

By: Chris Bohjalian

Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman

From the New York Times best-selling 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.

©2020 Chris Bohjalian (P)2020 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"[An] intricately plotted thriller...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." (Publishers Weekly)

"Abetted by shifting points of view, seemingly disparate elements eventually converge to create a burgeoning sense of dread.... Tantalizing...Bohjalian manages to keep us guessing and turning pages until the very end." (Kirkus Reviews)

"In this tightly drawn, steadily hair-raising thriller, Bohjalian once again demonstrates his keen affinity for strong, capable female protagonists, while his masterful merging of setting and plot delivers a cerebral and dramatic dive into what happens when love turns to agony." (Booklist)

Just ok

Interesting to read a book about a fictional pandemic during a real pandemic. The story was good. There was just too much superfluous storyline for me.

Great first and last parts

I want Chris Bohjalian’s advice on choosing my lotto numbers.

Writing to release takes several years. Bohjalian couldn’t have predicted RED LOTUS would be released during a pandemic.

Alexis assumes her biking trip to Vietnam is just that. Her boyfriend of six months doesn’t tell her otherwise. That’s all I’m going to say about the plot.

Told mostly from Alexis’s third person point of view, I found embracing the main character easy. I overlooked the ethical violation of dating a patient because the two were also colleagues, but I questioned her judgment a bit, especially since Austin’s reason for showing up with a gun shot wound seemed dubious. Alexis didn’t have any spidy senses or she lacked intellectual curiosity. Austin may be cute, but looks fade.

RED LOTUS wasn’t one of favorite Bohjalian novels. The first part was and the mystery kept me interested but biological weapons have no interest to me.

The audiobook narration was spot on.

Non stop surprises

I was initially drawn to the storyline because I have been to Vietnam. So good I have already downloaded another book by this author.

The Red Lotus

I enjoyed this book immensely. In this day, I got further insight about our pandemic. Chris Bohjalian is a fine writer. I look forward to listening to another of his novels.

Great disturbing book

Enjoyed the narriation, very clear. l listened twice to revisit the clues. Easy to picture every scene.

The stuff of nightmares

If you’re squeamish, you might not want to read this one! The story itself is captivating although it’s especially difficult to separate the characters because the narrator has no voice range to assume the myriad of people involved. This is one book that really needed more than one narrator. I had no idea how the story would evolve. Without giving anything away, I’d caution anyone about reading it, especially at this particular time in our country’s history. It’s too close for comfort or a good night’s sleep. Extremely well written and plotted, it’s realism is the stuff of nightmares. I would have highly recommended it just a few months ago.

Mixed bag

This book started out with a bang, but midway through it began to drag for me. I became uninvolved in the storyline and often had problems keeping the many characters straight. By the end, I was just glad that it was over. I did enjoy The Flight Attendant a lot. Overall rating: 2.5 stars rounded up

Good elements, fair execution

Avid cyclist and as we are amidst a pandemic this got me hooked initially, but the characters became more stereotypical and the plot got dragged out to get to the logical (lol) conclusion. Comments on narration are apt. Don't regret listening, but hard to recommend with urgency.

must-read

Fantastically written, and it is especially relevant! Books should make you think, and this does

A stretched premise

This novel had all the elements that would attract a reader like me. Great settings in Vietnam and New York. But it fell flat for me.