Title:	the Red Lotus
	Author:	Chris Bohjalian
	Published:	March 17, 2020, Doubleday
	No. of Pages:	400
	Cover Price:	$27.95 Hardcover, $13.99 Kindle

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The Red Lotus by bestselling author Chris Bohjalian is a thriller that is difficult to put down. Alexis Remnick, ER physician, and her boyfriend, Austin Harper, a researcher at the same hospital, are enjoying a wonderful biking trip in Vietnam. Austin goes off by himself to explore the areas his father and uncle had been years ago during the war while serving there. Unfortunately Austin doesn’t come back, and is later found dead, a victim of a hit and run. Alexis doesn’t buy it because there are circumstances that don’t add up, like a puncture wound in his hand that has broken bones and isn’t something that is consistent with the hit and run, and when Alexis gets home, she hires a private investigator to clear up the loose ends for her. As she also investigates, she becomes entrapped in a conspiracy that may prove deadly for all involved.

Bohjalian is an excellent storyteller, and the story flows in an organized way while suspense builds. He does a good job defining the characters, and they seem real and like people readers are familiar with. Things are not as they appear -with the story, and with the characters - and the dénouement is surprising and unexpected. Alexis is fairly pushy and Austin’s family is on the defensive, which makes it difficult to investigate Austin’s death. Austin lied about several things, including where his father and uncle were in Vietnam, and it is puzzling to Alexis as to the reason. Alexis suspects they made the trip to Vietnam for reasons other than the bike tour.

Readers who enjoy high suspense and a good plot will want to pick up this book. It will keep readers on the edge of their seats.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.