Katy Sweeney is looking for her sister. A year earlier, just three weeks into a solo vanlife trip, her free-spirited younger sister, Phoebe, vanished without a trace on the remote, achingly beautiful coastal highway in Western Australia. With no witnesses, no leads, and no DNAevidence, the case has gone cold. But Katy refuses to give up on her.
Using Phoebe’s social media accounts as a map, Katy retraces her sister’s steps, searching for any clues the police may have missed. Was Phoebe being followed? Who had she met along the way, and how dangerous were they?
And then Katy’s path collides with that of Beth, who is on the run from her own dark past. Katy realizes that Beth might be her best—and only—chance of finding the truth, and the two women form an uneasy alliance to find out what really happened to Phoebe in this wild, beautiful, and perilous place.
Anna Downes takes us on a twist-filled journey into the dark side of solo female travel, in this gripping novel that explores what drives us to keep searching for those we have lost, the family bonds that can make or break us, and the deception of memory. ~taken from Goodreads
Using Phoebe’s social media accounts as a map, Katy retraces her sister’s steps, searching for any clues the police may have missed. Was Phoebe being followed? Who had she met along the way, and how dangerous were they?
And then Katy’s path collides with that of Beth, who is on the run from her own dark past. Katy realizes that Beth might be her best—and only—chance of finding the truth, and the two women form an uneasy alliance to find out what really happened to Phoebe in this wild, beautiful, and perilous place.
Anna Downes takes us on a twist-filled journey into the dark side of solo female travel, in this gripping novel that explores what drives us to keep searching for those we have lost, the family bonds that can make or break us, and the deception of memory. ~taken from Goodreads
This was my second novel from author, Anna Downes, my first being "The Safe Place" back in 2020. I was eager to dive into this book, as I enjoyed the previous one.
I will be straightforward and say I had a really hard time with this book. It was really slow to get started and I couldn't connect with a single character. The fact that chapters switch back and forth between characters, but with no real way to know how their stories connect made it even more confusing.
By the end of the book the story did start to become interesting, but by then I was so frustrated and bored that I just wanted it to end. The ending seemed unnecessarily drawn out and completely unsatisfying.
This needs to come with a trigger warning about domestic violence, child neglect, and human trafficking.
I think, perhaps, I am the minority with my opinion of this book, so please read some other reviews and pick up a copy to decide for yourself.
Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me an e-copy to read and give my honest review. It was a 3 star read.
"Red River Road" is set to be released August 27, 2024 here in the U.S. so preorder your copy now!
Happy Reading!
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