The Red Lotus by Chris Bohjalian

DNF @ p.100

I read one hundred pages of this, hoping it would grab me-- but it never did. Alexis and Austin met in the ER when Alexis removed a bullet wound from Austin's arm. Six months later and they are dating and going on vacation to Vietnam to bicycle, and then Austin is accosted by strange men in the wilderness and disappears. Alexis is in her hotel room, fretting and drinking wine, when she finds out that he's missing.

The narrative is just so slow-paced and plodding. I thought the scenes with Austin were better, and somewhat chilling, but they were spaced out too much and I hated Alexis. This almost reads like a debut novel because the pacing is so weird, and I was really surprised to see that the author has actually published a whole bunch of stuff besides this. I guess if you're into slower mysteries, this might work for you, but I was really bored.

YMMV.

Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review!

1.5 to 2 out of 5 stars