The Red Lotus

 

The Red Lotus by Chris Bohjalian  383 pages

Summary from Goodreads: he first time Alexis saw Austin, it was a Saturday night. Not in a bar, but in the emergency room where Alexis sutured a bullet wound in Austin's arm. Six months later, on the brink of falling in love, they travel to Vietnam on a bike tour so that Austin can show her his passion for cycling and he can pay his respects to the place where his father and uncle fought in the war. But as Alexis sips white wine and waits at the hotel for him to return from his solo ride, two men emerge from the tall grass and Austin vanishes into thin air. The only clue he leaves behind is a bright yellow energy gel dropped on the road.

As Alexis grapples with this bewildering loss, and deals with the FBI, Austin's prickly family, and her colleagues at the hospital, Alexis uncovers 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?

And here's what I thought: I finally remembered I wanted to read this - and there were library copies available! 

This is the second book by this author that I read this month and the two couldn't be more different, plot-wise. This story has an incredibly scary virus at the center of the story (plus a lot about rats, which is scary all by itself). I guess I would call this a medical thriller because the virus is at the center of everything and Alexis and her boyfriend are caught up in it. I really appreciated that Bohjalian includes very realistic details, along with believable characters -- this is the kind of story I can see coming to life as a movie. The settings are vivid and the story has a fast pace, with a tension that stretches from beginning to end. Good book, although I don't know if I'd be ready for a re-read anytime soon because the subject gave me the creeps.But reading this made me remember how much I liked other medical thrillers when I was a teen -- like books by Robin Cook.