When Austin doesn't return from a challenging bike ride, Alexis, his girlfriend of six months, is understandably worried. They had come to Vietnam on a bike trip, which Austin had claimed would be a vacation as well as an emotional pilgrimage to where his uncle had died and his father was wounded. When Austin's body is found, killed in an apparent bike accident, some energy gel packets found near where he first disappeared suggest things may not be as they appear. As Alexis struggles to figure out what happened to Austin, she learns he had been lying to her and that his involvement in Vietnam involved rats and a killer virus. She even begins to wonder about the gunshot wound that brought him to the emergency room where she first met him as the doctor in charge. Bohjalian (The Guest Room) has written a fast-moving thriller that keeps listeners engaged and concerned for Alexis's safety as she continues to probe, ignoring the advice of the FBI to let it go. Rebecca Lowman's narration is clear and matter of fact. VERDICT Recommended for listeners seeking an exciting novel.--Nancy R. Ives, SUNY at Geneseo

A bicycling tour of Vietnam takes a dark turn when Manhattan ER doctor Alexis Remnick's boyfriend, Austin Harper, disappears in this intricately plotted thriller from Bohjalian (The Flight Attendant). Austin, an experienced cyclist, fails to return to the couple's hotel after a long solo ride, during which he planned to pay his respects to his father and uncle, who were American soldiers in the Vietnam War. His uncle was killed, and his father was wounded. As the hours pass, Alexis, worried for Austin's safety, contacts the authorities, and learns that Austin lied about his father and uncle. When Austin's body is found, it's suspected that he was a victim of a hit and run. But after identifying his body, Alexis has reason to suspect foul play. Back home, Alexis hires a PI to unearth the truth behind Austin's lies. Austin may have been enmeshed in a scheme with global implications, and Alexis is drawn into 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. Bohjalian's many fans and newcomers alike will be satisfied. Author tour. (Mar.)

While they're on an ambitious vacation biking through the verdant landscape of Vietnam, Alexis Remnick's boyfriend of six months, Austin Harper, goes missing. On a mission to pay homage to his father and deceased uncle, who both served in the Vietnam War, Austin had embarked on a solo ride to view the spot where his uncle died and his father was wounded. He never returns to their hotel, and Alexis is catapulted into a nightmarish quest to discover why. When his mangled body is recovered, the police initially surmise he was the victim of a hit-and-run, but suddenly the stories he told Alexis about his family's past turn out to be just that, stories, and Alexis' mission broadens to uncover the true identity of the man she thought she loved. In this tightly drawn, steadily hair-raising thriller, Bohjalian (The Flight Attendant, 2018) 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.--Carol Haggas Copyright 2020 Booklist

In Bohjalian's (The Flight Attendant, 2018, etc.) breathless thriller, the death of an American bicyclist in Vietnam sets off a race to avert further catastrophe.Alexis, a doctor at an unnamed university hospital in Manhattan, met Austin six months ago when he came into her ER with a bullet in his arm, fired by a junkie in a bar where Austin and a chance acquaintance, Douglas, were playing darts. Austin works as a fundraiser at the same hospital. In fact, his office, significantly as we will learn, is near a rodent research lab. The present action takes place over a countdown clock of 10 days, beginning in Vietnam, where the new couple is on a bike tour. Austin goes for a solo ride, telling Alexis he wants to pay respects by visiting the locations where his uncle was killed and his father wounded during the war. When he doesn't return, Alexis goes out looking for him, finding a few packets of energy gel that we already know Austin dropped on the road while being abductedby Douglas. Pressing Austin for information, Douglas drives a dart into Austin's hand. Vietnamese police discover Austin's body and a post-mortem concludes that he was killed in a hit-and-run collision. While identifying the body, though, Alexis notices the wound on Austin's hand and suspects foul play. Back in New York, she hires Ken, a PI, to investigate. Quang, a Vietnamese police captain, suspects that Austin was a smuggler, but of what? Alexis soon learns that Austin had lied about many things, not least his true mission in Vietnam. What characters learn, and when, is critical. Abetted by shifting points of view, seemingly disparate elements eventually converge to create a burgeoning sense of dread. Italicized, anonymous first-person comments, interspersed throughout, cite the long history of rats as quickly evolving plague carriersmost recently, of antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Among many tantalizing questions: Austin's former boss Sally is Douglas' loverwhere do her loyalties lie? In fact, whose side is Douglas on? And what is in those packets?Bohjalian manages to keep us guessing and turning pages until the very end. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.