(Title: Red River Seven / Author: A.J. Ryan / Publisher: Orbit / Publication Date: October 10, 2023 / Total Pages: 300)
Back Cover Blurb
A man awakes on a boat at sea with no memory of who he is or how he came to be there. He's not alone - there are six others. None of them can remember their names, but all bear the scars of recent surgery.
When a message appears on the onboard computer - Proceed to Point A - the group agrees to work together to survive whatever is coming.
But as the boat moves through the mist-shrouded waters, divisions begin to form, and the group is plagued by questions. Who is directing them, why have their memories been wiped, and what are the screams they can hear beyond the mist?
Review
A.J. Ryan (pseudonym for highly acclaimed fantasy author Anthony Ryan) has written some of my very favorite books over the years. Admittedly at first I had no idea this book was written by the same person until I saw Anthony posting about it on social media one day. I was immediately intrigued to see how he would make the transition from heroic epic fantasy to a story that seemed to be of the dystopian thriller variety. Well it didn't take long for me to find out as I was immediately sucked into this book from the very opening pages.
The story begins shrouded in mystery as the scene is set depicting seven people adrift on a boat just coming out of unconsciousness. Confusion and uncertainty abound as none of the passengers on the boat have any recollection of their identity, their previous lives, or their professions. and if things couldn't get worse, they quickly discover a dead body on board with an apparent gunshot wound to the head. Needless to say, "what the hell is going on" is the question on everyone's lips at this point.
A ringing phone breaks the silence and a robotic voice on the other end gives an emphatic directive as to how they should proceed. The voice vows to call back periodically with new instructions. As the seven proceed through a dense fog toward a destination that the onboard computer shows as the southeast coast of England, the distorted screams of humans (or possibly something less than human) begin to get louder with each passing minute. That's where this book goes from an intriguing mystery of the unexplained to a flat out terror-induced dystopian thriller the likes of which I haven't read in a long time.
RED RIVER SEVEN had me so damn riveted throughout as Ryan does a fantastic job of keeping the mystery as thick as the all consuming fog that menacingly surrounds the main characters throughout much of their journey toward discovery. There are little hints given throughout as every time the sat-phone rings and the "person" on the other end emotionlessly gives out new directives, certain aspects of what is happening start to come into sharper focus. And all the while the screams of those who are largely obscured by the fog and just out of sight give off an air of imminent terror that we just know is eventually going to be that mind-blowing answer to all of the questions posed in the early stages of this book.
I think this book came at the right time for me because up to now I have been reading a ton of epic fantasy. So this was a really refreshing departure from that and a wonderful palate cleanser so to speak. But I also believe that I would have loved this book no matter what because every element of it is brilliantly written and I couldn't help but keep reading to get to the bottom of the central mystery. Not only that, but upon finishing it my thoughts immediately went to what an amazing tv or film adaptation it would make.
I'll just wrap things up by highly recommending this book for anyone who loves a good techno/bio thriller with a dash of sci-fi and horror thrown in the mix. 28 Days Later meets The Passage in this addictive story that has everything you could ever want in an entertaining and intense thrill ride. Do yourself a favor and get those preorders in for the October 10th release of RED RIVER SEVEN. It appears undeniable that author Anthony Ryan can excel in whatever genre he chooses.
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