/lit/ - Literature

>>22557030
Red River Seven - A.J. Ryan (2023)

A man awakens, remembering nothing biographical, though otherwise retaining what he knows. He finds himself on a boat on a river shrouded in dense pinkish mist. There are others with him and they all share surgical scars and have the same memory loss. They seem to be on a mission as they realize they have a certain set of complementary skills that would be useful for survival and for carrying out a special operation. A voice from elsewhere speaks to them. It says they must obey or they will die. Whatever their purpose may be, they must follow their directions, because at the least the boat can be remotely deactivated, leaving them stranded. Precautions have been taken to minimize how much they can tamper with anything. Their greatest danger is each other, at least until they discover the current circumstances of the world.

As per the title, there's red mist, they're on a river, and there's seven of them. It's literal and suits it well. The amnesia is functional and serves a greater purpose than being for plot convenience. In terms of the plot, that they can't remember their lives is integral to everything. However, even if they did have their memories it wouldn't really be that different for several of them. This does limit them as a cast of characters because they're reduced to what their specialty is and a few other core personality traits.

I haven't read anything else by Anthony Ryan, so I'm unable to compare this SF/horror/mystery/thriller to his fantasy novels. What I do know is this seems like it was written to be a movie. Everything extraneous is removed and all there is, is the characters and their mission. I don't see that as necessarily a bad thing, though it's definitely notable. I would watch it if it were made into one because it seems like it could easily transition into a primarily action movie.

The last 15% started leaning into political allegory, or at least that's what I read it as. The only hint before that was that it was mentioned that the 45th president was someone whose name shouldn't be said in polite company. That was fine, though I don't think it was handled all that well. There wasn't an epilogue, which from a reader perspective would've been nice in terms of pay-off. Having one though would've gone against the allegory that had been established and the narrow focus of the narrative. Maybe it's just because it's not that long of a novel that there didn't seem to be any need to do so.

This was a nice read, though it's not really notable in any way. There was a good bit that this story had going in its favor for me. I like amnesiac group stories, which has lead me to read books that I might otherwise wouldn't, for better and worse. I also appreciate it when authors try writing in different genres than what they're known. If I had enjoyed it just a bit more I would've rounded it up.

I received this DRC from Orbit through NetGalley.

Rating: 3.5/5 (3)