From the publisher:
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES AND NATIONAL BESTSELLER.
Tautly wound and expertly crafted, Two Nights in Lisbon is a riveting thriller about a woman under pressure, and how far she will go when everything is on the line.You think you know a person . . .
Ariel Pryce wakes up in Lisbon, alone. Her husband is gone―no warning, no note, not answering his phone. Something is wrong.
She starts with hotel security, then the police, then the American embassy, at each confronting questions she can’t fully answer: What exactly is John doing in Lisbon? Why would he drag her along on his business trip? Who would want to harm him? And why does Ariel know so little about her new―much younger―husband?
The clock is ticking. Ariel is increasingly frustrated and desperate, running out of time, and the one person in the world who can help is the one person she least wants to ask.
With sparkling prose and razor-sharp insights, bestselling author Chris Pavone delivers a stunning and sophisticated international thriller that will linger long after the surprising final page.
“This smart, calculating author remains many notches above others in his field” ―The New York Times
“Devilishly clever . . . Wait until you read the ending that Pavone springs on you.” ―St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Nothing is quite as it seems in this energetic thriller that calls into question marriage, loyalty, and truth.” ―The Washington PostNominated as best hardcover novel, 2023 ITW Thriller Awards!
https://amzn.to/3L7O5Nc
I haven’t read Pavone in a while, but since I was heading to Lisbon I queued this book up on my Kindle and started reading as soon as the plane left the ground. We were flying to Lisbon from Miami via Air France, so a stop in Paris (always a hardship!) and then a short hop to Lisbon. I finished this book before Paris – it was unputdownable and the twists never stopped coming.
This book came out last year, and the paperback just came out this week. Fortuitous timing! This thriller features an unreliable narrator, an intriguing foreign setting, and a cast of sketchy characters, none of whom is quite what they appear to be. It starts off with a kidnapping – the main character, Ariel, wakes up to find her husband gone. And he’s not answering his phone. Nothing else seems to be missing, so she heads down to the front desk of the hotel but no one remembers seeing him. She then reports it to the local police, but since he’s only been gone a few hours, they are none too interested. Either is the American Embassy. At least they are not interested until she receives a ransom note.
Ariel has connections with someone pretty high up in the American political arena, and has enough dirt on the man to gain his cooperation in raising the ransom money. But nothing is as it appears, and as the layers unfold in this twisty story, things seem to get more and more complicated, instead of the other way around.
I never saw the ending coming, but to be fair I don’t really try and figure out books like this. I just enjoy the ride and this was a terrific ride indeed!
5/2023 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
TWO NIGHTS IN LISBON by Chris Pavone. Picador; Reprint edition (May 2, 2023). ISBN: 978-1250872302. 448 p.
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