Two Nights in Lisbon is a thriller. The story unfolds masterfully and kept me intrigued on how the book would end. This is my first book to read by Chris Pavone. I will definitely be reading more books written by Pavone.

I had a little trouble getting into this one but I stuck with it and it came together nicely. An newly married American couple travels to Lisbon where the husband is kidnapped. His wife needs to come up with a large ransom. Parts of the book are flashbacks from her past life where she has a different name and lifestyle. There were lots of hints regarding her backstory but they were slow to be revealed. I found the many characters from law enforcement agencies confusing. The ending was clever but getting there was puzzling at times. I thank NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC.

After reading the first pages of Chris Pavone’s latest, Two Nights in Lisbon, a more skeptical reader might feel that buzz somewhere deep of their brain that suggests, “There’s something off about this.” I know I did… but once I found myself immersed in the urgency of Ariel Pryce’s desperate search for the husband who walked out of their Portuguese hotel and disappeared into the morning sunlight, I forgot about it. Mostly.

A frantic Ariel reaches out to the Lisbon police and the American embassy, certain that her husband has been kidnapped. Despite police assurances that her (much younger) husband has probably just gone on for drugs or hooked up with one of the many beauties Lisbon boasts, Ariel is sure that he’s been taken. A demand for three million euros’ ransom makes her point.

Where does an ordinary person find three million euros in forty-eight hours? Ariel comes to a decision: fifteen years ago, before she stopped being actress-slash trophy wife Laurel Turner, she signed a non-disclosure agreement with a powerful man, a man with access to that kind of cash. We’re talking really, really, really rich… and potentially even more powerful. A desperate phone call to get the ransom from this man piques the interest of not just the Lisbon cops but also the CIA and an enterprising reporter. After that frantic call, everything goes wrong.

Or does it?
Chris Pavone has built his career writing novels about the adventures of American expatriates in various world capitals, novels such as The Expats and The Paris Diversion. Like his other books, Two Nights in Lisbon falls into the “thriller” classification, but this is a thriller without the bloody shoot-‘em-ups and wild sex that so often figures in the genre. If you’re expecting a thriller in the vein of James Patterson or Robert Ludlum, you might want to look elsewhere. In truth, this isn’t your everyday pulse-pounding page-turner. Quite the contrary, the plot reminds me of a tractor-trailer: slow to start, but picking up speed as you go until the momentum is impossible to ignore.

Pavone’s work is more subtle, a thriller of the mind instead of the adrenal glands. For Two Nights in Lisbon, he introduces an unreliable narrator; except the reader never realizes that unreliability until the final reel in a final twist that would make O. Henry envious. Just don’t forget those few first pages.

Pavone’s delicious international thriller displays the mastery of character development and plotting for which he is already well-known, combining smoothly with an attention to the details of the foreign capital in which he has set his tale. Besides a gift for realistic dialog and setting, the author has also cultivated a talent for misdirection; all the better to engage the reader.

Personally, I dislike throwaway blurb fodder like “unputdownable” and “propulsive,” but thankfully Two Nights in Lisbon was neither of these. Oh, it was close to “unputdownable” but more to the point, it was thoughtful. Props to Chris for shining a light on a dirty little secret of people who have a fixer on permanent retainer.

I found this book to have way too much unnecessary, long, and over descriptive scenes, thoughts, guesses, etc. I seemed to loose interested about half way through it. Others may like this type of writing.

One of the best thrillers I read in a long time. Takes you in on the first page and takes you thru twist and turns.and doesn’t let up til the epilogue. Never underestimate the power of a women…
Will be reading more of this authors works..

Great Great mystery novel! I was on the edge of my seat the whole way through the book. So many twists and turns that I didn't see coming. If you need a edge of your seat thrill ride this summer, this is the book!

Ariel Price wakes up in Lisbon alone. Her husband has disappeared.

With limited help from the police and the American Embassy, Ariel turns to someone from her past.

This was a interesting mystery with a pretty good twist. At times I t felt a little long and some parts of the story seemed unnecessarily dragged out. But it was an enjoyable read.

Fun read. Involves a kidnapping, sexual assault, some romance, international politics, extortion. Main character is a strong woman dealing with. many of life's complexities.. Lots of suspense. Final details are not revealed until the end.. Lots of red herrings. I would strongly recommend this book, although this is not one of my usual genres. I am now interested in reading more of Pavone's books.

Thanks NetGalley, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, MCD for an ARC to review.
When Ariel wake up alone in a hotel in Lisbon she feels something is really wrong. Where did her husband go? She raises hell everywhere trying to convince the local police, the embassy and whoever listen to her that her husband's disappearance is sinister.
An excellent, refreshing, original fast paced adventure that will keep the reader on edge till the very last page.
Loved it.

5 stars for this thriller that blew me away!

I was absolutely blown away by this fast-paced thriller - I had no idea what was going on until the very end... My thoughts on the "whodunnit" aspect changed as fast as the thoughts came to me. This one will leave you in awe till the end.

A big thanks to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux, MCD for providing the digital ARC for review!

I enjoyed the premise of this book. It's a well-done mystery/thriller with all of the right twists and turns. What keeps it from being a solid 4-star read for me is the non-linear timeline that isn't well differentiated in the book. In general Ariel was a likeable character. The impact of her traumatic past was front and center, even if the reader wasn't fully aware of the extent and nature of that trauma in the beginning. The author slips back to Ariel's past in the middle of chapters, and it makes it difficult to know when that was happening, especially in the audio edition. I think it would have been better done if they were separate chapters. Content warning, there is a great deal of violence against women in this book, so if that is a difficult subject for you, proceed with caution.

3.5/5 stars

I enjoyed the premise of this book. It's a well-done mystery/thriller with all of the right twists and turns. What keeps it from being a solid 4-star read for me is the non-linear timeline that isn't well differentiated in the book. In general Ariel was a likeable character. The impact of her traumatic past was front and center, even if the reader wasn't fully aware of the extent and nature of that trauma in the beginning. The author slips back to Ariel's past in the middle of chapters, and it makes it difficult to know when that was happening, especially in the audio edition. I think it would have been better done if they were separate chapters. Content warning, there is a great deal of violence against women in this book, so if that is a difficult subject for you, proceed with caution.

Super-cool listening experience. An ordinary woman in Lisbon with her new husband wakes up alone. He's missing and he hasn't left a note. The night before, they'd taken sleep aids so they could get over jet lag. And yet she wakes up to find him gone. She goes to the police almost immediately, sensing that something is very, very wrong. Even though the relationship is a new one, she tells them that she knows for a fact he would never leave in the way he has.

And over two days, facing down skeptical local police, embassy staff and eventually the CIA, she goes searching for the truth and for her missing husband. Few books unfold the way this one did--literally never a lagging moment in the action, and so many misdirections, your head spins. And it's a cliche to say this, but in very few books is this true: "it kept me guessing till the very last page."

The author also included some commentary on the modern age--the speed with which information and disinformation travels across the globe, the reliance we have on how things appear rather than having curiosity about how they really are, and the limited attention span of people in the modern age. There was also a very strong undercurrent about the seemingly impossible task of toppling wealthy, powerful, morally reprehensible men. This one is listed as a "domestic thriller" and I guess? Seemed more like international suspense to me. But the genre is irrelevant --- pacing: flawless; plot: exciting and fast-paced; characters: engaging and multi-faceted. Listening experience: top-notch. Recommended, especially if you want something immersive, but not too dense.

My rating:⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑

This was the first book by Chris Pavone that I read, but it won’t be my last.
This international thriller had suspense and intrigue that just kept building. Ariel Pyrce accompanies her new husband John on a business trip to London. On the first morning of the trip Ariel wakes up alone and her husband John appears to be missing. She reports his disappearance to the police and the American Embassy, but no one seems to believe there’s a crime until a ransom of $3 million euros is demanded.

Ariel has only one option to procure the money; blackmail a powerful man without destroying her future.

The story is mostly told from Ariel’s perspective, both present-day and past events. But we also get to hear from the police, CIA, and the evil man himself.

Time is running out and Ariel needs to figure out how to get her husband back unharmed and somehow escape the past by blowing up the present.

A sophisticated, timely story with resemblance to real powerful people who only care about themselves and their status.

Thanks to NetGalley and MCD for a digital review copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book has an interesting plot - a wife goes to Lisbon with her husband for a business trip, and the husband gets kidnapped. From there she tries to get all the help she can to rescue him - from going to the embassy to getting help from the local police. The story keeps going back to the past so we can understand how they met each other and a little bit about their past.

Ariel accompanies her new husband John on a brief business trip to Lisbon. When he goes missing she frantically tries to enlist the help of the local police and the American embassy. Initially, they don’t take her concerns too seriously, but they keep an eye her - just in case - and find out more about Ariel and John than they bargained for.

I would have liked this book more if it had been 100 pages shorter and less repetitive. You don’t have to tell me over and over again that Ariel used to be an actress. And the backstory was parceled out in too many chapters. I skimmed a lot.

<spoiler>There were several sexual assaults described in detail in this book. Ariel appears to be a particular magnet for such assaults. At one point, the author does mention that rapes happen regardless of the appearance, age or mode of dress of the victims, but that felt like a public service message, especially when compared to the dozens of times the author told us how beautiful and alluring Ariel is and how she had to tone down her appearance. Her appearance was irrelevant and the author should not have emphasized it. </spoiler>

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

Pavone has written another great thriller about people who are not what they seem at the beginning when an American businessman seems to get kidnapped in Lisbon. See my review at https://youtu.be/4X0jcaF0Mco. Thanks for letting me read this as an ARC.

Fantastic thriller .. riveting storyline and rich characters.
I am very particular on what I will read when it comes to mysteries. This was a fantastic book from start to finish.
Only negative.. waaaayyy too long.

Well-written and smart! I enjoyed it so much that I didn't want to stop reading, but my work schedule doesn't allow for that or I would have finished it much more quickly. Even though I thought I had most of it figured out pretty early on, I was still surprised a couple of times. I love a book that can surprise me!

Perfect atmospheric summer reading with twists and turns. Even though the numerous plot lines are implausible the author grabs you so that you continue to read to find out the resolutions. And beneath the far fetched situations are significant issues of today which must be dealt with.