“Once first blood is drawn, sharks make quick work.”

Chris Pavone (Puh-vo-KNEE) writes the best thrillers around. I read his second novel, The Accident, in 2015, thanks to the First Reads program on Goodreads, and I liked it so well that I ferreted out a copy of his debut thriller, The Expats at my favorite used bookstore. I’ve read and reviewed everything he’s published since then, and I’ll tell you right now, Two Nights in Lisbon is his best.

My thanks go to Net Galley; Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux; and Macmillan Audio for the review copies. This book will be available to the public May 24, 2022.

The beginning doesn’t impress me much; a couple is in Portugal and he leaves before she gets up; says he’ll be right back; and he disappears. In real life this would be a big deal, but in a thriller, it feels almost generic (though it actually isn’t.) Ariel—the stranded wife—is beside herself with worry, and she goes to the police and to the U.S. Embassy, but they all blow her off. It hasn’t been 24 hours yet, there’s no sign of foul play, and face it honey, sometimes husbands wander. She carries on until we’re a quarter of the way into the book, and this part of it could probably stand to be tightened up some. But this story draws the full five stars from me, because after this, Pavone makes up for it, and more.

Next comes the ransom demand. Nameless, faceless baddies contact her. They have her husband; they want three million dollars, and they want it fast.

I won’t spoil the plot for you, but I’ll say this much: this plot is original, and as thrillers go, also plausible. There’s never a moment where I stop believing. And there’s a wonderfully satisfying measure of Karma attached at the end.

The thing that makes me love this author so hard, and that is particularly strong this time around, is his deep, consistent respect for women. In this era of MeToo and mansplaining, it takes a lot of chutzpah for a man to write a female protagonist, and what’s more, he includes a rape scene, which I trust no man for EVER, except for Pavone right here right now. He tells it the way a woman would tell it, and—all you other male authors out there, listen up—there’s not one moment where the assault feels even a tiny bit sexy. And so, at the beginning of this particular scene I tensed, waited to be outraged, or disappointed, or whatever—and then relaxed, because he gets it. This guy gets it.

Ariel makes the occasional small mistake, but no large ones. She is intelligent, organized, and capable of looking out for herself, even in a foreign country where she doesn’t speak the language. The reveal at the end makes me do a fist pump. Yesss.

The pace never flags after the first quarter, and there are occasional moments that make me guffaw. This is a story that brooks no tolerance of the wealthy, the elite, the entitled.

I received both the audio and digital review copies, and so I alternated the two, although I listened the majority of the time, backtracking for quotes and other salient details for the purpose of this review. January LaVoy is our narrator, and she does an outstanding job. You can’t go wrong with either version, but I would give the edge to the audio version, which is immensely entertaining.

Highly recommended.

I've read many books by Chris Pavone and have enjoyed them all. This one was no different. His books are faced pace and easy to read. Great characters that are easy to root for. I highly recommend this book.

When John Grisham provides a quote for a book, you know it's going to be good. Two Nights in Lisbon is a wild ride from beginning to end. It starts off with Ariel waking up to discover her husband missing while on a trip to Portugal, and after that, you won't see the rest of the story coming. Every chapter had me guessing what could possibly transpire next and kept me on the edge of my seat.

There were parts where I had trouble keeping all the characters straight, but it was only early on until I understood who all the players were.

Definitely recommend checking Two Nights in Lisbon out!

4/5 stars

Thank you Farrar, Straus and Giroux and NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Two Nights in Lisbon is a page-turner! There are so many twists and turns as we follow Ariel Pryce through Lisbon in search of her missing husband, The author keeps us guessing until the very end. The story switches between the past and the present, so we get glimpses of Ariel's past and how it ties together with the present. I would strongly recommend this book! This is the first book I have read by Chris Pavone, I will definitely be reading his other works after this! Thank you to NetGalley and MCD for the ARC!

You and your new husband are spending a couple of nights in Lisbon, Portugal, where he has business meetings scheduled during the day. You wake up the first morning to find him gone - with no clues as to his whereabouts. The police don't give much credence to your insistence that he's been kidnapped - even when his disappearance is caught on video and you're asked to pay a hefty ransom you can't possibly afford.

That's the situation Ariel Pryce faces, and as the police - and folks from the U.S. Embassy, the CIA and a pesky reporter - keep plodding along but getting nowhere, she knows the only person she can rely on is herself. Her ex-husband isn't wealthy enough to help find her missing husband, John Wright, but she knows someone who is: a very powerful man who is just about the last person on earth to whom she wants to be beholden. Asking for help is laden with visions of past experiences best forgotten, but Ariel has no other workable option.

As the story progresses, insights into the past lives and dark secrets of Ariel and (to a more limited extent) John are revealed by flashbacks - weaving in several twists that suggest that John's disappearance may be tied to one or both of their past lives. It is here, though, that I became a bit frustrated; the aforesaid flashbacks happened with regularity, but within chapters and with no warning - making it a little hard to follow when I suddenly realized I was reading about people and events that happened in a different time and place. Once I was well into the book it got easier to recognize the switcheroo, but I never totally adjusted to it.

Except for a fair amount of "filler" that sometimes reads like a preachy commercial for a specific hot-button issue, the action is pretty much nonstop and most of the twists are surprising. If you're one who believes the end always justifies the mean, you'll be satisfied with the ending; I'm sort of on middle ground in that respect, but overall I must say I enjoyed the entire experience and, especially as the end neared, really didn't want to put it down. Thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review it.

I’ve read a couple of Chris Pavone books before this one. He specializes in portraying the secrets and lies of a marriage coming out through the pressure of a dangerous international situation. Sort of a mashup of international thriller and domestic drama. In this case, we have the middle-aged but newlywed John and Ariel Price, on a trip to Lisbon that combines business for John and pleasure for them both.

When Ariel awakes on the first full day of their trip, though it’s early John isn’t there. Nobody at the hotel’s desk has seen him. He isn’t answering his phone. Ariel is increasingly worried, but she can’t seem to get anybody else to take her concerns seriously.

Then a huge ransom is demanded and finally the local police, the American embassy, and a dogged American reporter are all of a sudden taking things very seriously. Ariel must make a desperate attempt to get the ransom money, all the while not trusting any of these interested parties to give any priority to her safety or her husband’s. But there are trust issues on the other side, as well. Why would John be a kidnap target? Researching their pasts brings up more and more questions. Meanwhile, the clock ticks, as the kidnappers say Ariel has just 48 hours to come up with the ransom.

The book is organized in these parts:

Part One: The Disappearance
Part Two: The Kidnapping
Part Three: The Ransom
Part Four: The Escape
Part Five: The Payoff
Epilogue

Unfortunately, Part One, which takes up nearly 20% of the book, is slow and repetitive, with Ariel’s fruitless questioning of people at the hotel and frustrating visits to the police station and US embassy. It was a slog, but I’m glad I pushed through. Things really go after that, though, with a lot of twisty-turny action and intriguing flashbacks. Pavone keeps readers on their toes, wondering just what is behind all this and what is to come. There isn’t just one big reveal, but more like an unwrapping of boxes within boxes. And each box reveals not just what really happened, but the context—which is always reflective of the political and social realities of its time and place.

Get yourself through Part One and you’ll be rewarded by story that is both thrilling and thought-provoking. I could see this provoking some lively book club discussions.

I was expecting a fast-paced thriller, but this turned out to be a much slower (almost dragging) pace. I thought the actual length of the story was too long and I found it difficult to stick with it. I read the ebook and also listened to the audiobook. I must say the narrator was very good!

It's hard to believe that all the action created in this novel happened in two days! Ariel Price traveled to Lisbon with her husband. John often traveled for business and this was the first time he asked Ariel to accompany him. The couple had a lovely day and enjoyed a romantic evening. Ariel had a new dress to wear to a dinner with John's clients the following evening. She was allowing herself to relax and not think about her son and her mother back in the Hamptons where she lived and owned a book shop.

Ariel's relaxation ended when the second day began and John wasn't in the room and not to be found anywhere in the hotel. Ariel began long, frustrating meetings with the Lisbon police and the American Embassy. She didn't feel like anyone took her seriously. Maybe he had a lover in Lisbon, he did travel there frequently. Ariel slowly begins to panic and that is where I stayed for the rest of this thriller. It unraveled in a wonderfully sly way.

Chris Pavone's book is witty and supremely interesting. I highly recommend this book to everyone who enjoys a mystery. Thank you to NG and MCD for the e-ARC

📖 Two Nights in Lisbon
✍️ Chris Pavone
🔪 Thriller?
#️⃣ 448 pages
🗓️ 05/24/22

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to NetGalley + Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!

Ariel Pryce is accompanying her fairly-new, much younger husband on a business trip in Lisbon, Portugal when the unthinkable happens: her husband is kidnapped. Now alone in a foreign city with a ticking clock and a ransom demand, Ariel finds herself at the mercy of the Lisbon police and the American embassy…and, potentially someone from her past…to help her rescue her husband. Will she be able to save him - and how many of her secrets will be revealed along the way?

TWO NIGHTS IN LISBON flips back and forth between the present and the events in Ariel’s life that led her to where she is today. Because of the way it is structured, much of the first 50% of the book is a slow building of the framework of our story… it’s one of those plots that requires a comprehensive look at the past in order to get the most out of the ending. This aspect, mixed with a beautiful and authentic, but often dense, writing style makes for a bit of an uphill battle for the first half. I will say that the second half is WELL worth the effort, and while I would have preferred the story to be 50-100 pages shorter, I couldn’t pinpoint what I would have pulled that wouldn’t have taken away from the ending. ALL THAT TO SAY… stick with it, because the second half of this book is a crazy rollercoaster ride that I found just so incredibly satisfying.

One more note about the writing style… I mentioned above that it is dense at times, however, I have never in my life highlighted as many full paragraphs and pages as I did in this book. There were dozens of instances in this book where I thought very challenging concepts were written about extremely eloquently and authentically.

Without giving too much away, this story centers around victims of sexual assault, with several intense scenes. I’m happy to provide more context about potential TWs!

Overall, I would definitely recommend this action/thriller novel. I can already see this being an incredibly captivating television series. Here’s hoping!

🇵🇹 Multiple POV
🇵🇹 Multiple timelines
🇵🇹 Slow burn
🇵🇹 Intriguing + authentic writing style
🇵🇹 Kidnapped husband storyline
🇵🇹 Law enforcement + political figures
🇵🇹 Action-packed second half
🇵🇹 Epilogue
🇵🇹 TWs are spoilery - DM me

#caitsquietplace #caitsquietplacereviews #cqpthrillers #twonightsinlisbon #netgalley #farrarstrausgiroux

I'm quite a fan of Chris Pavone's book. This one, though, left a bit to be desired. A lot of time was spent on the protagonist's feelings in every moment of her adventure, and a lot of other time was spent on backstory. There was less action and the stakes seemed less than what I'm used to. Perhaps something that would have added to the intrigue would me POV from the ANtagonists view, to sort of solidify how powerful and influential this person had grown to be.

Probably way too long but despite that and longueurs this story of a long revenge is biting and rough. Ariel discovers the man she's married is not entirely who she thinks he is, and yet .. we discover, a long game is in play involving sexual attack and high ranking candidate to US govt .. it starts in Lisbon. The dialogue is great (except her sons???) And the anger underlying the narrative drive galvanizes the entire novel. Many twists and turns ..really smart just wordy

I wanted to like this book since I'd recently read Pavone's Expats and enjoyed it. I'm sad to say that this was not the case since I hated the main character and just never seemed to get caught up in the mystery which felt like it dragged along with a bit too much background on sexual assaults that happened in the past but were described in detail throughout. I did like Griffiths and the Portuguese detectives a lot when they were in the narrative.

Ariel, recently wed, is on a business trip with her new husband John in Lisbon. What should be a great time turns into a nightmare when Ariel awakes and notices her husband is not in the room. She figures he may have went out for a run and decides to meet him for breakfast but John never shows up. After realizing he is officially missing she reaches out to the local police as well as the American Embassy and every other agency for help but no one seems to take her seriously

The jist of the story is to figure out what happened to John and interspersed throughout the book are some flashbacks in Ariel's life and how it may effect what is presently going on.

What I didn't like: The first few chapters were super quick in regards to John's disappearance but then things seemed to drop to a snail's pace. I had an awful time wanting to pick this back up. Around the 30% mark things did ramp up and I was able to become fully invested in it. With all of that said, the thing I didn't like at all was that all men were almost depicted as deplorable and no redeeming qualities. There also is the topic of sexual assault, while not graphic, it seemed over used and redundant.

The twist was something I was able to spot but I feel like the last 25% of the book took a completely different turn and by this point I was getting tired. The book is way too long and think it could have been more concise and would have held my attention better.

I think this book was a ME problem, just not a good fit but I could see where others may really enjoy it depending on the right fit.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my advanced copy.

I received an ARC of this book. A very complex mystery, this book pulled me in immediately. As the story progressed, everything that seemed clear at first became a tangle of questions. What to believe? Great book that I highly recommend!

I was riveted from the beginning to the end in spite of a couple things that I found hard to believe starting with her sudden romance and marriage that didn’t include her beloved son, but that’s the only spoiler from me. There were plenty of quirks and turns to keep me intrigued. What a ride!! This is my third read from Pavone and it does not disappoint..

4.5 stars. I thoroughly enjoyed this fast-paced thriller. Several twists and turns throughout the book kept me reading as fast as I could. Ariel is a fantastic character - you'll get several different views/impressions of her as the book progresses. I don't want to say too much more - just read the book!

"You think you know a person . . .

Ariel Price 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."

Thanks to NetGalley and FS&G for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Two Nights in Lisbon is a smart and propulsive thriller that wrongfooted me several times. When Ariel wakes up in her hotel room to find her husband gone, she springs into action. The bigger question is: why is he missing and can she trust him? The police are suspicious and unhelpful. Nobody wants to believe the woman, so she has to call the worst person in the world for help, and this puts her in even more trouble. In this great book, you don't know what you think you know.

Want an international thriller with a strong heroine, and unreliable narrator, and lots of twists and turns?

Ariel Pryce wakes up in Lisbon, alone. Her husband is bone with no note and isn’t answering his phone. Something is wrong.
She starts with hotel security, then the police, then the American embassy, each time confronted with question she can’t fully answer. What exactly is John doing in Lisbon, and how many time has he been here? Why did he drag her to his business trip this time?
Ariel knows so little about her new, and much younger, husband. But now the clock is ticking. She has received a ransom demand for 3 million euros.

There’s only one person she can ask who has that kind of money, but her request is going to open a political can of worms. As she starts trying to raise the ransom money, it quickly becomes clear that there’s more to Ariel’s backstory—and husband John’s--than what we’re seeing.

Although the story kicked off quickly, you have to be patience and follow the twists and turns, because it’s at this point when the book really gets interesting. It’s also when I realized that I was dealing with an unreliable narrator, and it heightened my attention to the details as they unfolded.

We begin to learn more about Ariel’s story—her life and abuse, her son, and how she came to meet and marry John. By now, we also have the police, the embassy, and the CIA interested in exactly who this third person is she’s contacted, and who he would give her that kind of money.

The story takes place over just two days, and the pace is almost exhausting. It all leads to some surprising final revelations and an ending that feels satisfying.

It’s sad that we still live in a world where women are considered “hysterical,” and dismissed or gaslighted when they speak up and share factual information. The underlying bit of this story is how serious crimes against women are swept under the rug by rich male perpetrators who can silence those crimes by throwing money at them. I have such respect for Chris Pavone for writing a strong female protagonist point of view, and nailing it.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an advance copy to read in exchange for an unbiased review.

Thank you to #Netgalley, the publisher, and author for allowing me to read this ARC. I rounded up from 3 1/2 stars. This was a propulsive and fun thriller. The story's main character is Ariel, a middle-aged woman who has survived a past trauma and is now recently remarried and on a holiday with her new husband, John, in Lisbon. She wakes up her first morning in her hotel room to find John missing. He has been kidnapped and the ransom demand is 3 million euros in cash. Ariel goes to the local police and the embassy and has to delve into her traumatic past in order to come up with the money she needs. The CIA gets involved. Car chases, evasion of law enforcement, signed non-disclosure agreements, a nosy journalist, all lead to some wild-goose chases and in the end, to a satisfying conclusion. I highly recommend this book.

What a ride it was to read this book! I requested it specifically because it is set in my hometown and I have to say it is very nice to read about places you have been to frequently. It's also funny to see how the author included situations that are very characteristic of us, such as 'surviving' a taxi ride.

Overall, I enjoyed reading Two Nights in Lisbon, but I have often felt that we were being given too much information about different characters, which ended up pulling me a little out of the story because it takes a while to get used to tell them all apart. When you get to the end of the book and see the pieces of the puzzle start coming together, it also starts making sense why we were being told so much about different aspects, but I would have probably enjoyed this more if it was more fast paced.

This book contains explicit descriptions of SA, so keep that in mind when picking it up.