Pavone writes well, has interesting insights into the human condition and is able to generate suspense. But these qualities are dissipated in this over long book. This would have been an excellent good at 250-275 pages as opposed to 410 pages. Also the book seemed to be torn between being an international thriller and a literary novel. Pavone should have chosen one or made the book shorter. He definitely has talent and there are good moments in the book that make it worth reading(really closet to a 3.5 star review) but no need to rush.

Two Nights in Lisbon was a fairly well-plotted story that had some inaccuracies (a notary would never look over every line in a document, nor should they). He really only picked up steam in the last 15-20 percent. The ending did surprise me, as I didn’t see it coming. However, the identity of the man who harmed Aerial Pryce was easy to guess (and yes, I mean the title, not his name).

I liked that this book made some points about modern journalism and the importance of the truth. Unfortunately, I don’t believe the scandal would have been enough to take a powerful man down in today’s America.

The premise of this novel immediately stood out to me. I love mysteries and this sounded exactly like the kind of intriguing story I love but unfortunately this was a better premise than execution. Ariel is a very hard and grating character, now we will find out that she has her reasons, but she makes it very hard to get into this novel when it centers on her. The author chose to give us her backstory in flashbacks that were jarring to the narrative of the plot and slowed down the pacing. There are also a lot of narrative shifts between the characters that did not help to build up any momentum to the story and instead just kept slowing it down. I considered giving up on this a few times as it was just so hard to get through and after forcing myself to finish it I cannot say it was worth the effort. I doubt anyone will find it surprising which is a shame because it could have been an engrossing read from the premise. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I very much enjoyed Chris Pavone’s first book, The Ex-Pats. His subsequent books have been worth reading but the first is still my favorite.

In this newest book, Ariel Price wakes up in Lisbon one morning and finds that her life is about to/has irrevocably change(d). Where her husband should be, he is not What has happened to him and why? Where is he? Who is he with? Is it up to Ariel to figure all of this out?

Ariel tries to find answers moving up from hotel security to the American Embassy and more. She realizes that she does not even know why she and her spouse were in Lisbon so finding answers is not easy.

Readers of thrillers may well enjoy this title. They will wait to see how the plot turns come out and how Ariel survives them.

Some reviewers have adored this book. Others have described it as tedious in spots. I am in the middle. Read it and see what your own opinion is.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Farrar, Strauss and Giroux for this title. All opinions are my own.

Two Nights in Lisbon
by Chris Pavone
Pub Date: May 24, 2022
MCD
Thanks to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for the ARC of this book.
* Thriller *Fiction *Mystery *Suspense
Was this book really about "two Nights" in Lisbon? It felt like two Years! The story line dragged and I did not enjoy this book. The author's text was tedious, repetitious, and all over the place. The author's attempt to reveal Ariel's backstory slowed down the pace of a plotline that was already very, very, very slow burn.
The premise of the book caught my attention:
Ariel Price wakes up in Lisbon, alone. Her husband is gone—no warning, no note, not answering his phone. Something is wrong. However, I cannot recommend this book.
3 stars

AMAZING thriller and kept me guessing til the end. Pavone's spy thriller books keep you guessing with the cat & mouse moves of it's characters. Love all of his books and this did not disaappoint

Absolutely amazing. There may have been a slight excess of paranoia but maybe not. I loved the ending.
I really enjoyed the two Kate Moore books starting with The Expats. The next two books were not quite as good in my opinion. This one really blows all the others out of the water. Read it.

Two Nights in Lisbon is a complex and well-crafted thriller. The story is told from multiple points of view with a large number of flashbacks as the main characters histories are disclosed to the reader over the length of the book. I enjoyed this book thoroughly when I got to the conclusion. Many disparate threads are tied together in a very clever structure. The beginning and the ending are especially engaging.

My difficulties with the book dealt with its complexity. Formatting in the book made flashbacks and changes in point of view difficult to follow. The book seemed a little long in the middle, and I feel a lot of the body could have been cut back without harming the story. The major setting in the story Lisbon, could have been featured a little more. With Lisbon in the title, I was hoping for the special character of that city to play a more significant role.

All in all, Two Nights in Lisbon is a good story for a reader enjoying complex, multiple points of view and a twisty story that is brought together in a surprising and well-thought conclusion.

It all began with a rape. The genius of this story only makes me wish it could really happen and violent disgusting men in power could truly be brought down. Whatever your tastes are, this is a book to read! The story unravels and speeds towards a really good and satisfying ending. Chris Pavone is a master with words and brought me into the story with his first sentence. From there, it was a rollercoaster, straight up! Thanks to Netgalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux Publishers for the ARC.

Ariel doesn’t travel often, but her new husband asks her to accompany him on a business trip to Lisbon and she agrees. When she wakes up alone, she immediately feels like something’s wrong. Her husband has been kidnapped and she’ll do anything to get him back.
This was a fast paced thriller and the author did a great job writing timeline jumps and alternating POVs. There were a lot of twists that kept me guessing, but the way the big one was presented is a bit of a head scratcher. I enjoyed this international thriller regardless and how it wrapped up. It’s perfect beach reading so be sure and add it to your summer list.
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Thank you Netgalley for this audio edition of Two Nights in Lisbon by Chris Pavone.

This is a great international suspense/mystery/slow burn unfolding novel. It's fast and slow in it's pace and unfolding. Kind of a category of it's own? But I really enjoyed it!

When Ariel wakes up in Portugal, her new husband John is gone without a trace. No notice or warning. Through anonymous messaging she learns that he has been abducted with a steep ransom for his return. Desperate to get him back, she goes to the police, as well as people from her past in order to get John back. But why was he abducted in the first place?

This is a novel that goes DEEP. If you find yourself lost from time to time, that's actually by design, don't get discouraged. I was so pleasantly surprised through the whole novel. I loved the glamour of being in a foreign country, the intriguing characters, the suspense of the rescue, and the slow unpeeling of all the layers of the past. Great novel!

I'm sorry, but I couldn't warm to either the premise or the character. Maybe works for other readers, but not for me.

Ugh, Two Nights in Lisbon felt like more like 2 long miserable years in a place called Lisbon with very little local color. I had the hardest time coming back to this book, choosing to set it aside in favor of several short stories and novellas as distractions. Two Nights in Lisbon is trying to be too many genres at once - international thriller, espionage, police procedural, family drama, suspense, and mystery. Unfortunately when you throw everything at the wall to see what sticks, you get a big gloppy mess like this novel. Way too many characters with very poor formatting between character transitions, sometimes even with the same character changing timelines in what felt like mid-paragraph. With some heavy editing I think this novel could be liked by fans of Robert Ludlum, Lee Child, or the Jason Bourne series but was unfortunately not for me. The ending was pretty obvious although I initially had something a lot darker in mind and am glad I was wrong.

This story has new ideas and actions right to the very end. This is a plot that takes right up to nearly end and gives you a major surprise. The story beginnings a kidnapping of the husband. The characters are interesting, The story seems to find out to ransom the kidnapper and save the husband. Portuguese police work with the wife to solve the problems to follow the deliver of the ransom with the kidnappers making escape. The working with the money to make the ransom is extremely to obtain as non-disclosures make information difficult within the legal restrictions. By the end the story is upended to reveal what is happens. I was not too sure how engrossing at the beginning, but as the actions happen, I began extremely engrossed. I found it a very great story.

I didn’t enjoy this book like I thought I would. I liked the plot and structure of it but the length tested my patience. I found myself losing interest and it look a walkie for it to start getting good.

Two explosive nights in Lisbon and several follow up days of suspense back in the U.S. Ariel reports her new husband John missing from their hotel in Lisbon and has the local police as well as the CIA involved in an apparent kidnapping. The focus is on Ariel more than on her husband John as we see her frantic efforts to get the local police and the US Embassy involved in finding him.

Kudos to the police and the CIA and a persistent news reporter in flushing out the details to get to the heart of the matter, a surprising conclusion at the end of the book.

A suspenseful novel with crafty characters that lead to a conclusion that will surprise the reader.

A dual review: I read this one and alternated with the audiobook, ultimately, preferring and finishing, in print.

A bit of a slow start, this mystery quickly speeds up the plot adding many elements to the point of muddling the waters a bit too much. But, a satisfying resolve.

My favorite Pavone remains The Expats, but a fun read.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. I'm afraid I couldn't get in to this one at all, and stopped reading after only a few chapters. The plot didn't keep me hooked enough to continue.

Ariel Price wakes up in a hotel room alone in Lisbon, her husband, John, is nowhere to be found. Turns out they are recently married and they’ve only known each other for a short time. And Ariel came on this business trip but doesn’t know what John really does. She goes to the police and US Embassy, who have a hard time believing anything is wrong.
Secrets around and we learn Ariel has changed her name for some reason and had left her husband under mysterious circumstances. She also has a son And her husband John? He also changed his name. He has a sister who he no longer talks about. And it turns out he used to be in the CIA.
Scenes from the point of view of the police and the embassy staff were interesting, but parts of the scattered backstories and flashbacks were too sudden for my taste.
While twisty and face paced, I found too much going on to really focus on the story, although the ending was a bit of a surprise.

Ariel Pryce, a single mother with a fourteen year old son, woke up one morning to find her new husband gone from their Lisbon hotel room and all evidence showed he was kidnapped. She went to the Police and the American Embassy and appeared to be unsuccessful in her efforts. Then she while she was walking back to the hotel, a person on a motorcycle handed her a burner phone the began ringing almost at once. She was told her husband had been taken and she needed to pay a 3 million Euro ransom for his recovery. The novel’s plot is very complex and borders on the convoluted (this explains the 4 stars) but is fascinating. I will not reveal more because of spoilers but will say it covered the past and the present and dealt with NDA’s, extortion, politics and revenge. It was well carried out. Thanks to Net Galley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for an ARC for an honest review.