I find Chris Pavone's books to be hit-or-miss, but I liked this one. It was full of twists and turns, but it was well-plotted and paced and all of the loose ends got tied up. I just really enjoyed it and Ariel was an extremely likeable main character. It's a really great international thriller and would make a great movie. It's very rare to find a story of this kind with a woman as the main character!

I’ll admit to a cardinal sin by reviewing a book I won’t finish. By less than the halfway point, I’d decided my life is too short to spend any more of it wading through this codswallop.

I have to give the author props for writing a book that seems as if it’s written by a teen girl although the protagonist/narrator is supposed to be 40 years old. The book reads like an episode from “Sex and the City” because the narrator is constantly second guessing herself, giving dozens of nonsensical rationales for every act, utterance or even look given by all but herself. From the very beginning, I was desperately wishing she’d just shut up and get on with it.

The plot is plain from the start. A woman with a mysterious past wakes up in the mysterious to her city of Lisbon finding her almost newlywed second husband who, natch, also has a mysterious past gone. Conveniently to the plot, but absurd in life, neither of these remarrieds investigated each other prior to the marriage. Just to pile on a silly construct from which to erect a novel, the protagonist has accompanied her husband on a business trip not knowing why he had to do it in Portugal or who he was doing it with. Worse, she lacks the wit to make a single phone call to the home office to find out.

Instead, she prefers wandering about in a daze – again to create what really is an idiotic sense of mystery because any non-idiot would have figured a good deal of it out. This includes the police one of who is male which starts the anti-male rants that from then on, arrive regularly. The male policeman doesn’t believe her showing in the real world he has some sense but in the world of the novel, a typical man who discounts women.

Then we have the leftist tropes. I don’t mind a leftist slant to anything but do when they are baseless tropes tossed in to make the novel they’re in appear hip with the times. We have the protagonist internally wailing about her life having a constant being attacked by men with no one to help her. This morphs into an alternate trope where she takes a women’s unarmed self-defense class that makes her, a 130 lb. housewife, suddenly able to easily defeat a 200 lb. blue collar worker to the point he’s disabled long enough for her to ransack his truck.

Of course, chapters before, we’re telegraphed this incident by his truck being described as having an NRA sticker. Such as sticker is surely the hallmark of evil blue collar rapists everywhere. As a corollary, she wisely chooses not to retain a pistol for her self-defense because, here comes the trope, everybody knows one who owns a gun dies by the gun.

Her fantasyland aggression and Jet Li abilities continue when she notices a man trailing her on the public streets of Lisbon. Super-Housewife, imagining another fantasy conspiracy against her, embarks on a completely unjustified attack, again disabling a man who, in reality would cripple her with one swipe. He’s harmed to the point where he’s on his knees begging her for mercy. He’s innocent of any evil intent but the real-world consequences of her launching such a unjustified attack is never mentioned. After all, she’s a woman who, by that virtue alone, can do no wrong.

When it served her convenience, she needed help from a sketchy source who, in seeking said help, sicced the authorities on. She’s got the loyalty of a viper.

Of course we’re in the early 2020s so we need a touch of woke. Finally, we got her musing about how online misinformation will “end democracy” which is the current woke catch phrase. I hope the author edits this book from time to time as the catchphrase inevitably changes.

The book takes place in the past but, given the weary convention of the last five years, is told in the present. It reads like, “She beats up the world’s heavyweight boxing champion because he shot her a look she didn’t understand” instead of “She beat up the world’s heavyweight boxing champion because he shot her a look she didn’t understand”.

In the end, I didn’t care for the constant and tedious politics, the protagonist who varies from being a helpless victim to being more effective than Reacher, a plot that only exists because people do not behave in plausibly and finally, because I lacked empathy with any of the characters or even NPCs. I’m out.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. I enjoyed the mystery of the kidnapping of Ariel's husband while on a business trip with her husband in Lisbon. However, sometimes the story got too bogged down in Ariel's past history. It was necessary to give background to her life but Ariel is an aggravating character. I wish the author had focused more on the kidnapping, the ransom, the outcome of the payment and the ending and just kept the story as a thriller. It was just too "woke" .

This is the first book by Chris Pavone that I have read. I absolutely loved everything about this book. .I liked Ariel because she wasn't just another dumb woman doing dumb woman things. She did what she had to do and I loved it!! I found most of the characters to be well developed and interesting.
This book was a real roller coaster ride for me. Every time I thought I knew what was coming I was totally wrong right down to the very last page.

Ariel wakes in Lisbon, alone. Her new husband isn’t in the room, doesn’t reply to her texts and isn’t at breakfast in the hotel. Something isn’t right… I enjoyed reading about Lisbon and about Ariel’s bookshop in her small town. The author dialed up the suspense as the story unfolded. A fascinating novel packed with international intrigue and a twist at the end. (Content warning: sexual assault) Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Two Nights in Lisbon is quite a puzzling psychological thriller with Ariel Price finding her husband missing in Lisbon after just arriving for business and no clues about his disappearance. After she relentlessly demands help from local law enforcement to locate him, a search is begun following various means. This is a well-executed disappearance with many twists and turns and an amazing ending. I enjoyed the read.

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>Thank you NetGalley and <a href="https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/publisher/40073">Farrar, Straus and Giroux, </a>MCD. I had not read Chris Pavone before, but after reading this book, I read 3 more!</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>Ariel Price wakes up in Lisbon, and her husband is missing. She learns he has been kidnapped. In order to pay the ransom, she must involve the last person she wants to talk to.</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>This was a wild ride! Pavone writes kind of all over the place, in a good way. This makes everything unpredictable. I hope there's a second novel to this. </p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

This book is very exciting with new questions at every turn of the page. Outstanding character development with new information on the characters to make me want to keep reading. The events flowed smoothly and was very believable. The epilogue answered my questions about all the characters, the timing of each event, and the practice and planning of this marvelous mystery. Highly recommended.

I loved the Expats, another novel by Chris Pavone - I thought it was a fabulous book and I recommended it to everyone. So when I received an ARC of #TwoNightsInLisbon from #netgalley I was super excited... Let the reading commence....

The main character Ariel is married to a much younger man. One morning she wakes up in Lisbon and her husband is missing. While reading this, and watching the story unfold in my head I had so many questions:
What happened to her husband?
What does she really know about him?
What secrets does Ariel have, and why did she change her name?

I loved the way that the story unfolded. I kept thinking :one more chapter" so I could see what happened next.

However.. (there is always a "but" ). On one hand I liked how nobody really believed her or took her seriously - mostly because she was a woman.. The sense of a woman struggling in a male world really resonated. On the other hand, I felt the male/female struggle was a bit over the top. It felt like she thought the men didn't help, not because they felt she was "less", but because they all wanted to have sex with her. This really annoyed me. It took me out of the story at times.

I do want to thank the author, the publisher and netgalley for the ARC which did not impact my review.

Two Nights in Lisbon is a decent thriller that readers of the genre will likely enjoy, though I don't think it's pulling in a larger audience. What I mean by that is, it follows the conventions, it's not particularly unique, and it stays in its lane, never venturing into a literary space. While I've never read anything by Chris Pavone and didn't know going into it whether Chris was a male or female, it's instantly recognizable as a story about a female character, as written by a man. This isn't to say it's <i>bad</i>, or that men shouldn't be allowed to write female leads, but it comes across as a more factual, action-thriller than something emotional, like a psychological thriller.

Thanks to NetGalley for recommending this book. The book was great! The ending was a surprise. Ariel wakes up in Lisbon to find her husband gone. He has been kidnapped. What does she know about him? Can she trust the local police, the Embassy. or the CIA? Why did she change her name? I love how all the pieces came together. I will definitely be reading more Chris Pavone.

This book is great. Just when I thought I figured things out, it looked like something else was happening. I stayed up late last night so I could finish it. I needed to know what happened. Just loved it!

Chris Pavone's thrillers are always intelligent, whiplash-paced reads, but TWO NIGHTS IN LISBON ranks among the best of his work. Tautly plotted and richly characterized, this novel rockets out the gate with surprises--and they never stop coming. Highly recommended.

If I could have given it ten stars, I would.

It took me just a tad longer than two nights to devour Chris Pavone’s Two Nights in Lisbon. I could have finished it faster, but I wanted to draw it out, savor the of the unfolding story and the genius in the way he reveals it. This is not your ordinary thriller where we try to figure out how the situation will be resolved, nor is it the ordinary mystery. Every well-drawn character has a mystery of her or his own, each revealed slowly, tantalizingly, as the story progresses.

Ariel Pryce is a newlywed whose husband is kidnapped and held for ransom over two nights in Lisbon. But she is so much more than that and her story is deep and complex. Pavone does a marvelous job of getting inside her head and taking the reader on her journey. Secrets. So many secrets, all leading up to a conclusion I never saw coming. And the author’s take on the challenges of a woman navigating a man’s world is spot on.

I have read several of Pavone’s novels and loved them, but this is the best yet.

And once I finished I felt a great sense of loss, as in, where am I going to find another read that will envelope, entertain and amaze me as much as this one has?

Two Nights in Lisbon, was one of my most sought after reads for 2022. First off the cover is easy on the eyes and had me so curious to see the content. I don't think I could have ever anticipated what a wild ride this book would take me on.

Two Nights in Lisbon, is going to break the internet on release day.

I know that my nightmares at time can seem way too real and I wake up almost in shock not knowing if what happened was a dream or reality. Now, imagine going to bed next to your spouse in a foreign country and waking to find that they have disappeared?

Now, on top of all of this, no one believes you or at least takes you seriously.

Sounds like a living nightmare, correct?

This was a quick read and panic filled suspense novel. If you are looking for something that will keep your interest and be a quick and easy read, this book is for you .

Took me for a ride, kept me reading when I thought I can could just "finish this chapter" right from the first paragraph to the last page. Highly recommend.

This book was so good!

Thank you to Netgallery & Chris Pavone for this ARC of Two Nights In Lisbon.

From the very first chapter the story hooked me and I was invested in finding out the answers the whole time.

Without spoiling any of the story - what seems is not the case in the book and every time I thought I figured out what was happening, it all changed.

There were some very far fetched ideas in some parts and that's possibly the only thing that keeps me from rating this a 5 star.

A great book and I would definitely recommend! I can't wait to read more from Chris Pavone!

I agree with Stephen King....I've never read a book that I couldn't put down', but this one is close. Fact is, I've never completed a book faster. All the accolades are well deserved. Pavone writes a highly structured novel with tight twists and second guessing. The persons you encounter are not who you think they are. Or are they? This is sure to hit the top of the best seller lists. 5 stars..

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an e ARC of this book.
Excellent plot that keeps one guessing and never lets up on surprising twists.
Occasionally drags a bit but mostly a book I didn't want to put down.

Ariel, basically a newlywed, awakens in Lisbon at 7:28 am (it’s her much younger new husband’s work trip and a chance to see a new country for her) and John is gone. No note. He’s not answering his phone (and, drat, like my husband, isn’t sharing his location for Find My). How long should she wait until she’s legitimately worried to do something? In Chris Pavone’s “Two Nights in Lisbon,” Ariel doesn’t wait long and is soon talking to hotel staff members by 8:00am, calling the police by 9:00am, visiting the American Embassy by 11:30am, and somehow drawing the attention of the CIA and a reporter by 1:00pm (me, I’d probably go shopping all day before I start this process). OK, you almost want to say “Chill out, Ariel” but then by 7:00pm there really is a ransom demand of 3 million euros for John — an amount that Ariel doesn’t have.

How Ariel tries to obtain John’s freedom and the way the people in her orbit are observing her, investigating her past and John’s as well (the police, the embassy, the CIA - why the CIA?, the reporter) make up a twisty, suspenseful thriller that becomes more complicated than a simple kidnapping story. It’s a smart, intelligent thriller with layers of mysteries that unfold into a bigger story. I really enjoyed this book and would have read it in one sitting if sleeping wasn’t necessary. 4 stars!

Thank you to Farrar, Straus, and Giroux and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): YES The missing husband’s missing eyes are green.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO But there are poor, unhappy houseplants under grow lights in the windowless bookstore basement that need to be liberated.
There goes a Tesla (in present day books, someone owns an electric vehicle): YES Persephone of Ariel’s bookshop, née Ember, has one.