Pavone has written a solid suspense novel with “Two Nights In Lisbon.” I came to the story with no preconceptions of the plot but grateful to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book. I found the first part of the book interesting as a mystery surrounding a husband kidnapped for mysterious reasons while in Europe. The story evolved into more of a political saga later on that just didn’t are me wish to drive towards the conclusion as I would typically act whenever the grandchild went to sleep. Pavone has talent as a writer (as I can only wish to have!) but I just found myself mismatched with the story. I recommend readers to take a chance with “Two Nights In Lisbon” just enjoy the narrative for what it is but don’t expect too much too fast.

What a fantastic book! The plot is gripping, well thought out, masterfully executed, always interesting, and it culminates with a great twist. In addition, it's a pleasure to read the eloquent writing; even small passages, like some observations on large passenger truck-like vehicles and their owners, are just so beautifully drawn. I had the pleasure of listening to the audiobook and the narrator was first rate--all voices, whether male or female, accented or not, were perfectly rendered. Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to listen to an audio ARC of this fabulous book. Highly recommended!

“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.

2 days literally feels like 2 years with this book. This book has the most repetition I’ve ever read in any book I’ve read. I got to 60% and decided it wasn’t for me because the same scenario was being repeated again. The narrators voice was nice.

ARC received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest opinion.

This was my first book by the author and i really enjoyed it. The book is larger for a thriller but the pacing of the book was excellent and made me keep wanting to listen. Loved the suspense and twists as we read too discover what happened to the mc husband

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!

Chris Pavone has taken a hotbed topic and turned it into an adventure that will keep you wondering all the way to the end. Two Nights in Lisbon is the story of Ariel, a newlywed who’s husband goes missing on a business trip to Lisbon. As she goes from the police to the American Embassy to rogue to try and get her husband back, we see glimpses of her past and how everything in it effects her life today. A moving story that will keep you looking for answers and hoping that the good guys win. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. This was actually read by my favorite audiobook narrator, January LaVoy, and, as always, excellently done!

I think I like political thrillers? Its not a genre I dive into much but I love basically setting a pace at 10 and then just…going. Much less focus on plot twists and reveals (though they are there) and more focus on just keeping something happening every few pages. It makes for a fun listen.

Anyways, in this specific case: Two Nights in Lisbon follows Ariel Price who wakes up from a trip in a Lisbon hotel to find her new husband missing from bed. And the room. And the hotel. We follow Ariel as she becomes more and more concerned and things get more and more complicated. I don’t want to give too much away.

Like I said, this story just goes. The plot takes place almost entirely over two days from multiple perspectives investigating this one disappearance. It's a busy set up but that keeps the intrigue high. I saw where the plot was going for a long time but still found myself surprised by a twist or two and even knowing exactly where things end didn’t change how interesting the journey was.

Ariel was a good character (other than when the author’s voice and opinions got a little too loud - see problem #2 below). I would have loved to see even more from her and even more follow up than was given. It felt good to be on her side through the story.

My only big problems with this story is two-fold. One, while I appreciate what I think the author was doing here about how women are victimized in society there was just TOO MUCH of it. Ariel describes in detail just about every encounter she has had with terrible men, which range from cat calling to rape. I understand the message here but as a woman who knows what its like to be a woman, I just found this exhausting in my fiction.

And Two, the ‘ok boomer’ energy is strong here. You’re not even a boomer Chris! Calm down! Ariel goes on rants from phones, to the use of the word literally, social media, and basically anything you can ask your dad about that he would be like “well back in my day”. The literally one really bothered me because like…this is a tense book. It was a tense moment! I do not care that you don’t like the word literally being used incorrectly right now! Get back to the action! Ugh literally who cares (hehe).

Otherwise, I really liked this and totally couldn’t put it down.

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan audio for a copy of this book. This was narrated by January LaVoy who is a boss and will probably get an automatic request from me from now on.

What a great slow burn thriller. What starts as a kidnapping develops into something bigger and bigger, and the target higher and higher.

I listened to this and I thought the performance was great and really enhanced the story. If you want a nice summer thriller read, pick up Two Nights In Lisbon.

Thank you @netgalley and @macmillanaudio for the opportunity to listen and review this arc.

#netgalley
#macmillanaudio
#mybookishlife
#readmorebooks

Though I enjoyed the plot line and characterization, the long-winded social criticism on most every topic made the audio long-winded. A simple backstory about Ariel’s old life turned into paragraphs of criticism on elite lifestyles and cars and coffees and affluent opinions. Honestly, at times, it became challenging to remember the backstory or characterization I was supposed to be learning because the tangential social criticism deep-dive.

This was a great mystery/thriller. I listened to the audio version and was completely enthralled. The story caught my attention from the very beginning and continued to grow and develop until the very end. This is a complex story that reveals itself gradually. At first, I suspected something was fishy with the kidnapping and the marriage, and as the plot developed, the suspicion was fulfilled and not how I might have expected. I thoroughly enjoy a story that surprises me. This one was full of surprises, all of which were brilliantly executed.
The characters were well-developed, dialogue well-written and atmosphere interesting. I cared for the main character and felt anger and frustration on her behalf. At one point, I wondered why she would have had a baby resulting from a rape. Cynically, I thought without the baby there would be no story. I am glad to say I was completely wrong! The author added twists to the plot that I did not foresee, which made it even more interesting. The epilogue tied up the entire story. Everything made sense and was very satisfying.
I have never read this author before but would certainly read his work again.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for this Audio ARC in exchange for my fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 2 Stars)
Publication: May 24, 2022

“Two Nights in Lisbon” was a first by Chris Pavone, new author to this reader. I’ve grown to like mystery and thrillers this year but I thought it was too slow burn for me. Although I enjoyed the concept and plot, it was entirely too long to get to what I’ve become accustomed to with reading this type of genre. There were some twists and turns and overall couldn’t get any kind of connection with the main character of the book. At one point I thought the story was picking up some steam, however, it fell flat about midway and became a bit longer than anticipated that I almost DNF. Just didn't do it for me and way too long for the story.

more like two years in Lisbon. This might be the slowest burn I’ve come across with far to much unneeded detail and side story. Reminds me of Donna Tart books. I couldn’t stick this one out. Sorry.

This is the first book by Pavone I’ve read and had high expectations! I enjoyed the concept and plot. The problem was that it was too long for what it needed to be, for me. There’s a lot of extra wording that didn’t work for me in the necessity of the story. I did like it once it all fell into place at the end and the twists came out up until the very last part.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my advance audiobook to review!

A trip to Lisbon and a wild first night leads to a kidnapping involving police, CIA, reporters, a ransom demand, and even a future Vice President candidate. Quite a set-up and the book took off at a rapid pace. Then, somewhere before the halfway mark it seeminly began going at a snail's pace. Finally, wrapped up with a "What?!?"

I enjoyed the premise of it and had a lot of hope, but the book fell flat and dragged on in the middle a little bit longer than what can keep my attention. I feel like if the author had kept it less windy and more concise in the middle, this would have gotten a definite 4 star rating from me. The beginning and end were great and overall I would recommend to those that like the slow burn.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillon Audio for sharing this amazing digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest opinions.

I wasn't sure for the first hour or so of the listen (so many people for me to keep straight on audio) but then it took off and never let me go. What a ride. 5 star thriller/mystery/what is going on here type story.
Untrustworthy narrators, familiar story in beginning that takes off in a whole new way.
Husband and wife. Both with changed names. Married a short time. Wife used to be an actress. Husband disappears in Lisbon. The puzzle pieces to this incident are revealed slowly and the reader is never sure who is getting/telling the real story. Toward the end I had some inkling but still no complete picture. Loved, loved this audio and already looking for backlist for this author. Due out in May. Don't miss it

Having just visited Lisbon recently, I was intrigued to read this new book by Chris Pavone. Two Nights in Lisbon has all the elements of a thriller: suspense, an array of interesting characters, and a fantastic setting. I really enjoyed the reading experience of the actual mystery throughout this book. I wasn’t sure who was lying and who was telling the truth for much of the story. I also enjoyed the interplay between the CIA and the Lisboa police in trying to solve the kidnapping plot. The audiobook narrator did a great job reading this story.

Unfortunately, the book dragged at times. There were numerous side commentaries on relevant social issues that were interspersed in the middle of the thriller storyline. Admittedly, these topics related to the book in some way, but there were just too many interludes for my taste. It almost felt as if the author was ranting which took away from the fast pace of the story. There was too much to read through along with the dual timeframes that built the mystery.

3 stars for a solid reading experience. Special thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was given the audio of this book by NetGalley. The reader is terrific! The story has a very interesting and for me an important moral. However, it takes a circuitous route - posing as a mystery. I truly enjoyed listening to it, but I remain somewhat bewildered and befuddled by it.

I loved this interesting and fast-paced story of a kidnapping. The story made me want to keep listening and with each chapter things got more and more intense and interesting! A great beach and summer read by the pool. Truly enjoyable and highly recommend.

This is the first book I've read by Chris Pavone, so I went in not knowing his style. While Two Nights in Lisbon has an intriguing plot, woman's new husband is kidnapped while she is accompanying on a business trip to Portugal, it is so bogged down with "Deep Thoughts" the author apparently has and uses the protagonist, Ariel, as the mouthpiece for all these diatribes. Lack of privacy due to social media and technology! American consumerism! Fake news! Kids and their cell phones! The victimization of women by powerful men!
These are all valid enough topics, but at every critical plot point here comes yet another exposition on some modern societal evil. Which is too bad, because this story could have been fairly riveting, which is why I am still giving it 3 stars.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced audiobook copy in exchange for my review.