This is my first time reading anything by this particular author. I really enjoyed how rich and beautifully described the story was. I did get a little lost with the time jumps but I think that may due to listening to the audio version. I found the narrator's style enjoyable. Great story.

I was fascinated by the premise of The Continental Affair, and after I started it, I did enjoy the narration, but had a bit of a hard time getting into the story as the timelines alternated from past and present.
The audiobook narration was great, and I was glad to have this format to push through and get further into the story.

Set during the 1969s, this character driven story centers around the life of Henri and Louise who meet during a train ride from Belgrade to Istanbul. It had a mix of mystery with the plot which kept things interesting.

*many thanks to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the gifted copy for review

I ended up DNFing. I did not like the narrator and got board. I couldn’t even recall what the book was about. It was very slow writing.

Louise, running away from memories of her harsh life and activities in Spain, picks up a bag by mistake, realizing only later it is full of money. She does not want to return the bag, even when Henri, who works for a crime figure, is sent to retrieve it and confronts her . The story takes us on a long ride as Henri follows Louise wherever she runs with the money always in her possession.

Her journey goes from Spain to Paris, to Belgrade to Isanbul, and to a place where they might finally come to terms. I loved the relationship that develops between the hunter and the hunted - Henri and Louise. Henri shows her respect and does not force or ambush her. Their travels all across Europe result in an understanding of each other and even Henry's wish to protect her from the criminal group that sends another person after them.

It is interesting that the background of the two individuals are gradually revealed to explain their motives and their desire to escape their past lives. A literary novel of adventure, romance, and suspense. The narrators added much to the enjoyment of this book and were excellent, in my opinion.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. I enjoyed this audiobook. The narrators did a great job of keeping the story entertaining. Henri and Louise meet on a train while travelling through Europe with a final destination of Istanbul. However, this is not the first time these two have met as their paths crossed many years ago. Louise was taking care of her difficult ailing father and when he unexpectedly passed away, Louise took all the money she could find and left on her journey to try and find her mother who was last known to be in Paris. This story takes you through the journey of present time and jumps back to when Louise and Henri first met as well. As both of them are running from secrets of the past they are growing closer and closer which will cause problems for Henri when it is revealed why he is really on that train with Louise. Enjoy!!

The Continental Affair is my first book by Christine Mangan. I found the story line to be very interesting. The character development was done well. The book is about Henri & Louise, who meet under interesting circumstances. The story follows them on a journey where Louise has something Henri needs & his interest, at least initially, is solely in getting it back. He follows her onto a trip that takes them to many destinations.

The story was very detailed. You can picture the places they go, imagine the scents they smell. It is beautifully written. The story is a little dark. I found the book to be a little slow moving, though it was narrated very well & is definitely an interesting story.

Thank you to NetGalley & MacMillen Audio for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3.75
I listened to the audiobook for #TheContinentalAffair and loved the narration. At times, I did get lost in the different time jumps but that tends to be something I do with many books and as the book went on I found it easier to see how everything was fitting together.
Both Louise and Henri are much more complex than they seem at the beginning. It seems to be a simple story about Louise finding and keeping something that is not hers and Henri following her to get it back. The journey is just one part of the development of the story with some very unexpected twists.
If anyone knows why the "lost item" was dropped please let me know as I never figured that out.

I wanted to love this as I have enjoyed some of the author's past books, but I could not get into it. The story plodded along very slowly and I couldn't connect to the characters. Way too slow paced for me, but more patient readers who like more of a slow burn may enjoy it more.

THE CONTINENTAL AFFAIR by Christine Mangan proved to be a peculiar read. I enjoyed its unconventional narrative and unexpected twists but the back and forth in time was confusing. The characters, Henri and Louise, cross paths again on a train from Belgrade to Istanbul, revealing a history that goes beyond their initial encounter. The story's backdrop, set in the 1960s, adds an alluring touch of European glamour. Louise's behavior defies her sheltered upbringing, making her a complex and confident character, while Henri grapples with his past as a gendarme in Algeria. This novel is a mix of mystery and emotion, with curiosity driving me through its pages. This book offers an intriguing literary escape and a good ending once the confusion is removed.

This book was gorgeously written and very atmospheric!

Henri has fled to Spain, trying to escape his trauma as a gendarme in conflict-ridden Algeria. Louise longs for a life of her own, one she has only dreamt of from the novels she reads. A chance encounter in Spain leads to Henri chasing Louise across the continent and the story takes off from there.

While this book was character driven, the pages flew by and the atmosphere and era helped tell this fantastic story.

This book was wonderfully written but I had a hard time getting into it, which is a me problem, I think. I would definitely read another book by Christine Mangan!

3.5 stars, rounded down
The blurb for A Continental Affair drew me in. “A daring literary caper”. How couldn’t I be interested? But I initially struggled to engage with this story. It’s slow moving and dark, not what I expect when I hear the word ‘caper’.
Louise has run away from her unhappy life in England where she had spent years caring for her disabled father. In Granada, she is in the right place at the right time and gets her hands on a large amount of money. Money that Henri was there to pick up for his criminal relatives. Henri has a questionable past as a gendarme in Algiers during the War of Independence. He follows Louise, hoping to retrieve the money. But he never quite does it. Instead, he follows her to Paris, then on to Belgrade and Istanbul, becoming more fascinated by her as the days pass.
I slowly warmed to both characters as I learned more about them. Neither is sure what they want from the future, or from each other. Neither was who I expected them to be. And this story didn’t go the way I expected either.
The writing is beautifully descriptive and sets the tone of Europe in the 1960s. The format was initially confusing as it veers between the past and “present” and from each main character’s viewpoint. So, it shows the same scene from each POV.
I listened to this and both narrators did good jobs. I think my initial confusion was down to listening to this rather than reading. One has to pay careful attention to chapter headings.
My thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an advance copy of this audiobook.

The prose is beautiful and I loved returning to Granada and other parts of Spain, etc I haven’t been to for years. Yet this story failed to pull me in. I also couldn’t connect with the characters. I started to connect with one MC but then it switched to narration by the other MC, leaving me wanting but not in a good way.

DNF

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the review copy of The Continental Affair. The voice narration and pacing for this audiobook is fantastic, George Weightman and Hannah Kelly-Turner were perfect selections to narrate this noir-ish cat and mouse story as their narration and understanding of the pacing added to my appreciation for this story.
I admit I found a times the overall plot a little less engaging, a lot of character background and internal thoughts which are just not always for me despite loving character driven stories (I need more dialogue, maybe a broader cast of characters) but I really enjoyed the subtle tension that developed as the story unfolded and, though I did not read the book, I suspect the voice acting and audio format are better for many readers than the physical book as the narration helped me engage with the plot more.

Feels of Christie's Murder on the Orient Express for train vibes and atmospheric swirls, and lending sophisticated styles from 50's & 60's, the Continental Affair takes the reader to Spain, Istanbul, Algeria and France.

Add a French gendarme (Henri) and a run-away (Louise), this tale leads to where strangers at cross-purposes can end out. A good read with twists and turns along the way. Ms. Mangan's skillful writing sent me through the very spaces her characters move. Believable conclusions, and not over the top.

*A sincere thank you to Christine Mangan, Macmillan Audio, Flatiron Books and NetGalley for a free ARC to read and voluntarily review.* Publication date: 22 Aug 2023

This story was uniquely crafted. It kept me wondering what would happen, or how it would fold out. It’s nice to listen to a book that isn’t quite so predictable or typical. I appreciate the creativity.

The Continental Affair by Christine Mangan
Narrated by George Weightman; Hannah Kelly-Turner

This novel was a bit different for me and it took me to some places I don't usually visit when I read books. We go from from Granada to Paris, from Belgrade to Istanbul, but we also learn about Oran, Algeria. I also wasn't familiar with the Algerian War in the early 1960, which played a part in the life of one of the main characters.

Picture this as a black and white movie, the dark French Algerian, Henri, a former gendarme who was able to do his often brutal and unjust job because he was told to do it, without really admitting to himself the damage he was doing. Just like he became a gendarme because his parents wanted him to do so, even though that's not what he really wanted to do. Henri is well educated, speaks many languages, and it's his translation skills that found him in an "interrogation" room with a former childhood friend. It's this event, looking into the eyes of that friend, knowing things would not end well, already weren't going well, that finally personalized what he was helping to do to people within the confines of his job. Henri could no longer mindlessly do his job, he is now haunted by all he's done in the name of justice and he abandons his post, changes his name, and goes to find his late mother's family in Spain.

Lonely and wanting to belong to a family again, after the death of his parents, Henri once again floats along, doing the jobs his probably corrupt family in Spain tells him to do. But on his latest job for them, he sees a woman pick up the money he was tasked with picking up himself. He's instantly fascinated by this woman and begins following her although stalking might be a more accurate word for what Henri does. I liked Henri a lot but there is a part of him that seems so distanced from the things he does, almost as if he can't really make decisions for himself so he floats along, being influenced by others and in this case, the influence is coming by the woman who is his obsession.

Louise is fair and blonde, in many ways the opposite of Henri. Where as Henri did/does things because he's told to do them, she might be as rotten as she claims that she is. She says she is a bad person and will never change, everything she does will be bad, nothing can change her. Do we believe her or is she caught up in some kind of guilt complex that won't allow her to ever be happy? Her past was very unhappy but part of it is because of her inaction to do what could make it better. What both Louise and Henri have in common is the fact that they allowed their parents to influence their lives by not saying no to them. They also are extremely lonely people, wanting a connection but not being able to have healthy connections.

There is so much more to this story as we travel with Henri and Louise, knowing all their thoughts, so many thoughts and self recriminations. As Henri follows Louise, she becomes aware of him and they actually come together several times. But this is an ill fated union, Louise has the money that Henri must take back and she's the stronger of the two, I think. How can this end when the two sides are so opposed yet the two people seem to have fallen for the stranger who has an interest opposed to their own?

The narration of both Henri and Louise is fantastic. I loved hearing the foreign (to me) languages which made this story seem more real, more like being in a movie. These two took me on a trip that may never end, they frustrated me, but I could not get off the train.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio/Flatiron Books and NetGalley for this ARC.

Copied from Goodreads:
I have mixed feelings about “The Continental Affair.” I had to force myself to listen to the end, but it has a good premise and was well-written and well-narrated. In theory, I’d love the book. In consideration of this dichotomy, I think I would have appreciated the novel much better if it had not been tagged “Murder & Thriller” and if I had read a physical copy.

It’s much more literary fiction than “mystery,” not really plot driven and filled with descriptions of the mental and physical movements of the two fairly unlikeable and unrelatable protagonists. If you are interested in that journey, then this is an excellent choice. I am sure that it will have an appreciative audience, but it was not for me.

Many thanks to Macmillan Audio via NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The story is atmospheric and the writing is lush. A great mix of literary and mystery. I do think I would prefer to have read this physically, but the narrators were great. Something about the story just wasn't as easy for me to get absorbed in via audio. I love this author and will continue to read everything she writes!