This book was overwritten, the writing was glib and the characters were depressing. I enjoyed Mr. Pavone's previous novels, but this journey into literary fiction didn't work for me. I won't be reviewing this for Booktrib.com as I don't write negative reviews, but I'm sending these comments along.

The Doorman by Chris Pavone is a timely look at class, racism, political divides, and the grimy underbelly of capitalism in the United States. The titular character, Chicky Diaz, is the doorman at the Bohemian on the Upper West Side, a building well-known for its millionaire and billionaire residents. This novel follows Chicky and two residents of the Bohemian as tensions build in New York City. Tensions around race in the wake of the murder of a black man by NYPD, tensions around the unchecked greed of one of the Bohemian's residents, and personal tensions surrounding relationship struggles.

Pavone builds the suspense and anxiety in The Doorman with precision, scattering small bread crumbs into the narrative to keep you turning page after page. Some of the characters will have you hate-reading because they are so abhorrent and others will have you cheering for them to get their happy ending. The Doorman is heavy on social commentary and politics, which might not be for you, but it definitely was for me, particularly from the pen of Pavone, who examines these issues with tenacity.

Huge thanks to Chris Pavone, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, and #NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review The Doorman.

The Bohemia is an iconic historical apartment building in the fancy part of New York City. Chicky, the doorman of the title, is one of a cluster of people with difficult and complicated lives. This impressive novel follows each of them as their paths cross and their lives mingle in the run-up to the startling conclusion.

Amid the compressed story, the author shows thought-provoking insights into current events in our society and into human experiences and motivations.

The novel is beautifully written, with a wealth of telling details and fully developed characters as well as evocative glimpses of New York City and its history.

Chris Pavone’s THE DOORMAN is a big book, maybe longer than optimal, but big also in the sense of its scope and goals. Set in a venerable West Side Manhattan apartment building, the Bohemia, and amply peopled by staff and residents, the book offers a microcosm of our stratified society, with its thriller plot coalescing in the final pages.

The book is told from multiple perspectives, most notably Chicky Diaz, the ever-scrupulous doorman, and Emily, the heart of gold, perfectly attired wife of the richest and most evil of the building’s residents.
The time frame is tightly controlled also, with flashbacks to fill in details, and spatially located primarily in the building, from the front door to the penthouse.

That is the structure of the book, but its main interest lies in Pavone’s incisive writing style and his trenchant social and political observations. This is a novel brave enough (and egalitarian enough) to ask why one group of people were more likely to hold open doors and kowtow to another group than the reverse. And conclude: “No one wanted to ask these questions or everything fell apart. Absolutely everything.”

With thanks to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux publishers for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this book was very slow moving and spent quite a bit of time on background information. Basically, nothing exciting happens until about the last 10% of the book, and I found myself often impatient for the story to move more. However, I did was to read it to the end to find out what happened.

Thank you to Net Galley and Farrar, Straus & Giroux for giving me this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this timely social commentary disguised as a page-turning novel! I’ve never read any of Chris Pavone’s books before, but now I plan to. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

BOOK REPORT
Received a complimentary copy of The Doorman, by Chris Pavone, from Farrar, Straus and Giroux | MCD/NetGalley, for which I am appreciative, in exchange for a fair and honest review. Scroll past the BOOK REPORT section for a cut-and-paste of the DESCRIPTION of it from them if you want to read my thoughts on the book in the context of that summary.

Oh this was good.

Trashy, trashy, indulgent trashy good.

I think I would term it this generation’s Bonfire of the Vanities.

Could totally see it as a streaming series.

DESCRIPTION
A pulse-pounding novel of class, privilege, sex, and murder, from the New York Times bestselling author of Two Nights in Lisbon and The Expats.

Chicky Diaz is everyone’s favorite doorman at the Bohemia, the most famous apartment house in the world, home of celebrities, financiers, and New York’s cultural elite.

Up in the penthouse, Emily Longworth has the perfect-looking everything, all except her husband, whom she’d quietly loathed even before the recent revelations about where all the money comes from. But his wealth is immense, their prenup is iron-clad, and Emily can’t bring herself to leave him. Yet.

And downstairs in 2a, Julian Sonnenberg—who has carved himself a successful niche in the art world, and led a good half-century of a full and satisfying, cosmopolitan life—has just received a devastating phone call that does nothing at all to alleviate his sense that, probably for better and worse, he has aged out and he’s just not that useful to anyone any more.

Meanwhile, gathered in the Bohemia’s bowels, the building’s almost entirely Black and Hispanic, working-class staff is taking in the news that that just a few miles uptown, a Black man has been killed by the police, leading to a demonstration, a counterdemonstration, and a long night of violence across the tinderbox city.

As Chicky changes into his uniform for tonight’s shift, he finds himself breaking a cardinal rule of the job: tonight, he’ll be carrying a gun, bought only hours earlier, but before he knew of the pandemonium taking over the city. Chicky knows that there’s more going on in his patch of sidewalk in front of the Bohemia than anyone’s aware of. Tonight in the city, enemies will clash, loyalties will be tested, secrets will be revealed—and lives will be lost.

A fabulously timely and thrilling read. Pavone gives so much depth & breadth to his characters. And the plotmoves so swiftly that I am riveted from the start.

“It’s up to everyone to draw a line, and hold it.”

Chris Pavone writes white-knuckle thrillers, and he’s one of the best in the business. His new novel, The Doorman, is one you won’t want to miss. My thanks go to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Farrar, Strauss and Giroud for the review copies; this book will be available to the public May 20, 2025.

Our story rotates around three main characters, providing the point of view of each in turn; the setting is The Bohemia, an exclusive apartment building in New York City. Julian Sonnenberg, a middle aged art gallerist whose marriage is dying, lives there, as does Emily Longsworth, wife of the ultra-wealthy and ultra-hated Whit Longworth, racist war profiteer; and Chicky Diaz is the doorman, who sees all and hears all. They don’t know it yet, but their fates will soon be linked.

I’ve been reading Pavone’s novels for a long time, and each time he surpasses himself. The common thread that I treasure most, however, is his deep affinity for the working class, and his respect for women. In fact, I don’t know of any male novelist that is better than Pavone when it comes to developing female characters, and that is even more impressive when I consider his genre, because in most true thrillers, the pace is so fast and furious that there’s no time to develop any characters at all. Yet somehow, Pavone does it, and he does it without sacrificing the heart pounding, screaming pace that accelerates until the almost unbearable climax, which in turn is very close to the conclusion.

I was lucky enough to have access to both the digital and audio versions of this story; Edoardo Ballerini does a fine job narrating the latter. You can’t go wrong in either direction.

Highly recommended to those that love the genre and lean to the left.

Are you a thriller reader? Check out The Doorman by Chris Pavone. You’ll love this one! It’s out soon. Don’t miss out.

This book explores race and class and makes you think about how this is such a part of our lives nowdays . It was an interesting take on life in America under the current circumstances
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review book

Wow, I loved this book. It followed the doorman through any social and racial crises, and showed the perspectives of the rich and famous as well as the people who serve them. Great relationship stories and protest memories. I devoured the book and followed the Doorman to a really surprising conclusion. Worth the read.

Great read and you start early getting hooked. The chapters move quickly and I enjoyed that they were told from different points of view, depending on the character highlighted for the chapter. If you enjoy a fast paced read where the chapter fly by about a prestigious residential building in New York City, this is a great choice as a spring break or beach read.

Chicky Diaz was the premier doorman of the Bohemia Apartment House. Located on the edge of Central Park in New York City, it was home to a variety of celebrities.
The beautiful Emily Longworth resided in the penthouse with her wealthy husband, with whom she was actively seeking a way out of their unhappy, tortured marriage.
Julian Sonnenberg, a well-known figure in the art world, in 2A, has just received notice that he has aged out of his role and will soon be replaced.
When news reaches the Black and Hispanic staff in the building that the police killed a Black man uptown, everyone gears up for a night of counterdemonstration and violence in the city.
As Chicky prepares for his night duty, he does something he never thought he would do. He packed his gun, which he had bought hours before, determined to defend his area in front of the Bohemia. Only he was aware of a night of terror and death ahead that nobody ever expected would happen there.

I had not read anything by Chris Pavone but had heard good things about his prior novels, so was happy to give this book a try. I don't think I'll be trying any other novels of this author.

The Doorman is about a doorman, Chicky Diaz, who works at an exclusively famous apartment building in NYC near Central Park. There is no mystery, per se, but there is a crime. It is NOT a 'who done it' in any way though. The first two thirds of the book, we delve into the back grounds and lives of the folks who work there (Hispanic, Black, etc. who are barely getting by) and the folks who live there (white and rich). We jump from person to person a lot. The writing is heavy on prose, very light on actual dialogue. We are told everything, in great detail, with nothing left for the reader to imagine for themselves. Yes, it's pretty much as slow moving as it sounds. I made it almost halfway through before deciding to jump to Part Five and read the last eight chapters. Yes, this book is definitely longer than it needed to be. Anyway, I will say those last eight chapters were well worth the read. Too bad the first 54 chapters weren't as good as those last 8.

The Doorman was not quite what I expected, but it turned out to be pretty exciting at its conclusion. I have read one of Chris Pavone's novel's, Two Nights in Lisbon, which I totally enjoyed, especially the espionage aspects, the setting, the complex story structure and the twisty but well-crafted conclusion.

Unlike Two nights in Lisbon, The Doorman is not an espionage novel, and the setting is New York rather than an international location. The setting for me was problematic. Mr. Pavone is obviously familiar with New York and its social structures. I feel he spends too much time dealing with the social conflicts in New York City and this gets in the way of a very good story. I think he does a great job of dealing with the minefield of New York City social structure and does a decent job of being neither too far to the right or too far to the left. There is A LOT of discussion of social problems, however and the actual story takes too long to develop. Frankly, this might dissuade a lot of readers, and I found it a little tough to wade through until the conclusion.

The story is complex and the conclusion is twisty and well-crafted. There are many point of view characters, and while this may get confusing and jumpy, the characters are well-developed, but not particularly likeable. The conclusion is taut and well-paced. The conclusion of the book is its high point, and it is worth wading through what I felt was a little too much social commentary.

Thanks to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for providing a free review copy.

Have you ever wondered about those grand, historical Manhattan apartment buildings, like the Apthorp on Broadway or the Dakota on Central Park West? Imagined the spacious, beautifully furnished apartments of the famous people who’ve lived there, like Yoko Ono and John Lennon. <i>Murders in the Building</i>, amusing as it is, falls short in portraying the grandeur of these monuments to early 20th century New York.

Chris Pavone’s <i>The Doorman</i> is both a paean to those marvelous edifices and an Upstairs Downstairs novel rolled into one novel. The eponymous doormen live a life of smiling subservience downstairs, safeguarding the secrets of their wealthy upstairs patrons, waiting for their annual holiday tips. The Bohemia Apartments is hardly utopian, yet it’s a relatively stable environment for New York’s rich and super-rich. Among the Bohemia’s owners, Pavone introduces us to two unhappily married couples, one rich and one super-rich, one with feints towards virtue and the other without. The two couples and the doormen become inextricably intertwined in building and familial dramas.

Chris Pavone writes good and imaginative thrillers, witness his <i>The Expats</i> and <i>The Paris Diversion</i>. With <i>The Doorman</i>, Pavone shows us that he can write engagingly about a family dynamics in a socially and economically bifurcated New York.

4 stars

With thanks to NetGalley and MCD Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Impressive Setting for this Thriller

The demarcations of the classes in the United States seems to have become more evident in terms of money, education and power. In fact, the upper class seems to be determined by the billions not the millions. Some have ill-gotten gains and often come from “old money.” The author, Chris Pavone, seems more than competent to weave a tale that includes these super wealthy and the lower classes. This group includes many old world immigrants and hard-working service people. The middle class is mostly omitted, if our country can even define a middle class anymore.

Pavone uses a hoity-toity co-op building, Bohemia Apartments on Park Avenue in New York City and introduces the reader to the apartments locale based on money and/or reputation. There are many, many service employees. Pavone’s main character is Chicky Diaz, a doorman for 28 years. He is a pro on keeping his mouth shut and knowing every resident’s name and demands. He is a widower and father of two college girls who has startling debt and no way to ever resolve it. Amongst the Hoppers, Chagalls and Picassos, are the very rich and educated. One such couple Whit and Emily Longworth, live in 7000 square foot apartment. He is a billionaire by selling body armor and she is a beautiful woman who works hard at downplaying her rich-by-marriage relationship. Emily finds the relationship unfulfilling and hateful. She begins an extra-marital affair and finds love.

In the meantime, Chicky is well aware of a growing unrest. White supremacists are killing innocent Black men. This is an important part of the plot as incidents weave in and out of comings and goings. Chicky never speaks against anyone, he follows the rules and greets every resident by name. He factually knows who is bad and the desires of many of the tenants. Pavone enters a mob-type of incident when a gang member believes a the head thug was offended. This technique initiates murder and mayhem leaving many residents as victims of criminals. Chicky appears to be one of the few non-violent. Does it save him?

My gratitude to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for this pre-published book.

I really liked Pavone's book Two Nights in Lisbon, which made me super excited to read The Doorman, but it kind of felt like a letdown. I don't mind books about politics, but with the current political environment, I read to escape and this was not a good escape. For most of the book, I didn't have a clear reason to keep reading, but I did power through in case the ending had some big plot twist that made it all worth it. It didn't.

An intriguing book. The Doorman by Chris Pavone covered many current social issues focused on one apartment building in NYC and the residents. Brilliantly written.