What readers think of Two Nights in Lisbon, plus links to write your own review.

This book is very interesting.
Read this book you take a lot of information with this book.

Lisbon provides the perfect backdrop for this international thriller. From the moment Ariel Pryce wakes alone in her hotel room, her husband gone without warning, the action throttles without cease. Author Chris Pavone uses well the winding streets of this hilly Portuguese city, with its yellow trams, its chugging tuktuk scooters, its elevators, and its hidden staircases to climb and descend. Ariel navigates this intriguing setting as she navigates the crisis that is her husband's kidnapping. And as with Lisbon, there are secrets around every turn in Ariel's path. This is a gripping thriller in which twists abound. January Lavoy, as always, succeeds beautifully in performing the audio version of this unputdownable book.
Thanks to Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to listen to an advanced audio copy in exchange for my opinion.

Two Nights In Lisbon is the fifth novel by best-selling American author, Chris Pavone. When Ariel Pryce wakes up alone in a Lisbon hotel on a July Monday morning, she expects to find her (ten years younger) husband of three months in the dining room having breakfast. She doesn’t. John Wright hasn’t been seen by the staff; everything but his phone is still there; the phone goes to voicemail.

When Ariel takes her concern to the local police, they are almost dismissive: he hasn’t been gone long enough for it to be a concern. But they do find her interesting enough to tail. From the smirks the smarmy fellow at the US Embassy gives her it’s clear he is equally indifferent, although he does take some intriguing information about the couple to the CIA Chief of Station down the corridor. An American journalist hanging around the embassy offers help, which Ariel politely declines. No sign of John at the hospitals she contacts.

The hotel’s CCTV shows him leaving early in the morning, not dressed for the client business meetings he has scheduled, and maybe getting into a car. The male cop is still sceptical: Ariel’s ignorance of her husband’s clients doesn’t help. But his female colleague is a little more willing to make an effort. What happens next changes the complexion of his absence, but much more can’t be said without spoilers.

The opening chapters are intriguing enough to draw the reader in, but it’s not until things hot up that Ariel’s steel is revealed. And how! With flashbacks to her recent past, and a bit of action with a tail, Ariel demonstrates just how self-sufficient she can be. And it’s those scenes where she is fending for herself that provide plenty of dark humour.

It’s soon clear that neither Ariel nor John is quite who they seem; nor do all those claiming to want to help find John have entirely benign intentions, but most of them definitely want to know what is behind Ariel’s apparent power over a certain influential figure.

The main narrative is carried by Ariel, but many of the minor characters contribute, and the narrative often switches between them, relying only on context to denote whose perspective is being given. Rather than adding confusion, this seems to give the story an immediacy that keeps the reader engrossed.

While there are hints at espionage and the influence of foreign powers, the apparent immunity to prosecution of privileged white males who indulges in sexual harassment of the worst kind (and who closely resembles a certain president), is central to the story.

Very little suspension of disbelief is required in this tightly plotted story which has plenty of red herrings and enough twists to possibly necessitate a chiropractic consult. Pavone’s latest is definitely a page-turner.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

Yes, Two Nights in Lisbon is a gripping and engaging novel. It is a fast-paced and intense thriller that will take you on a journey through the streets of Lisbon and into the minds of its complex and intriguing characters. The characters are well developed and nuanced, and each one brings a unique perspective and voice to the narrative. The setting is rich and evocative, and the author does an excellent job of capturing the city's unique culture and atmosphere. Overall, this is a thrilling and thought-provoking novel that will leave you thinking long after you've turned the final page.

The plot is rather ingenious and this could have been a wonderful thriller. Unfortunately, the book is bloated in length due to the author's verbal diarrhea. When two or three adjectives would have sufficed, the author has to weave together six or eight. The plot could have been taut and exciting but the pace is marred by the incessant descriptions of every mundane detail, ad nauseam. If you want to read this book, save yourself hours and hours--just read the beginning through the kidnapping and the original visits to the police and the embassy. Then, skip to the last couple of chapters and the epilogue – that's more than enough!