It sounded interesting.

But wow. Ariel is the worst.

“Ariel has a hard time overlooking the dislikable parts of people…”

This is the understatement of the year.

She is cynical about everyone and everything.

It was hard to tell what was inserted as an aspect of Ariel’s character or the author’s own beliefs on the state and functioning of the world, but either way, it was over-the-top.


Just Wow.

I know this section is long but I have included this large body of evidence in this review to prove to you how vast and deep these themes go in this book.

But first, keep it all in light of this ironic and comical statement as you go:

“One of the ways that Ariel has been extra-cautious in her life has been talking to her son about men. She never wanted to sound too negative, too hostile. She doesn’t want George to grow up thinking that his mother hates all men…”

Here we go, everyone. Buckle up.

Here you will find the “sparkling prose and razor-sharp insights” that Goodreads proclaims:


“Chivalry can be just another form of hostility. Chivalry can be the weapon itself.”

“As if the mere fact that something is traditional makes it admirable, or defensible. The same exact justification has been used for pretty much all the injustice in the history of the world.”

“She has plenty of firsthand experience with the insidious, corrosive effects of fetishizing tradition.”

“She returns her gaze to Moniz, who’s also what she’d expect to find in a police station, the standard off-the-rack model of cop— mid-forties, thinning hair compensated for with bushy mustache, a bulky frame with twenty extra pounds that sit in the front of his belly, distended in a bulge at the beltline, the way some men carry their middle age and their beer, as if six months pregnant.”

“Ariel doesn’t like this, appealing to the woman, it feels so feeble, so reductionist.”

“American culture, American commerce, American lies, everywhere.”

“Persephone was behind the register, engrossed in a postapocalyptic fantasy novel, a genre that was somehow related to her oft-mentioned studies in grad school, that golden moment when everything was still possible, when her future looked so bright. But Persephone was beginning to suspect that it had been a false glow on the horizon, not the rising sun of a bright new day, just the remnants of a dying bonfire of oversold, overpriced, undervalued educational achievements that turn out to be almost meaningless on the job market, after twenty straight years of full-time schooling interspersed with hourly jobs in retail, folding shirts, punching buttons on cash registers.”

“…a square-jawed man wearing a golf shirt under a fleece vest breast-emblazoned with Excalibur Capital, a crimson HBS baseball cap, and a big gleaming wristwatch, making sure everyone could see in one glance who he was— mega-successful finance bro.”

“drenching everything in his toxic masculinity.”

“In the past few years, this steroidal type of truck had become the most popular vehicle in town. It seems like every aggressive tailgater, every obnoxious cut-offer, every impatient red-light jumper is now behind the wheel of one of these monsters, looming up behind her, headlights in her eyes, menacing everyone on the road with their suspension lifts and oversize wheels and aftermarket mufflers, their Power Stroke stenciling on the side.”

“Everything about this vehicle looked like a schoolyard bully, even the bumper stickers— the glowering visage of the New England Patriots, the implicit challenge of BLUE LIVES MATTER, the bizarre armed eagle of the NRA.”

“He was a so-called patriot, you knew it because he said so, it was even his favorite football team.”

“Ariel has been surprised by the broad prevalence of Brazilian people, and the influence of Brazilian culture, here in Lisbon, exhibiting a sort of reverse colonialism that she found heartwarming, and hopeful.”

“Men often try to reframe temper as hysteria, to recast righteousness as overreaction, as hypersensitivity, as irrationality.”

“It’s the tone that a man uses when he thinks he’s being the reasonable one. A tone that transcends generations, cultures, languages. The universal tone of condescension.”

“At least one in ten married women have been raped by their husbands.”

“Of everything that Ariel resented about her mom— there was plenty— this was perhaps the ultimate: that Ariel might have internalized something malignant from her mother’s spinelessness, her unwillingness to tell men anything that they did not want to hear.”

“Jerry embraced all the clichés of the struggling small-town single-shingle barrister, complete with failed marriage, irresponsible nutrition, and functional alcoholism.”

“One of the many manipulations available to men like him, created by men like him for the benefit of men like him, the tax structure and capital gains and mortgage-interest deductions, marriage and religion and capitalism and so-called representative democracy, all constructed so men like him could be not only the players but the house as well, everything about the game fixed in their favor, with not only backup schemes but also backups to the backups, and no way for them to lose, not at this game they invented called America.”

“Detective Carolina Santos looks around the wood-paneled walls hung with gilt-framed oil paintings: a hunting scene, a whaling boat in action, farmers tending an orchard. All pictures of men in the process of exploiting the earth. She sighs at the obviousness of it.”

“Shawn Jefferson put no trust whatsoever in any organization that gave white men guns and permission to use them.”

“… there’s a large segment of the male population whose first instinct, always, is to assign blame to someone else— whoever happens to be nearest, or femalest.”

“Ariel had assumed that Santos would be a natural ally, despite plenty of evidence that not all women believed in female solidarity, or agreed on what it might mean. Ariel was reminded of this every Election Day.”


Are you tired of it yet?

Exactly.

So why would you read this book?


Other Comments/Questions

- Trigger warning: This book is significantly based around sexual assault that Ariel experienced, including rape.

- I couldn’t decide if the Lisbon police were good at their jobs or if they were the police version of the bandits on Home Alone.

- I learned that a ‘kleptocrat’ is a ruler who uses political power to steal his or her country's resources and I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that I’m pretty sure Ariel views every single political leader this way.

- After 40% of the book I still had no concept of what her husband was like so at that point I wasn’t really sure if I cared that he was kidnapped.

- She calls her employee, who is named Persephone, by the nickname ‘P.’ Seems less than ideal.

- Ariel says that ‘a large part of being an actor was being hyperobservant.’ Is this true? It doesn’t seem true.

- They have no qualms with throwing their phones in the trash. It gives me anxiety just thinking about that.

- The author has them text in this format- “WHERE R U?’- which is a pet peeve of mine. It’s harder to type in all caps and use one letter abbreviations than just typing out the word.

- I had most of the things figured out early on.

- There was a lot of swearing.


Conclusion

If you could stomach the laundry list of eye-rolling quotes above, then sure, maybe you should try this one.

But if you find the constant negativity and cynicism annoying like I did, pass on this one. The plot was interesting but had terrible execution.

I’ve never read this author before so I have no idea if this type of commentary within his books is common or not, but I probably won’t be reading any more of his books.

**Received an ARC via NetGalley**

Two Nights in Lisbon by Chris Pavone
Two Nights in Lisbon is the first novel that I read by Chris Pavone. It is an intriguing novel that leads you on a fast-paced chase in Lisbon.
When Ariel Pryce, a newly married forty-year-old, wakes up in her hotel room in Lisbon, she discovers her husband missing. Was he kidnapped? Did he leave on his own free will? Is he just off the grid and returning later? Ariel is so worried about his disappearance, that she immediately notifies the local police. They are skeptical about her story and the fact that she is reporting her husband John missing although it is not even twenty-four hours since his disappearance. When Ariel doesn’t get any help from the local police, she resorts to going to the US Embassy. Eventually, the FBI and the CIA are all involved.
When Ariel does receive a ransom note for an extremely large sum of money, she has to contact a person from her past that she holds a large secret about. This is a powerful and dangerous person that could bring her down.
The timeline of the book is mostly over a three-day period, hour by hour. I felt the book moved quickly in the beginning but slowed down in the middle. The last part of the book flew. The author had me guessing who to believe especially after the ransom was paid. There were lots of twists and turns that definitely kept the pages turning at the end. I was very surprised by the ending.
Thanks to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for this advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

This book was so good! I want to see more from this author in the future!! I couldn't put this book down. What a page turner!!!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was very excited to read 'Two Nights in Lisbon', but unfortunately this novel just wasn't for me.
I liked the mystery and how intriguing it was, but I found the writing too repetitive and not engaging enough to keep me interested. The pacing of the novel was extremely slow for a thriller and I thought the main character was very flat and boring which made it a very disappointing read for me.

I read a few chapters and just couldn’t get into this book. I don’t like to leave 1 star reviews for not finishing so I gave it a 2 just because.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

3.5 Stars / 5.0

I was very excited to be given the opportunity to read and review and advanced copy of Two Nights in Lisbon by Chris Pavone. The premise is intriguing and holds lots of promise. A recently married couple travels together to Lisbon on a business trip for the husband. One morning the wife awakes to an empty hotel suite. She checks the restaurant where they eat breakfast and checks with the staff and no one has seen her husband. He is missing. Eventual security camera footage shows him leaving the hotel in the early morning hours and getting in a car. And then the ransom demands arrive.

Sadly the promise of what could be with this book outshone what is. I found the first half or more of the book to be not very engaging. I didn't care about the characters. I was curious about what happened to John, the husband, as well as the snippets of Ariel's past that were revealed. I found it hard to engage with the book. The single thing that kept me going was to see the ending, and understand the horrible past that Ariel experienced, and who the powerful mystery man is. As her story was revealed I did find myself caring more about Ariel and the pains and scars she carries from that trauma. There was a final twist to the ending that was interesting, although not enough to make up for the shortfalls of the first half.

This is my opinion. People have different experiences and enjoy different books when reading. There are plenty of reviews that I have seen that are glowing for the book.

Another winner for Chris Pavone. If you like spy thrillers set in Europe but with American characters, this one is for you. Fast paced from beginning to the end.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book. This was a pretty decent thriller, but fair warning that it does contain some pretty graphic depictions of sexual assault & may not be for everyone. It felt a bit long, and the narrator provided a ton of social commentary that maybe could have been pared down, though I agreed with most of it.

Nothing says summer like reading a thriller poolside & that’s exactly how I spent my weekend. This was a great twisty thriller that I really enjoyed. Would highly recommend - story of a woman who wakes up in Lisbon (with her new husband, on his work trip) to find her husband missing. She waits, nervously, for a few hours and then heads to the police station to report his disappearance. What follows is a non-stop motorcycle ride of a thriller.

Pavone sucked me in with this thrilling story, and I couldn’t put it down. I was quickly turning the pages and guessing until the very end. Thank you Net Galley for an advanced copy!

Help! My husband's missing!
Ariel and John are newlyweds and and John wants his wife to accompany him on a business trip to Portugal. When Ariel wakes up to find John not there she goes into panic mode. She knows something has happened to him and she seeks help from everybody she can think of. The police say he hasn't been gone long and she should chill, the American embassy is not much help either. Then when looking at security footage they can make out that he was taken by car. Then the ransom call comes in and Ariel has no idea how she's going to get ahold of 3 million euros. What follows is a scintillating race against all odds to acquire the money in time to save John.
This one is fairly well written and my only complaint would be that the transitions from the present to past are abrupt and at times confusing until I realized what was happening. I felt that maybe if they were made into separate chapters it would have flowed better. Other than that, this is a suspenseful, fast paced mystery I couldn't put down. If you're a fan of international thrillers where all things may not be as they seem, I suggest you give this one a go.

I have just read Two Nights in Lisbon by Chris Pavone.

Two Nights in Lisbon starts off with the main character Ariel Pryce – an American, waking up in the hotel room in Portugal where she is staying with her new husband of only a few months John, only to find that he is not there, and not responding to her messages.

When she goes to the local police, they do not seem to be taking her too seriously, since he has only been missing for a few hours.

Many secrets are found along the way, as the story continues.

This thriller has a good pace, and an interesting storyline.

3.5 Stars

#TwoNightsinLisbon #NetGalley

Thank you to NetGalley, Author Chris Pavone and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for my advanced copy to read and review

In Two Nights in Lisbon the kidnapping of an American becomes a matter of national security when the missing man’s wife extorts money from the soon-to-be appointed president of the United States. She falls under suspicion from the CIA, the embassy, and the local authorities and must decide who to trust and where to turn.

I found this book extremely fast paced and couldn’t wait to dive in after work each day to go deeper into the mystery. It was suspenseful, political, and intriguing. Highly recommend!

Ariel Pryce accompanies her husband John Wright on his business trip to Lisbon. When he goes missing in the morning, she asks the hotel staff if they have seen him. She contacts the local police, but they are not much help as not much time has passed.. She then goes to the American Embassy for help with the same result. As the story progresses and Ariel searches on her own, it appears that she knows very little about her husband. Does his disappearance have to do with his past or hers?
Many twists and turns with an unexpected ending.
Thanks to NetGalley for a copy.

Two Nights in Lisbon, by Chris Pavone, is one of those suspense novels that takes you on quite the circulatis ride with its backstory among all sorts of other relevant details. I don't know that I got much of an idea of what Lisbon is really like but I have some understanding of what it might be like to deal with their police department, among others in different international branches. I found the main character interesting with a well detailed backstory.
Ariel Pryce thought she knew her husband, John
but then she woke up, this morning, alone. Now she's by herself, in Lisbon, and her husband is nowhere to be found. Not only aren't there any any clues to his whereabouts, he's not answering his phone. She's sure that something bad has happened to him.
Out of ideas Ariel first goes to hotel security, second to the local police and last she goes to the American embassy. As they start asking her questions she realizes that she can’t answer most of them. Who exactly is John?
Then she gets a ransom call and in a race against time Ariel turns to the only person who can help her but they're also the last person she wants to ask.

Rating: 2.5 rounded up to 3
I am not sure about my feelings on this book. It took me forever to get into the story and I was still struggling. Could not relate to any of the characters.
Lies upon lies….
Multiple timelines….
Overall, just way toooooo long and just sooooo much going on!
I encourage you to read Two NIghts in Lisbon and see how you like it. It may turn out to be a favorite read for you. For me it was just meh.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions and thoughts expressed are my own.

I had such high hopes for this book based on the author's previous works. I can't specify without spoilers why I wasn't delighted by this book, but I'll do my best without spoiling. For one, I agree with other reviewers that not all of the flashbacks were necessary and pertinent to the plot. For another, the whole story fell apart in the end in a way that was reminiscent of "but it all turned out to be a dream!" The author's hand was way too obvious or felt; from the very beginning, secondary and tertiary characters follow/surveil the lead characters for reasons that don't hold water, and they are only doing it so the author can pull the trick he's pulling throughout. I read some reviewers criticize this book for 'wokeness.' I personally enjoy stories that are socially conscious, as I thought this one might be. But boy was I wrong. First of all, this story is a disservice to women who are victims of sexual assault. And if you're a survivor of sexual assault reading this because you think it's a story about a survivor who gets to enjoy a loving, authentic life in middle age... well, don't read it, because that's ultimately not that this book is offering either. Cheap thrills, faux feminism, and gimmicks turned this would-be thriller in a beautiful city into the most wrong-minded and disappointing of airport-style paperbacks.

This book definitely kept my attention! Ariel wakes up to find her husband missing in a foreign country. No one wants to take her seriously until the first phone calls come. After that she had the Lisbon police, US embassy, and the CIA trying to figure out what is going on and if she is involved.

This book had twists and turns. I really enjoyed it!!

Complex, fast paced novel that will keep the reader wondering what will happen next.
Artfully crafted story of a woman's alone in a strange country, her husband has disappeared, where is he?
Read on to follow her search.

Two Night in Lisbon is a very timely mystery. A woman wakes up to find her husband missing in a foreign country. No one wants to take her seriously until the first phone calls come. Soon she had the Lisbon police, US embassy, and the CIA trying to figure out what is going on and if she can even be trusted. The reader is wondering right along with them. The author tread the line between keeping the reader enthralled and just dragging the reader along and stayed on the right side of it. Every new revelation added to our understanding of who is really behind everything that happens and how these events all go back to one horrible yet powerful man.

I see people who get tired of what they call the #metoo movement. This is not a new movement. This is people finally just listening to the stories that have always been out there AND deciding to take assault seriously.. I read a review that complained that it was unrealistic that one woman would have so many instances of sexual assault. I am envious of that reviewer. It would be nice to be so naive and believe in a world in which this is unusual.

Every turn this took, I was there for it.