Unlike the settings of his others books, the latest Chris Pavone book is set in New York City, where he lives. The book centers around characters at the Bohemia, a high-end building that’s home to some of the very rich, including Emily and her husband and Julian and his wife. It’s also where everyone’s favorite doorman Chicky Diaz works. I felt the first part of the book got bogged down in the inordinate amount of airtime focused on painting a picture or conversely satirizing the current state of affairs in the U.S. as well as what has occurred over the past few years. It got tiresome and a bit over the top, and made for a slower pace, not much happening kind of half. It started to pick up the pace and the last one third of the book is where the action occurs, reminiscent of the author’s last book, the action-packed Two Nights in Lisbon, which got off to a great start and never let up right to to the very end - that was a resounding five-star read. This book was an average read and listen but a bit disappointing for Chris Pavone and I’m hoping his next book will be as enjoyable as Two Nights in Lisbon. Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Pavone’s best yet! An edge-of-your-seat thriller that deftly combines the universal human condition with current events. While Chicky won me over from the start, I found myself rooting for so many of the other characters…and equally despising some too. I will certainly be handselling this one, especially for anyone who needs a little escapism that dishes out a healthy dose of comeuppance.

As the title suggests, The Doorman centers on a doorman named Chickie and the wealthy residents of a luxury apartment building in New York City. Despite his personal struggles, Chickie shows up to work each day, surrounded by lives of privilege and excess that sharply contrast his own. The story features a diverse cast of affluent characters and builds to a suspenseful, thriller-style climax that will keep readers guessing until the very end.

My honest opinion? I DNF’d this at 38% because the book seemed to be going nowhere. I didn’t feel much of a connection with the characters and while I was curious, I was interested enough to keep reading and find out what happened.

I have read many political thrillers which I truly enjoyed this book not so much it was a little too political especially in the climate we have now.

Chicky is a doorman at the Bohemia, an ultra-exclusive apartment building in New York City. The book spans two days in the lives of Chicky and some of the residents of the Bohemia.
First, there is Emily who is in a loveless marriage but can’t get out due to an ironclad prenup. She sheds her elite persona when she volunteers at a local soup kitchen.
Second, there is Julian whose marriage is crumbling, along with his career and he is facing a life-threatening diagnosis.
Third, there are Whit and Jennifer, the spouses of Emily and Julian, respectively, and also the other doormen.
Chicky is facing his own crisis and for this first time in his career he is carrying a gun. Before his shift ends, someone will die.
After there is a shooting of a black man by police, tensions are running pretty high around the city. On the night of an awards banquet, tensions come to a breaking point as chaos erupts in the city.
I could have done without the politics in the book but I understand that it is a part of the story that unfolds.

This fast-paced novel is set in New York City, at a fashionable, exclusive high-rise, The Bohemia Apartments. The daytime doorma, Chicky, has protected and served his charges ever since leaving the military. Most notable in the building were Emily Longworth, who married for security and money, her husband Whit, the wealthiest, nastiest piece of work and Jullisn Sonenberg, who was hated by his children and facing surgery or a quick death. Chicky watched how Emily, one of the only people to see Chicky, suffered under the cruelty of her owner, Whit!

The intersection and division among the socioeconomic groups are interwoven within the story so as not to be a lecture on the times but a reality of the discord among the players. The hidden lives and thoughts enabled the reader to have the characters fully realized instead of being one dimensional.

There is murder, mayhem and secrets galore to hold interest and keep the reader wondering.

Thank you NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for this advance copy.

Chris Pavone has given readers a very good novel of mystery and suspense set on New York City’s Upper West Side. Told from multiple economic points of view, it examines the lives of the super-rich, the moderately wealthy, and the working-class men and women of color who serve them.

Middle-aged Hispanic widower "Chicky" Diaz has been a doorman at the Bohemia—a world-famous apartment building overlooking Central Park—for many years. He’s protective of and discreet about the Bohemia’s occupants. He's a favorite of the building’s management and his co-workers.

But doormen don’t make all that much, and Chicky has his daughters’ college tuitions to pay for, plus medical debts left from his wife’s terminal illness, plus day-to-day living expenses, including rent on the family apartment. No wonder he’s into a loan shark and perhaps vulnerable to certain criminal elements hoping to access the building

Whit and Emily Longworth are the Bohemia’s wealthiest tenants, living in the penthouse they spent millions renovating. She’s a beauty. He’s a beast. He makes more money selling arms than he could ever spend. She gives as much of it as she can to charity. They don’t like each other much. Their marriage has become a struggle for power.

Julian and Jennifer Sonnenberg live in one of the Bohemia’s more modest apartments, several floors below the Longworths’. He’s an art dealer and president of the Bohemia’s board. She’s a corporate lawyer who makes a lot more than he does. Their children will soon leave home. Julian’s in love with another woman. Even though he and Jen still love one another, it’s not all that certain their marriage will last, even if Julian survives the diagnosis he’s just been given.

And the City of New York? It’s a powder keg of unrest fueled by class, racial, social, and political divisions. The police are on high alert against what they believe will be riots all over Manhattan. Will anyone be able to come to the rescue of the Bohemia and its occupants should violence arrive upon their doorstep?

Mr. Pavone has created deeply drawn characters readers can care about. The conflicts they’re involved in carry high stakes and the threat of life-changing consequences. His descriptions of New York City and life on the Upper West Side are evocative, sometimes wryly humorous, and often filled with political and social commentary. In many ways, I was reminded of Tom Wolfe’s fiction, especially “The Bonfire of the Vanities.”

All in all, a solidly entertaining novel arriving just in time for summer.

My thanks to NetGalley, author Chris Pavone, and publisher Farrar, Straus and Giroux | MCD for providing me with a complimentary ARC. All of the foregoing is my honest and independent opinion.

Thrilling novel about a NYC job that has been wrongfully overlooked in the publishing market. The doorman, his tasks and relationships with the residents are covered in this scintillating novel.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
The synopsis of this book sounded interesting to me so I requested a copy to read.
Unfortunately, I have tried reading this book on 2 separate occasions and during this 2nd attempt, I have decided to stop reading this book
and state that this book just wasn't for me.
I wish the author, publisher and all those promoting the book much success and connections with the right readers.

When you read as many thrillers and mysteries as I do, you learn a thing or two.

The best place to kill someone? At home. Away from witnesses and good Samaritans and security cameras with eyes everywhere. In an environment that can be controlled and a crime scene that can be scrubbed. Where evidence can be destroyed on one hand or manufactured on the other.

A doorman’s job is not an easy one. They can never fail to remember a resident’s name or the names of regular visitors. They can never call in sick, never leave early, never arrive late. They can never complain or roll their eyes at a request, no matter how ridiculous. They must be unerringly patient and relentlessly nice. They must know what the residents are proud of, what they are most ashamed of. All the dirty details of their most private problems. But they can never know yours. Not ever.

Chicky is flawless at this, and when he gets a feeling that trouble is on its way, he never even considers leaving his post.

This excellent thriller lets the reader peak behind the door of several residents of a luxury building. All while knowing that something bad is brewing.

No one can see the end coming, not in a million years. Once it happened though? It wasn’t a surprise. Not at all.

Some are rich. Some ... not so much. All unhappy. All with secrets. The gun ... the crime ... the doorman. All the individual storylines tastily interwoven in this satisfying milieu.

Not what I was expecting at all, but I liked it!

The Doorman takes an anthropological view of the residents and staff of the Bohemia, a famous apartment building on Central Park West. As tensions simmer in the city following a police shooting, violence also finds its way inside the solid walls of the Bohemia. But who, what and why? You'll have to wait until the end as events slowly, slowly spool out. It does have a Bonfire of the Vanities feel, if you like Tom Wolfe.

I normally love Chris Pavone's book but for some reason this one wasn't doing it for me.

I ended up DNFing it around 65%. It didn't keep my attention and I didn't care about any of the characters.

I think I'll have to try and reread this when I'm more in a thriller mindset - because normally I LOVE Pavone's novels!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the opportunity to review this book! I think I'll have to reread in order to appreciate it as the masterpiece that I know it will be.

I have always enjoyed Chris Pavone books. I find them interesting and fast-paced. The Doorman is a little different, focusing on a larger cast of characters all living in one apartment building. This book leaned more heavily on character development than plot, a contrast from Pavone's other works. While I enjoyed it, it is my least favorite of his novels. If you're expecting a fast-paced thriller like his other works, you might be disappointed. The action doesn't really pick up until the very end. It was a good story - just not what I'm looking for or expect from Pavone.

Thank you to #FarrarStrausandGiroux and #NetGalley for a free copy of #TheDoorman by Chris Pavone. All opinions are my own.

This book was not for me. I could not get into the storyline, could not relate to the characters, too political and used some crude language which I am not a fan.

The Doorman is a pitch-perfect, riveting, social satire of society beneath the glossy surface of contemporary Manhattan. While showcasing author Chris Pavone’s previous award-winning talents for fiction, this thought -provoking novel is also much more intense than his earlier works. In this well-paced story, narrated by the long-term Doorman and residents of one of New York’s most famous and exclusive buildings, the author explores behaviors of the ultra-wealthy; struggles of the less fortunate; absurdities of left and right political extremes; racial tensions, sex, greed, crime and despair. The writing is clever, the characters are realistic, the plot is believable, the city is authentic in its tarnished splendor, the suspense becomes extreme, and the story twists, turns and speeds up like the NYC subway as it hurtles along its path. Nothing is missing in this powerful book that I could not put down while I also did not want to end.



Thank you to Net Galley and Farrar, Strauss & Giroux for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Doorman by Chris Pavone tells the story of a group of people who live and or work inside the Upper West Sides luxury apartment building, The Bohemia. It's told through the lens of the various characters experiences, and explores American's current political climate, love, loss, and betrayal, all with intertwining story lines leading up to crime that connects all of them.

I enjoyed this book and looked forward to reading it. It may not be enjoyable to those that don't want the angst of politics creeping into their literature. I would not likely recommend this book to a friend unless I felt like they had a specific interest.

Thank you to Farrar, Straus and Giroux for an advanced copy of the book, through Netgallery, in exchange for an honesty review.

Although I am a big fan of Chris Pavone, this book didn't really work for me. It tells the story of the doorman at a fancy New York apartment building as well as those of some of the residents. I felt it could have been a lot shorter and although I agree with the points he was trying to make about income inequality, classism, racism, etc,, these were not organic to the story and seemed heavy handed.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the DRC of #TheDoorman. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

A contemporary story of privilege, class and race set in an exclusive New York apartment building. The story centers on two residents (Emily & Julian) and employee Chicky Diaz, the doorman. Chicky is drowning in debt, yet every day he is surrounded by the uber-wealthy at his job. Emily IS the uber-wealthy, but now that she knows where the money comes from, she wants out. And Julian realizes that his career, marriage and life might be ending very soon. Everything converges on a night when racial/social tensions in the city are ready to blow. And 3 lives are changed forever.

I enjoyed this a lot. Feels timely in this current social/political climate.