A lot of this book, apart from being a thriller, is an upstairs-downstairs kind of novel, aspiring to be satire. I say aspiring, because at many points, I was really confused if Pavone was satirising the mega wealthy Upper West Siders or sympathising with their pro-Trump, post-truth rhetoric.
Either way, a book so in tune with the confusions of the immediate times, that is what makes it interesting. The story progresses like many of these do: rich people doing rich people things, thinking they can get away with murder. There is also a lot of the standard world building — descriptions of New York neighbourhoods; adjectives heaped on to describe the "Bohemia", this art deco apartment building on Central Park West, where our characters either live or work, and which is as good as a character itself. Voyeuristic, but I enjoy reading about the shenanigans of the rich. There is a special kind of joy in looking down upon the rich and their meaningless existence in their million dollar clothes and apartments and shoes.

The novel takes place over the course of a day, as the personal lives of the three central characters - the mega rich and glamourous housewife Emily, kinda-sorta-rich gallerist Julian, and the mostly poor doorman, Chicky — progressively devolve into a complete and utter mess. Of course you are rooting for these three — Emily because she is a stunner (she is compared to Alexandra Daddario at least twice), Julian because he is earnest, and Chicky because he is truly, a good guy. I could see the final confrontation coming; but because of the heavy dose of politics, Pavone kept me guessing almost until the end.

I have only two gripes: one, when switching point of views between the three principal characters, the titles used their residence/ work as the indicator instead of name. Apartment 2A, it would read, and we'd be on a morning jog in the Central Park. Pretty confusing. And two, it took some time to get into the story. I powered through maybe the first 80 pages before the story became less clunky and more pacy.

Great Sunday read. Even for the politics.

I have read previous books by this author and was looking forward to this one, however, it didn't quite, in my estimate measure up to his previous works, good, just not as good. Chicky Diaz is the doorman for the very exclusive Bohemia apartment building where apartments sell in the millions, Chicky likes his job, but he's got issues in his private live, his wife passed away and he's facing huge medical bills, he's behind on rent, owes a loan shark and is worried about his kids and his own health. The story is told from the perspective of a few tenants, the Longworth's who own the largest and most expensive apartment in the building, Whit, the husband, makes his money in questionable fashion, something his wife, Emily never questions. It's a loveless marriage, though Emily is very attached to the lifestyle she enjoys, but that doesn't stop her from making a very unwise decision. In another apartment Julian Sonnenberg is an art dealer, very expensive art, usually in the hundreds of thousands or millions per piece. Emily and Whit know Julian, they have purchased art from him in the past, so when one piece is questioned, things start to sour. During a protest about the killing of a black man, the Bohemia becomes ground zero for an epic showdown. I really found the ending part of the book the best written part. I would recommend. thanks to #Netgalley and #MCD for the ARC.

Overall, I thought The Doorman, by Chris Pavone was a curious mix. The characters and their arcs are solid and compelling. As someone who lived in Manhattan for over a decade, I found the references to city life were spot on. But for almost the first third of the book there is a near complete absence of plot. The first real plot point appears at the 30% mark. As a bestselling published author. (DS Kane's Spies Lie series), I think thrillers should have their first tplot point no later than the 15% mark.

I almost gave up on this book, but after the first plot point dropped, the book took off and drew me in. It is, from that point on, a great read.

I really tried with this book but it was so very slow and a little too overtly conservative for me. I am giving it a few stars for good writing and an interesting character in Chickie Diaz, but the pacing is very off. Two and a half stars rounded up.

Not a bad story, but parts made me bored or uncomfortable so 3 stars is my rating.

I had read Pavone's books previously and looked forward to this one. Chicky is a doorman with problems of his own, let alone having to deal with problems of the residents of the condo building in NY city where he works. He always has a smile in spite of his problems as he realizes that no one wants to hear his problems and they only want someone to fix their problems.

The lives of the uber wealthy do have aspects that even their money cannot fix. Money can't fix who you love and who you want to kill. Their relationship made me want to skip over them; enough said for now so i don't spoil it for you. Another couple has a better relationship, though only marginally better, but he has health issues to worry him.

Conflict on the streets has everyone worried and facing danger which heightens the tension for all, wealthy or not.

The details on art were what bored me and I thought it was overdone and not needed for the storyline, even though art as an investment and life choice plays a big role; it wasn't interesting to me so I skipped that.

Maybe it was just too long? I don't know that I could give it more than 3 stars even without the issues I mentioned.

thank you NetGalley for an advance reader copy. Opinions expressed here are my own and are freely given.

The Doorman by Chris Pavone’s is the second book I have read by this author.
The book was a little long and with the history of the characters told in detail.
The doorman, Chicky Diaz has been there for 30 years and never misses a day.
Emily Longsworth, the sweet wife of the richest and mean man in the penthouse.
Julian Sonnenburg is an art dealer who is at the end of his career.

It was an interesting book about class – the desperation all classes feel. I did enjoy the story = worth a read

Thanks NetGallery for this Arc. Unfortunately for me the book was very slow moving until the end. It didn't really keep my interest at all

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.