The Doorman by Chris Pavone is a story of rotating points of view within a New York apartment building. It is different in tone from previous books and feels a bit satirical. People who enjoyed the movie Crash may enjoy this book. It offers a range of characters, classes, races, and other viewpoints within one story.

I loved Chris Pavone's last novel, so I was very excited to pick his latest up. Unfortunately, the plot was a bit too slow and I wasn't invested in any of the characters.

I did not read the description before requesting the newest novel from Chris Pavone from NetGalley. Having read Two Nights in Lisbon in two night I was excited for the next adventure and knew there would be twists!

Having finished, I think this will be the HOT book this summer. Exploration of race and class, among working poor and super wealthy. The author clues you in with back story that become relevant overtime. The structure over one full day where tensions are so high felt to me that the pace was just right, and it speaks to the current climate.

Chris Pavone’s The Doorman offers a fascinating glimpse into the lives of the ultra-wealthy residing in the Bohemia, an elite New York City apartment building. True to Pavone’s signature style, the novel weaves intrigue and suspense into a world of privilege, secrecy, and unexpected revelations.
The novel takes its time establishing characters and setting. I found the middle portion somewhat drawn-out and slow, but the final twists and turns pulled me in.
If I could give half starts, I would have given this book 3.5 stars.

At. the Bohemia, where the elite live and love...

...some will die today.

Located in New York City's Upper West Side, the Bohemia is an iconic apartment building whose reputation and luxurious amenities attract celebrities and the wealthy elite alike. They include a wife who finds herself trapped in a marriage to a wealthy but odious man by an ironclad prenup, a man whose career in the art world is fading into oblivion and has just received a frightening health diagnosis, and more....these days more money guys and fewer celebrities, but still the building is a magnet for looky-loo tourists. One constant at the Bohemia is Chicky Diaz, its doorman, a former Marine and widower. Well, one of the doormen....of course he can't be there 24/7...but he has been there for almost 30 years, and is the guy who is always smiling or telling a joke or talking over the latest sports games. He remembers names, never calls in sick, and is there to keep all of the residents safe. On this day there is unrest in the city, where a Black man's death at the hands of the police has led to demonstrations and protests by those who believe that racism is omnipresent and the divide between the wealthy and the working class is growing unchecked. Chicky's smiling face is hiding some major problems.of his own...the medical bills left behind when his wife died, the mounting expenses that raising and educating his daughters bring, and the menace of a loan shark. Violence is brewing in the streets, and it will spill over into the Bohemia where the lives of Chicky and certain residents will intertwine with unanticipated results.
With quirky, well-developed characters and a fully rendered sense of place in the Bohemia, The Doorman is as much a novel of social commentary (many reviewers mention Bonfire of the Vanities as a precursor to this story) as it is a thriller, in fact more so. The daily juxtaposition of the lives of the wealthy and privileged and those of the wage earners whose job it is to serve them illustrates the unvoiced tensions inherent to the situation, while in the streets the actions and reactions of people whose viewpoints, politics and experiences are viewed through differing lenses unfold. There are elements of a psychological thriller running through the book which don't come completely to fruition until the end of the book, and I found it to be more of a character-driven novel than a true thriller. There are also a lot of references to hot button issues...Daniel Penny, Kyle Rittenhouse (neither mentioned by name, but it is clear who is meant), MAGA hats, etc....that are likely to irritate some readers and prove a distraction to others. I've read other books by author Chris Pavone and thoroughly enjoyed them; while this was equally well-written, it wasn't what I was expecting based on my prior readings. If a reader is looking for a high-octane thriller, this isn't it. It has received glowing blurbs from quite a few high profile authors, and those who read Harlan Coben, Karin Slaughter and Tom Wolfe will likely enjoy this read. My thanks to NetGalley and Farrar, Strauss and Giroux/MCD for allowing me access to this ambitious, satirical novel in exchange for my honest review.

I've read a few other books by Chris Pavone, so I was happy to be able to read this one. I found it to be a bit different from his usual style of intrigue. But, in fact, that was a lovely surprise because it really added a depth to the story and as a person familiar with New York City and the "culture" of it, this was right on point and very cleverly done. The intrigue is still there and the character portrayal is solid. I especially enjoyed Pavone's characterization of the city as it is in this very moment.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. It's a winner!

I wanted to like this one. A doorman at a swanky NYC building, a simmering city, a hint of murder—it all sounded promising. But The Doorman ended up feeling more like a lecture than a thriller.

It leans hard into real-world 2025, which made it feel a little too familiar and, honestly, kind of exhausting. I kept waiting to connect with the characters, but by the time I did, I wasn't invested enough to care. If I ever DNF'd books, this might've been the one.

Still, this was my first Chris Pavone novel, and I've heard great things about his other work. So, while this one missed the mark for me, I'm not giving up on him entirely.

Would I recommend it? Probably not. Unless the setup really speaks to you, I'd say read a few more reviews before committing.

Thank you to NetGalley; Farrar, Straus and Giroux; and MCD for an advanced reader's copy; all opinions expressed in this review are my own.

For nearly thirty years, affable ex-Marine Chicky Diaz has worked as as under-appreciated doorman at The Bohemia, an exclusive residence on the Upper West Side in New York City home to celebrities, financiers and New York's cultural elite. Emily Longworth (penthouse apartment 11 C-D) is obscenely wealthy and seems to have the perfect life but her husband is a villain and the prenup is iron-clad so she can't leave him - yet. Meanwhile, Julian Sonnenberg (apartment 2A), an art gallerist struggling with middle-age and a stale marriage, has received a call with devastating news.

The story unfolds over the course of a single day when the shooting of an unarmed Black man by police draws protesters into the streets and a bad-intentioned group of armed far-right MAGA-type counterprotesters follow suit. As darkness falls, nobody can predict what will happen but Chicky isn't taking any chances and arrives for his shift and the Bohemia carrying a gun for the first time in his career. The city is a powder keg that's about to explode and not everyone will survive the night.

The Doorman is not really a thriller until the last few chapters. It's more slow-burn literary suspense that continues to pick up speed until its dramatic conclusion. I still found it to be a pageturner - loved the foreshadowing and needed to know what was going to happen! There's sharp satire of both the right and the left and a great deal of social commentary which I enjoyed. Obscene wealth, intrigue, lust, robbery, murder - just a really great story and a fun read - perfect for summer!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for providing a digital ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Delighted to include this title in the May edition of Novel Encounters, my column highlighting the month’s most anticipated fiction for the Books section of Zoomer, Canada’s national lifestyle and culture magazine. (see column and mini-review at link)

Thank you to Netgalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux | MCD for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I loved this book! This is the first book I have read by this author and it will not be the last. I loved the storyline and the characters. I thought the characters had great growth. I would definitely recommend this book.

This book was less of a thriller and more a political commentary, with a balanced view, albeit, but more of the social class and who thinks what about our binary politically-divided country. Well-written and interesting, but not what I was looking for.

This was a fun and very engaging read, set in present day Manhattan. The opening sentence -- "Chicky Dias stands on his little patch of earth, the clean quiet sidewalk in front of the Bohemia Apartments, thinking: there sure are a lot of great places to kill someone in this city." -- intrigued me, and as other characters and events were introduced, my interest only increased. Clearly someone was going to be killed in this book, but it remained unclear who the victim(s) or the perpetrator(s) would be. None of the wealthy residents of the Bohemia are exactly as they prefer to present themselves; they all have secrets and things they hide from the world. As the residents of the Bohemia and the various service people around them go about their day to day lives, we learn about their beliefs, their activities, and the problems they encounter, coming ever closer to the climax that occurs in the midst of a political demonstration that rocks this part of the city. Well written, with both humor and pathos, The Doorman is a book I recommend highly.

Thank you to #NetGalley and Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, publisher, for providing a complimentary ebook in exchange for an objective review.

Thank you to NetGalley, Farrah, Strauss and Giroux, and Chris for allowing me to read this ARC for an honest review.

Living in a New York apartment building can be fun and exciting, especially meeting new neighbors as they move in and out. Most important to your existence is your staff, especially the doorman, in our case, Chicky Diaz, who is very popular with his tenants. There are rich tenants who get their money from unspoken places, living with people they can’t stand. Art dealers who decide they are too old to function in this new society. The apartment is full of these richly diverse people, including your working class people downstairs trying to keep this building running and functional. The night guns and violence erupt in the city changes everyone forever. You will care about these people and their apartment building.

Was this supposed to be a mystery/suspense novel? I didn't get that. At. All. Too much background and character building, too little story.

Chris Pavone is a master of the espionage/spy thriller genre. I have been a devoted fan ever since I read his debut novel The Expats. I have enjoyed reading all of his novels, including his latest one The Doorman. This novel is a bit different than his previous ones, but nonetheless a really fantastic read. The Doorman is an intense, brilliantly-plotted, gripping thriller that kept me quickly turning pages until the very last chapter, and left me completely satisfied. A huge thank you to Farrar, Straus and Giroux/MCD, the author, and NetGalley for the advanced digital copy of the book.

This exhilarating story for the most part is centered at the Bohemia, a luxurious and very exclusive apartment building in New York City. At the helm of the building is Chicky Diaz, the doorman. He’s the go between for the privileged, ethically fraught residents of the building, and what’s happening on the bustling city streets. When a Black man is killed by police, not too far from the Bohemia, the city becomes a tinderbox of protest, demonstrations and violence. But as Chicky starts his shift he is coming up against his own challenge, and for the first time he’s strapped with a weapon — because there’s way more happening at the Bohemia, than anyone actually knows. In the hotbed, chaotic city tonight everything will come crashing in and someone just might be killed.

Chris Pavone skillfully delves into real life issues of race, class, social justice, the rich against the poor. He masterfully entwines suspense with wit, unforgettable characters, and touches on the divisiveness of American cultural politics that is happening today. The Doorman is a pulse-pounding, riveting, engaging page-turner not to be missed.

The Doorman hooked me in slowly (in a good way) with the opening chapters providing a "slice of life" look at the Doorman (Chicky) and some of the residents of the posh building where he works. The backdrop of New York City during times of the conservative pushback against wokeness really becomes a character itself. After these introductions, the plot unfolded showing the reader how they are all intertwined. The ending is explosive, with twists I didn't see coming. A great read, and thanks to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Geroux for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I've always enjoyed Pavone's novels, spy stories and capers set in European capitals, but this new one really leaps ahead into something more profound. Three figures leading very different lives intersect at the Bohemia, an apartment building in New York, setting up a conflict that reveals so much about our current moment. Brilliant.

3.5 stars rounded up

As the city falls into groups of protesters and counter-protesters, a doorman for The Bohemian, a historic and exclusive apartment building, stands guard, the only line of defense between the chaos on the streets and the wealthy residents inside.

This book ended up being different from what I was expecting, though not necessarily in a bad way. The suspense didn't amp up until the third act, but I did enjoy how everything came together in the end. I think an ending can really make or break a thriller, and this one definitely made it. Suddenly, all of the little details mattered, and there was finally some pay-off for the 250 pages of set-up.

I know some readers were put off by the amount of politics and social commentary in this book, and I agree to an extent. While I do think all of that is central to how the ending unfolds, at a certain point, it does become a little exhausting to read about terrible men thinking terrible thoughts and doing terrible things. I kept reading because I was intrigued by the lives and lies of the characters we were following, and I only wish we had gotten more of that. The premise promises the story of a doorman who is privy to all the secrets of a building and its residents, but I would argue that Chicky Diaz isn't even the main character of this book.

Overall, I did enjoy this book, and I'm interested in reading more by this author!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, for the opportunity to read and review this title.

This is my first Chris Pavone and I want to read them all now.
The writing was smart and fast paced. I didn’t want to put it down. It was a little cringy at times. All the privilege was a bit hard to read, when there is so much poverty.
This story has many current topics that are being dealt with in the present. It really hit close to home.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for a honest review. 4⭐️

This book was a definite character study about people who have made choices and then regret them. I was hoping that there would be more correlation to the protests than just a cover for what went down in the Bohemia.