I wanted to love it...

It felt a bit stale. The story felt like you knew what was going on but really there were so many layers and it wasn't interesting enough for me to be excited. It was a solid 3 stars though.

I liked the characters but the plot felt forced. 3 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Overall, I enjoyed this read. While I don’t typically gravitate toward politically themed stories, I was pleasantly surprised by how cleverly and thoughtfully this one was written. The author’s skillful storytelling kept me engaged throughout, even in a genre I don’t usually explore.

The ending, in particular, was packed with excitement and kept me turning the pages. I’m really glad I gave this book a chance—it’s a great pick for readers who enjoy political intrigue mixed with a touch of mystery. Definitely worth checking out if that’s your kind of story!

Chris Pavone's latest novel, "The Doorman," is a gripping and provocative look at one fateful day at the Bohemia, an exclusive apartment building on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, as seen through the lives of three people: Chicky Diaz, its longtime and well-loved doorman, Julian Sonnenberg, art dealer and the president of the Bohemia's co-op board; and Emily Longworth, the unhappy wife of the building's wealthiest resident. Pavone ratchets up the tension in the prologue, entitled "Tonight," which ends on a cliffhanging note of suspense that menaces the otherwise quotidian events relayed in the "This Morning" and "This Afternoon" sections of the book which follow, raising the stakes for all of the characters' seemingly unimportant decisions. By the time we arrive back at the events portrayed in the prologue, Pavone has developed not only a full picture of each of these characters' lives, but also of Manhattan itself; he is exceptionally good at portraying the city's neighborhoods and their residents and class groups in all of their eccentricities, affectations and proclivities. I loved that part of the book almost as much as its thriller aspect, although both had me sneaking away to find every spare moment to keep listening--the experience felt akin to binging an entire season of a television suspense thriller. Fast and fun while still thought-provoking and timely. (Note: I listened to this on audiobook and narrator Edoardo Ballerini does his usual excellent job.)

Thank you to NetGalley and to Farrar, Straus and Giroux for providing me with an ARC of this audiobook in return for my honest review.

The Doorman sounded like it would be a fun thriller, but it didn't end up hooking me. It didn't quite give me the mystery vibes that I am used to. It really focused on life in New York—rich vs. poor, left vs. right, all the current debates. The writing was solid and the characters were well done.
It seemed to take some time to get going and didn’t feel like the main point of the story. The ending had a few good twists, but by then I wasn’t super invested. If you’re looking for a fast-paced thriller, this might not be it. This is still a solid story.

This is my first novel by Chris Pavone and it definitely won't be my last.
The Bohemia is the most famous apartment house in the world, home to New York's elite, celebrities and financiers. And Chicky Diaz is everyone's favourite doorman.
The Bohemia holds many secrets and on the one night Chicky decides to bring a gun to work the secrets are about to explode.
Not everyone will survive the night.
A pulse-pounding tale of greed, lust and crime.
Excellent narration by Edoardo Ballerini.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Too much pontificating about politics/current events. The ending is worth the effort to get through, but wish it had been a bit more even with the mystery.

As with most of Pavone's books, people are not always what they seem and things aren't always as they appear on the surface.

This story focuses on doorman Chicky Diaz, who works at one of the most exclusive buildings in New York City. His wife recently passed away, and he is drowning in debt from her medical bills. Chicky also takes on a few side jobs in order to dig his way out. Also featured are couples that inhabit the building, such as the Longworths and the Sonnenbergs, and all of them are harboring secrets. The book starts with riots and people heading towards the building, and then we move back and forth between the past and the present to see how things came about.

I felt like this book's setup was way too long. The ending was definitely worthwhile, but I wanted more reveals throughout to keep the momentum going. And as with Two Nights in Lisbon, I felt as if Pavone has some major soapbox issues and doesn't mind droning on and on about them through the mouths of various characters. I think it would be so much more effective to make whatever points he wants to make if he would tone it down and not slam readers over the head with them every other page.

I listened to the audiobook and Edoardo Ballerini's narration absolutely carried this novel. He gives the characters unique voices and propels the story even when I was rolling my eyes at the excess preaching about society, classism, racism, etc.

I just really wanted the excitement of Pavone's absolutely surprising and gripping spy thrillers (The Expats, The Paris Diversion) which I think are wholly underrated books. The ending definitely gets into that level of excitement that I was searching for, but it took way too long to get there and I'm afraid many readers will give up before they get to that point. I'll still pick up his books in the future though, hoping to return to the thrills of the earlier offerings.

Thank you to netgalley for the advanced reader copy of this book. I received it for my honest review.
Overall I did enjoy this book. I am not a political person and this book was a very heavy political forward book. So that was not my favorite. But the writing was done so clever and well that it still held my attention. I probably would not have read normally but since I received free in exchange for a review I wanted to finish it. The end of the book was very exciting. So I would recommend to someone if they are interested in politics and mystery.

This was a very well-produced audiobook; the narrator was great. The story itself was fine. I didn't exactly dislike it. But it did seem a bit longer than necessary; some of the flashbacks and inner monologues were excessive. Another 'problem', that may have been exclusive to listening, was that the jumps from present-day to flashback/memory were frequently jarring and distracting. I can definitely see this story being adapted into a successful television series.

The Doorman starts with the promise of action -- the doorman of a prestigious Manhattan condo building observing masked, armed men converging on his lobby. It then veers into massive backstory to the entangled lives of some of the residents and how they relate to each other and the staff. After meandering through that, we finally come back to the attack and the pivotal role of Chickie the doorman, as well as how things all connect. It's a fun look at class and privilege and maybe a little comeuppance.

The reviews of this book are as divisive as current American politics are today.

Audiobook is narrated by the phenomenal, award-winning Edoardo Ballerini.

Very different in tone that the other Pavone books I've read. People are turned off by the social commentary and proletariat views which I perceived very differently than other reviewers.

I just finished this book and while I really enjoyed it, I think it being marketed as a mystery/thriller is possibly a mistake? I think so many people are going to jump in with an expectation that doesn’t see fruition, and the big action being at the very end is a long time to wait if you go in with the mystery/thriller assumption. Having said that, I genuinely enjoyed it (albeit at a certain point maybe there were just a wee too many times we were reminded of the evils of privilege/money?) for what it is, a book about life for the haves and have nots in New York City, with all that entails such as issues of race, class, money and within the context of kindnesses, hatreds, beauty, and ugliness, too. I will recommend this to friends, but with this caveat – don’t expect a mystery/thriller in the typical sense but rather a very strong book of fiction.

I very much cared about these characters - even when doing stupid, foolish, reckless things which is due to Pavone's fine choices in setting the scenes and creating such incredible, believable dialog with scene after scene making the reader genuinely feel you are right there, in the room. Not to get too spicy here, but this is one of the only books I have experienced where the sex scenes were actually sexy and not over the top or eyerolling.

As always, Edoardo Ballerini, narrator extraordinaire, *inhabits* these characters to such extent that you never feel you are listening to someone "do these voices," whether male or female, and you always know which character is speaking with exactly the correct type and level of emotion suited to the scene. I always know if Ballerini is the narrator I am in for an audio treat.

I highly recommend The Doorman.

This is my honest review and I thank NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Chris Pavone for this audiobook ARC.

This audiobook was done very well. The narrator did an amazing job!

I didn’t love the story though. A lot (& I mean A LOT) of political and social economic talk, which it’s in present day so I get it. I do get it!! I’m just not the entire targeted audience! This is not for readers who want to escape reality. There were also a lot of characters and storylines that I eventually pieced together and made some sense of. The build up to the end was great from about 55% on! It kept me intrigued enough to keep reading and finish.

I had the ALC for The Doorman by Chris Pavone narrated by Edoardo Ballerini. I've read several books by Chris Pavone and all have been spy/espionage thrillers. This is the first domestic thriller from Pavone that I've read. It's different from his other reads in more ways than just the nature of the thriller not being an espionage story. In this book, we confront the politics of the US. The whole dystopian feeling of why Trump was elected to a second term, and the police killing of black men is in this story. These are important topics but here they are used to hide the culprits baser nature which is simple greed. In addition, the book takes more than 80% of the book to set up the action, then about 10% of the book is the actual action of the story and then wrap up to the story. So, that was disappointing to me, too. What actually kept me going during this read was the narration. by Edoardo Ballerini. He kept the story moving forward with his narrative style and I really enjoyed it. The narration on this is a 5 star but the book itself is 3.25 stars. I need to thank Net Galley and MacMillan Audio for my Advance Listener Copy!

This felt very New York and extremely relevant as it really focuses on current politics. The mystery itself is a slow build and almost felt secondary to the story itself. This story serves kind of like a snapshot of the city. The wealthy, the poor, the working class, white supremacist mindset alongside social justice activist mindset and everything in between. It felt preachy and tried to walk a middle line of both sides are ridiculous rhetoric. It's written by a white man and that is reflected in the text. I've heard it compared to Bonfire of the Vanities which I never read though I did see the movie in the late 80's as a kid. Parts of this are literally just partisan rants. It kinda reminded me of the scene in Do The Right Thing where each character is on the screen alone repeating racial stereotypes and other offensive nonsense. This is the predominant focus of the novel. Honestly it was well written and the characters were well developed. None the less I did not like this. It felt too preachy and I'm not interested in whatever lesson or viewpoint this author was trying to convey. I just wanted a decent thriller. The reveals weren't bad, just late, the focus on this novel was to capture the social divisions of the moment.

This audiobook is narrated by Edoardo Ballerini. The narration for this story was excellent. As this deals with class, race, etc and suffers from a bit of repetition, I felt that the narration really elevated this novel. I'd definitely recommend this on audiobook.

Thank you to Chris Pavone, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own.

The Doorman is a different sort of book from Chris Pavone. There are no spies or secret agents. Everything happens mostly at the fictional Bohemia building in NYC.

"Chicky Diaz is everyone's favorite doorman at the Bohemia - an exclusive building full of New York's cultural elite. There are affairs, old money and new money that no one wants to really admit where it came from. But tonight Chicky has come to work with a gun. He's on high alert after a run-in with a gangster. Tonight there are demonstrations and counter-demonstrations - people will die and secrets will be revealed."

Lots of social commentary in this book from Pavone. It's from both sides and it's never preachy. It's normal characters discussing what's bothering them. There are more rich people behaving badly. There are blue-collar workers just trying to survive paycheck-to-paycheck. Pavone takes all these characters and weaves them into a story that explodes on a night in NYC. It takes a while to get to it but Pavone keeps the action going to keep you invested the whole time. The ending is wild - and even then you think you know what's going on but Pavone has some surprises for you - even after that night.

Edoardo Ballerini is great with the narration. There are many characters and many emotions and he gets them all.

A wildly, entertaining story from Pavone.

This was definitely a slow burn for me -- in terms of starting slow then a big crescendo! The narrator was excellent and I found myself enjoying this quite a bit. Interesting premise and great characters. Give it a try!

The Doorman comes out next week on May 20, 2025 and you can purchase HERE.

"Oh," Emily said, the waves crashing over her. "Oh my god."
This was probably the appeal of hard drugs, wasn't it? Feeling the type of good you hadn't known existed. This was Emily's heroin.

The Doorman aims for high-stakes intrigue but mostly stumbles through a slow, overstuffed plot about the exhausting, absurd politics of the ultra-wealthy. Chris Pavone paints a world where privilege protects and manipulates—but instead of sharp critique, we get a plodding parade of hollow power plays and name-droppy excess.

The pacing drags, the characters feel more like caricatures of wealth than people, and the plot buckles under the weight of its own importance. It tries to be timely and clever, but mostly ends up as a slow crawl through a gilded swamp of ego and overcomplication.

For a book about secrets and surveillance, it somehow manages to say very little—just that the rich are ridiculous, and apparently, very boring.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC audiobook.
I had to DNF this one at around 48%.
The narration was excellent and if I continued, it would have been only to hear Eduardo B. speak more.
I have absolutely nothing against an author sprinkling a little current politics into their books but this was so overkill. I read and hear this stuff all day long and I don't want it in my reading and I can bet most readers won't either. I love this author and was so excited for this book and it pained me greatly to not finish it but I just couldn't go on.

This book has a lot to unravel. Social unrest, Political unrest, protests, riots, class divisions. Upshaw  / Downstairs relationship between staff and the residents of the Bohemia, a luxurious apartment building in New York. Chicky Diaz, the protagonists, is the daytime doorman. He is essentially the gatekeeper for the residents. But what is going on inside the luxury building. A large ensemble of characters each with his or her own story. This was an incredible examination of the social classes not only on the Bohemua but in the world itself. Chick lets the supervisor that he is okay to transfer to evenings so that his coworkers with family can have the day shift to spend nights with their family. When events  from the outside world make their way inside, Chicky must take things into his own hands.

4.5 stars

Thank you to Farrar, Straus and Giroux / MCD Books / Macmillan for the ALC / completed book.

Wow! First I’ve read from this author, but wow!

So, we have Chicky Diaz, who is a doorman for an elite building in NYC, in one of the most prestigious zip codes.
He’s been there for years and has seen just about everything. The building has housed many celebrities over the years, as well as the uber rich of society…

Right now there are many people there in many different walks of life, with various professions and levels of wealth… but make no mistake… each and every one of them has many millions, if not billions, in the bank…

We basically revolve the story around 2 couples. Both are wealthy. One is ridiculously wealthy.
But, as we delve into to their lives, we see that all is not rainbows 🌈 and butterflies.🦋

Each of the couples is going through their own problems, and trying to handle them as best they can…

Additionally, we see some of the backstory on Chicky…and where he grew up. The problems he’s faced… and then, the very recent loss of his wife. HIS PAIN IS PALPABLE!
He’s very down to earth, and is well loved by many. He works in one of the poshest buildings in the city, yet HE himself has very little. But, that’s ok.

Terrific story. Lots of twists that I DID NOT see coming!!

5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me!!

#TheDoorman by #ChrisPavone and narrated beautifully by #EdoardoBallerini.

*** RELEASE DATE is coming up, on 5/20/25 ... SO LOOK 👀 FOR IT SOON!!! ***

Thanks so much to #NetGalley and #MacmillanAudio for an ARC of the audiobook, in exchange for an honest review.

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