Two Nights in Lisbon

Edgar Award-winner Chris Pavone (The Expats; The Travelers; The Accident) has created his own niche: thrillers in which Americans involved in covert government intelligence are on the cusp of having their identities revealed, often by their spouses. After all, do people really know what their partner's career involves? This set-up drives Pavone's fifth excellent thriller, Two Nights in Lisbon, resplendent with myriad twists in a multilayered plot combining domestic suspense with the spy novel.

Two Nights in Lisbon unfolds as Ariel Pryce discovers that her new husband, John Wright, has disappeared from their hotel. She insists he has been kidnapped, but her account makes both the Lisbon police and the CIA agents doubtful, especially since security videos and eyewitnesses reveal no crime. John's brief stint in the CIA, Ariel's mysterious past and why each of them changed their names years ago also raise the suspicions of authorities in charge. A ransom demand of €3 million points to high-ranking leaders in the U.S. government, while blackmail, betrayal and possible treason come into play.

Traversing the byways of Portugal, Two Nights in Lisbon spins on the various points of view of its realistic characters and an outlandish, though believable, plot that Pavone takes in unusual directions. At the heart of the novel are Ariel and John, whose marriage began on shaky ground with misgivings and a lack of knowledge about each other. But couples have started with less. Pavone's sophisticated plotting delivers a superb thriller in Two Nights in Lisbon. --Oline H. Cogdill, freelance reviewer

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