Two Nights in Lisbon

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Synopsis

Ariel Price wakes up in Lisbon, alone. Her husband is gone, no warning, no note, not answering his phone. Something is wrong.

She starts with hotel security, then the police, then the American embassy, at each confronting questions she can’t fully answer: What exactly is John doing in Lisbon? Why would he drag her along on his business trip? Who would want to harm him? And why does Ariel know so little about her new, much younger husband?

The clock is ticking. Ariel is increasingly frustrated and desperate, running out of time, and the one person in the world who can help is the one person she least wants to ask.

Tautly wound and expertly crafted, Two Nights in Lisbon is a riveting thriller about a woman under pressure, and how far she will go when everything is on the line. With sparkling prose and razor-sharp insights, bestselling author Chris Pavone delivers a stunning and sophisticated international thriller that will linger long after the surprising final page.

Synopses source: The StoryGraph

Review

Genre(s): Fiction, Mystery/Thriller
HB&W Rating: 4.5 stars
View on StoryGraph, Goodreads
Buy on Barnes & Noble | Amazon

This is my pick for my 2025 Book Challenge for June: Travel. For more recommended reads, see my blog post here.

I was blown away by this book. My mom recommended it to me and while she and I have similar taste in books, I tend to be a bit more critical in what I like and don’t, so I was going into this expecting it to be decent but not necessarily that it would blow me away.

I chose this book for June’s travel prompt for my book challenge, seeing as it takes place in Portugal. I was expecting a fast-paced thriller, and it was that, but it was so much more.

I think what blew me away the most wasn’t the corrupt politicians, the good ol’ boy mentality or the elite entitlement on clear display here but the fact that such a story, such content, was written in a woman’s POV by a man. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying men can’t write women well, but let’s be honest, it’s rare. It’s not their fault when the world caters to men and women have to learn to understand men better than men would ever have to understand women in order to live in that world. They’ve been conditioned not to need to expend the effort and relatively few go to the effort to do so, so it is what it is.

I’m hiding the next bit as a spoiler because once you know this part, while not especially spoilery, it may prevent the reader from going into the story the way the author intended.

Spoiler! Click here to view!

What astounded me was the emotional accuracy and depth shown by the author when writing about sexual assault and rape. He has tremendous sympathy and compassion and writes with authority on the subject. Maybe he knows and cares for someone who has experienced SA, or maybe he just has a profound ability to completely empathize with women who have gone through it. Either way, it comes across very realistic and resonated with me. Add to this the political parallel between this story and the current U.S. President and I really wish we’d had a similar ending in reality as we did in fiction.

It’s jumps back and forth between present a flashbacks with a lot of characters to keep track of, which could be a bit difficult to follow especially on the audio, though the narration was great. It was also a bit predictable, but I still really enjoyed the story and would recommend.

Until next time,

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