Two Nights in Lisbon by Chris Pavone

“Two Nights in Lisbon” is Chris Pavone’s fifth novel. While I’ve not read his work before, the first four novels have already been reviewed by 2 of us here at MRB. They have raved about his writing, and now I see why. I’m excited to know there are four more books that I’ll have to consume. Unfortunately, it’s been too many weeks between writing this review and reading the book. I was also intrigued by the title since I’ve been planning to make a trip to Portugal, so he introduced me to parts of Lisbon that I now need to see, including the Praca do Comerico which had once been “the beating heart of Portugal.”   

The protagonist is Ariel, an American woman, and she has come to Portugal with her husband of three months, John Wright. He’s on a business trip and he asked her to come along, although he gave her a false reason for her presence, saying his business partners were eager to meet her, when that was actually not true. Once in Lisbon, John disappeared without any explanation. After a short period of time, she learns that he has been kidnapped and the kidnappers have demanded a ransom of $3,000,000, which Ariel and John do not have. She was warned against contacting the police.

 

Ariel made a call to un unwanted but possible source of the money, Charlie Wolfe, who is about to be named the Vice President by the next American presidential candidate. In a mysterious call to Charlie, Ariel presented an extortion scheme to him, saying that if he did not come across with $3,000,000 immediately, that she would reveal a secret about him, something that would severely damage his political career. She knew the call to him would be ugly, and it was. But money was provided to her, which was in turn given to the kidnappers. However, when the transfer happened, there was a glitch which Ariel seemed not to understand. By this time, the Portuguese police detectives were involved. Ariel was detained under suspicion that the kidnapping had been faked. But finally, her husband was released unharmed.

 

This was only the midpoint of the story, lots of well-written plot twists were yet to occur. If I go farther, then I will spoil your reading of this very clever novel. It was a most satisfying read. If my reading queue was not so long, I would jump directly to Pavone’s first novel, The Accident, but I will immediately get a copy of it so I can read it soon.

Thanks to McMillan for the chance to read this before it has been officially published. The book will be available on 5/24/22.

 

 

WCD