Expats (Pavone)

Book Reviews
As it repeatedly morphs from humdrum dailiness into espionage maneuvers, The Expats pulls off the crazy illusion that these elements actually belong in the same story…Mr. Pavone strengthens this book with a string of head-spinning revelations in its last pages, as layer after layer of deceit is peeled away. (Think of an onion.) The tireless scheming of all four principals truly exceeds all sane expectations.
Janet Maslin - New York Times


[S]martly executed…Pavone is full of sharp insights into the parallels between political espionage and marital duplicity…The absence of a story angle linking Kate's personal quest to some larger issue of international consequence keeps this novel outside the mainstream of espionage fiction. But the intimate look it offers into the experiences of people who exist in a boring but happy limbo…makes The Expats thoroughly captivating.
Marilyn Stasio - New York Times Book Review


Expertly and intricately plotted, with a story spiraling into disaster and a satisfyingly huge amount of double-crossing, The Expats certainly doesn’t feel like a first novel.  This is an impressively assured entry to the thriller scene.
Guardian (UK)


Pavone plunges around with a plot-load of surprises...and he moves smoothly between the mundane and the melodramatic...The spinning of the plot is ingenious.
Washington Times


Refreshingly original.... Part Ludlum in the pacing, part Le Carré in the complexity of story and character, but mostly Chris Pavone.... A thriller so good that you wonder what other ideas [Pavone] has up his cloak, right alongside the obligatory dagger.
Newark Star-Ledger


Amazing... Impossible to put down.... Pavone invokes memories of the great writers of spy fiction of the past, and he has the chops to be mentioned with the best of them.
Associated Press


Superb.... [Pavone] expertly draws readers along with well-timed clues and surprises.... An engineering marvel.
Richmond Times-Dispatch


Bombshell-a-minute.... Pavone creates a fascinating, complicated hero.
Entertainment Weekly


A gripping spy drama and an artful study of the sometimes cat-and-mouse game of marriage.
Family Circle


[M]eticulously plotted, psychologically complex spy thriller.... The sheer amount of bombshell plot twists are nothing short of extraordinary, but it's Pavone’s portrayal of Kate and her quest to find meaning in her charade of an existence that makes this book such a powerful read.
Publishers Weekly


Kate is a young mom cozily wrapped up in her expat life in tiny Luxembourg—her two young sons and husband fill her days. What keeps her up at night glued to the Internet is the suspicion that a couple of casual buddies she met on the cocktail circuit are really assassins.... Brilliant, insanely clever, and delectably readable. —Barbara Conaty, Falls Church, Va
Library Journal


A stunningly assured first novel.... An intricate, suspenseful plot that is only resolved in the final pages.  The juxtaposition of marital deceptions and espionage is brilliantly employed.... A must for espionage fans.
Booklist


An impressive thriller by first-time novelist Pavone, with almost more double-crosses than a body can stand.... While Kate occasionally has to rely on former CIA contacts to help straighten out the mess she finds herself in, she shows herself quite capable of ruthlessness and venality. A thoroughly competent and enjoyable thriller with unanticipated twists that will keep readers guessing till the end.
Kirkus Reviews