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The Expats: A Novel
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The Expats: A Novel
Unavailable
The Expats: A Novel
Audiobook12 hours

The Expats: A Novel

Written by Chris Pavone

Narrated by Mozhan Marno

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

The international thriller that Patricia Cornwell says is "bristling with suspense" about an American abroad who finds herself in complex web of intrigue.

Can We Ever Escape Our Secrets?

Kate Moore is a working mother, struggling to make ends meet, to raise children, to keep a spark in her marriage . . . and to maintain an increasingly unbearable life-defining secret. So when her husband is offered a lucrative job in Luxembourg, she jumps at the chance to leave behind her double-life, to start anew.

She begins to reinvent herself as an expat, finding her way in a language she doesn't speak, doing the housewifely things she's never before done-playdates and coffee mornings, daily cooking and never-ending laundry. Meanwhile, her husband works incessantly, at a job Kate has never understood, for a banking client she's not allowed to know. He's becoming distant and evasive; she's getting lonely and bored.

Then another American couple arrives. Kate soon becomes suspicious that these people are not who they say they are, and she's terrified that her own past is catching up to her. So Kate begins to dig, to peel back the layers of deception that surround her. She discovers fake offices and shell corporations and a hidden gun, a mysterious farmhouse and numbered accounts with bewildering sums of money, and finally unravels the mind-boggling long-play con that threatens her family, her marriage, and her life.

Stylish and sophisticated, fiercely intelligent and expertly crafted, The Expats proves Chris Pavone to be a writer of tremendous talent.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateMar 6, 2012
ISBN9780307990303
Unavailable
The Expats: A Novel
Author

Chris Pavone

Chris Pavone is the New York Times bestselling author of The Expats, winner of the Edgar and Anthony awards for best first novel, as well as The Accident, The Travelers and Paris Diversion. He was a book editor for nearly two decades, and lives in New York City with his family. His work has been translated into two-dozen languages.

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Reviews for The Expats

Rating: 3.51498 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

534 ratings76 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Great book. Well-paced, clever structure, kept me guessing, and actually made me feel a little paranoid walking the streets.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Why did I read “The Expats” (EX)? I should have known better. My wife read it years back and deemed it so-so. Amazon readers rate it at less than a four. But, it did win an Edgar, it was billed as set in Luxembourg and how many novels do you get to read about Lux, and there were some favorable comments about it recently tied in with author Chris Pavone’s recent release of a sequel (though the sequel didn’t get great reviews). OK, so why is EX boring, and nowhere close to being a good spy novel? Or crime fiction novel? Or however you want to label it. Three reasons. First, nothing interesting happens until well into the second half, perhaps last third of the book. And it was never interesting enough to keep me up late into the night. Some tighter editing and trimming perhaps 100+ pages would have helped, but dull is dull, and those fixes would have made it only less dull. Maybe Luxembourg is a dull place, it certainly felt that way after reading EX. Secondly, I felt like I was watching one of those Hallmark romcom mysteries, only it was eight hours long instead of two. Lots of family scenes, dropping the kids at school, running into other expats at the local coffee shop, gossip, gossip, pick up the kids, why does my husband have to work every night, etc. Thirdly, the flashbacks. Half the time I couldn’t tell if I was inside a flashback or not, and if so which flashback, and were there flashbacks within flashbacks? I think so but I’m not sure. At one point I wasn’t even in the right city.What’s it about? Bank fraud. Not state secrets. Who is this couple that star in this drama. Well he’s a computer wiz, specifically bank security systems, and she is a retired government employee (ahem). They want to see the rest of the world and make some money. That’s not a bad plot, on a macro level, but that’s only the first couple dozen pages. Then it nosedives. However, I do give it a star for being woman focused – it’s the females that figure things out, make things happen, and set the boundaries. But still….zzzzz. Could have been a good story, though, if only
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Excellent distraction. A touch too overtly strong-woman for my (male) tastes (this is just a quibble), but the O'Henry turn was well worth sticking it through.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I'll post a longer review later, but the short version is: great plot! It intrigued me enough to stay up 'till all hours, finishing it in a day.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I thoroughly enjoyed the back and forth, even though it was a little startling every time the time jumped into the past---but you needed it for all of the twists and turns of this adventure. I'm looking forward to reading his other books.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I enjoyed this book, and liked the idea of a woman who was a former spy for the CIA and now married with children. This book had a lot of interesting 'cliffhangers' at the end of chapters that didn't get resolved until later in the book. Sometimes it was hard to put down because I wanted to see what that 'thought' was about. What I mean by that is the author would tease the reader with a one sentence jump to the future which kept me wondering what it meant.

    The big downfall of the book was the back and forth between current day and the past. It got confusing, even though the book had different fonts to indicate current day (even day and time) it was the point in times of the past that had me wondering when this event was happening.

    If you can get past that one downfall....it was a very good book and I would like to read future books by this author.

    Also, good book for a book club to discuss if you would make the same choices as Kate.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Kate's husband Dexter suggests they move to Luxembourg for his work and she makes this opportunity to quit her job with the CIA. Kate has never told Dexter that she works for the CIA and decides there is no point now. In Luxembourg Kate discovers that she is bored at home with their two boys and socializing with other ex-pats. She and Dexter become friends with another American couple, Bill and Julia Maclean, but Kate soon starts to wonder if the Macleans are really who they say they are.I found this novel very readable and it kept my interest well. The two different time frames mostly worked well for me. However, there were parts of the plot which were unconvincing. Kate must have been the world's worst CIA operative because there were times when she missed things the narrative flagged up for the reader with enormous red flags. The ending was also rather excessive and Kate's decision in the last few pages bewildering. I was slightly confused about what Kate expected to happen next. Dexter's character and the precise extent and nature of his agency in what happened seemed to shift; I was never quite sure what he was really like. I would also comment that for a family living on a reasonably modest income in Europe, they seemed to spend an awful lot of money on travel.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    How did this book get published? It might be an Edgar Award winner, but it is also wordy, poorly edited, implausible, and over-drawn. Don't waste your time!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    When ex-CIA agent Kate Moore moves to Luxembourg with her husband Dexter and their two young sons for Dexter's job in finance security, Kate slowly begins to suspect that her husband is not exactly what he seems. The story has thriller roots, with some suspense and detecting/spying, but it almost has more in common with character study and a portrait of a marriage. It was pretty page-turner-y for me (though it did also seem to take a long time to get through) despite its lack of a lot of action scenes. I enjoyed its slightly less violent/action-packed take on the thriller, as that (especially the violence) tends to turn me off these sorts of books all together. The end felt perhaps a bit anticlimactic while somehow seeming pretty right too. I'm glad I read it.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Entertaining book, even if it stretches believability quite a lot. The "big reveal" wasn't that shocking when you finally got there but the author did a good of maintaining the tension throughout the book.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Kate quits her job as her husband takes on a position in banking in Luxemborg. Their new friends, other ex-pat's, are not who they appear. And in her investigation neither is her husband....or she! Good and suspenseful.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    'The Expats' is a dynamite thriller, Chris Pavone's first. An auspicious beginning, I'd say. Tight plotting, a tricky story line that'll have readers guessing until the final pages, and expert writing that both propels the story forward while at the same time bouncing around in time and place all combine for one of the most enjoyable reading experiences I've had in awhile.Everyone has a secret or two. In 'The Expats', that would be a major understatement. The heroine, as it were, is an ex-CIA agent married to a cybersecurity specialist. He doesn't know about her previous life (and certainly not the things she did while in it), and she has no idea what her husband really does to support them and suspects, rightly, it doesn't exactly match what he says. The family moves from the US to Luxemburg, supposedly for her husband's job, and is befriended by another set of American expats, neither of whom are who they say they are. It's a real cat and mouse novel, and when the cheese is revealed you'll begin to understand the arrangement a little better. Or not. Once you think you've figured out the motivation and can predict what's coming, subsequent pages will prove you wrong. Guaranteed.It's definitely an unconventional story with loads of surprises, which I enjoy the heck out of, but I think what I liked best was the writing. Pavone's technique of jumping between the present and multiple spots on the timelines of the characters, in the US (Washington DC), Luxemburg, Paris, and various other European spots, not only provided important character development along the way but also succeeded in keeping my reading interest up. I'm not sure the novel would have been quite as interesting had it been written in a more linear way.I loved 'The Expats' and look forward to future offerings from Chris Pavone. Highly recommended!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I am having a difficult time reconciling the fact that this book has been placed in the finalists for 'Best First Novel' for the Anthony Award. The level of writing among 'first novelists' must be pretty bleak.I am also having a difficult time with the fact that writers I respect - Patricia Cornwell, John Grisham, John Connelly and Christopher Reich all have glowing blurbs for this book.What am I missing? Pavone's method of telling the story - a section dealing with the climax day interspersed with chapters giving you the story leading up to this day is supposed to (I think) help build the suspense. For me, it did exactly the opposite; giving strong unmistakable signs of what the true story was. There was no suspense and not really any surprises.And there was no reason to care about the wooden characters, or the situation which I found inconsequential. It wasn't a 'spy' story. Kate had worked for the CIA, but the story is about a crime, a theft of money. There is no 'spying'.I finished the book and have put it in my 13 in 13 challenge spy section because the book claims to be a spy story and I need to fill the space in that category. But don't pick this one up if you are hoping for a book that will compare to the great spy/thriller writers, past or present.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    An absorbing page-turner, perfectly paced, with layers of deception peeled tantalizingly away and back stories gradually revealed as the characters disport themselves about various picturesque European locales. If you need a book to take you out of your surroundings on a tedious plane trip or an unbearably hot summer day, this would be a good choice!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Everyone is a liar. It made for some good twists and turns. There was a lot of “explaining,” which normally annoys me. But, I didn’t mind. I liked the story.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    Two timelines that are two close together to be treated separately, way too much description makes it sound like a Rick Steves' travel guide, and the story doesn't become compelling until the very end.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is a confusion par excellence. An American family decides to emigrate to Europe. The reasons are manifold. For the wife begins a new life, as she has always worked as a mother for the CIA, but her husband knew nothing about it. He is the driving force behind emigrating, because as a computer security expert he has figured out how to steal money from others during the transfer. His wife knew nothing about that. When they live in Luxembourg, two FBI agents are tracking him down. Since no one else has knowledge of what the other is doing, the whole thing is very tricky.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Very complex story of a couple who move to Luxembourg for the husbands business. Nothing is as it seems...the CIA, FBI, and Interpol are all involved in one way or another, but no one knows who or what they're investigating.I never did figure out what was really going on. I'm not sure if I liked the ending or not, but it did at least answer my questions.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Much of the book will leave you puzzled and wondering where you are. But out of this crazy endless series of loops, engaging in activities today with thoughts of yesterday and before while thinking about possible scenarios tomorrow ... pulls together an engaging story with interesting characters. Fun, but challenging read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book was a bit hard to follow at first, because it kept jumping around in time, and I found the characters to whiny and stereotyped. But suddenly, maybe about 1/3 of the way through, I was hooked. I read late into the night to finish and loved every surprise in the story.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I did not want to put this book down. I just kept wondering what is going on? The characters are well written and the story line is very compelling. Ex CIA moves overseas with her husband who does "something in banking security" and their two small children. Something seems off. Their new friends seem a little off. Does her husband really work in banking? After a little digging, she discovers that her new friends are really FBI investigating her husband. But why? And how can she help?
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Kate is an ex-CIA agent who spent many years involved in secret and dangerous missions in Latin America hunting down drug lords and collecting information. When Kate's husband Dexter convinces her to move their family to Luxembourg for a rare and lucrative banking contract, Kate resigns from the CIA and moves to Europe to be a stay-at-home mom, unaware of the exact details of her husband's new career. This becomes a problem when another married couple begins to poke around in the details of their life and Kate discovers that Dexter has become involved in something potentially illegal. However, as Kate begins to dig around to gather information, it becomes clear that both Kate and Dexter have been keeping secrets and the depth of these secrets goes well beyond what it initially appears. I enjoyed this quasi-spy novel told from a female perspective (by a male writer) but the middle was slow and little information was revealed until the end. I also thought that Kate's perspective would have been more engaging if told in first person, as it was hard to relate to her given her unusual occupation and her ambivalent feelings regarding her life changes. I also thought the ending was pretty farfetched. Despite this, I did enjoy the story since it was unusual and not the typical chick-lit storyline.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Aide memoire: Takes place in Luxembourg and Paris mostly. Double and triple cons about huge sum stolen from an arms dealer Kate (ex-Cia) and husband Dexter (who stole the money) . Bill and Julia (ex-FBI) on their trail and part of the con. The book doesn't start cooking til halfway through.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A jolly good page-turner.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Reasonable first novel, story fairly ludicrous (in a good way) with a few clever twists. Luxembourg and the life of the expat are well observed.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was a good spy novel, just the way I like them: set in a world of reality with minimal gun-play, no careening car chases, no "the fate of the world is at stake" plot, but filled with suspense, intrigue, and mystery nonetheless. It's refreshing to have a spy who's both a wife and a mom (though those aspects of her identity certainly create conflict with her activities). For most of the book, I counted The Expats as among the best spy novels I have read.

    The let-down came at the end with its Agatha Christie-like ending, where all the principals are gathered in one place and all the book's complexities are explained by the mystery-solver in long pages of exposition. It seems like the author could have dealt more imaginatively with the "reveal"--another instance of the writer's basic truth that he should "show, not tell."

    Nonetheless, I'd recommend the book to anyone who likes intelligent suspense.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    When Kate's husband comes home one night and tells her he's had a great job offer in Luxembourg, Kate is more than ready to give up her own job and move out of the house which needs renovations they just can't afford. Kate's job, the one she's eager to leave, is a desk job with the CIA. She had been out in the field for years, but now she's a mother to two young boys. They move and Kate learns to negotiate life in another country, even as her husband works long hours for a company he will not name and grows secretive. They meet another couple, but soon Kate's training tells her that everything isn't aboveboard with the friendly Chicagoans they keep running into everywhere they go. This is a thriller, a genre I'm largely unfamiliar with. There are secrets and double-crosses and elaborate plans. Things move along quickly. The characters remain thinly drawn, but I guess that's a secondary thing in a thriller. There were extended explanations of each person's role in the book, which weighted down the final chapters, but this was a fun, if forgettable book.I do have a quibble with this book; the author has chosen to make his protagonist a woman, but he's not really up to the challenge. Kate was a man in a woman's body. The book would have been just as effective and possibly more interesting had the roles been reversed and the main character a man whose wife was offered the job in Europe. It's a pretty common thing now, but not written much about. Also, Kate was a working mother whose family was struggling financially at the start of the book. Yet the parts of the book where the author talks about daily life are largely full of Kate's boredom and outrage at the responsibility of laundry, cooking, cleaning and childcare, tasks she would have been doing in addition to her job in the US. In a man who had previously little to do with these activities, this reaction would have felt authentic. As it was, I kept wondering how she'd avoided cleaning a bathroom or folding laundry beforehand, especially when it was casually mentioned that her husband had never done much around the house.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Great story but did not like the way it was written, going from present to past to present.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    An absorbing page-turner, perfectly paced, with layers of deception peeled tantalizingly away and back stories gradually revealed as the characters disport themselves about various picturesque European locales. If you need a book to take you out of your surroundings on a tedious plane trip or an unbearably hot summer day, this would be a good choice!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    In The Expats by Chris Pavone we are given delicious clues right from the start that Kate Moore is more than she seems. When Kate's husband, Dexter, is offered a lucrative position with an unnamed bank in Luxembourg, Kate quits her job in Washington D.C., the details of which (she's CIA) she never totally explained to Dexter, and they decide to pack up their sons and become expats, Americans living and working abroad.

    While Kate thinks, at first, that she is leaving her double life behind to concentrate on being a wife and mother, it soon becomes clear that she has developed some skills that could still be useful to her since everything in Luxembourg may not be quite what it seems to be. Dexter is becoming increasingly distant and might be hiding something from her. And then there is a couple they have met who don't seem to be who they claim they are.

    As the tension slowly begins to build, clues foreshadow that there is much more to the story: "Much later, Kate realized that Chicago should have been her first clue. (page 48)." The Expats is full of clues and hints like this of much more to come... and the secrets, all the secrets and half-truths being hidden from others..

    In fact, this stylish and cerebral espionage novel is about secrets, people keeping secrets wrapped up in other secrets. It's not a novel full of violent gun battles and fight scenes. Instead it is an intelligent novel where we are allowed glimpses and tantalizing clues of what might be the real truth, only to have these new revelations dashed aside as new clues are revealed. This is a long-con (and as a Lost fan, I appreciate a great long-con story.)

    The writing was superb. The narrative alternates between the present and the past, both in chronological order, giving us clues and information slowly and subtly. This really makes for a complex, cleverly plotted novel. I started The Expats and could hardly set it down. At page 250 if I didn't have an early meeting the next morning, I would have been sorely tempted to stay up way-too-late to finish this novel, something I really can't say very often anymore.

    I thought Chris Pavone did a tremendous job developing Kate's character and taking us along as we slowly learned what was really going on. While there have been some complaints about the ending, I thought it was great, full of unanticipated twists, and perfectly fit the whole tone of the novel.

    Very Highly Recommended - I thoroughly enjoyed this novel!

    Disclosure: I received an advanced reading copy of this book from Crown Publishing Group and TLC for review purposes.