Infinite Books

Ariel Pryce is an attractive woman in her mid-forties, recently married to a much younger man, John, who suggested she accompany him on his business trip to Lisbon. After their first passionate night in a Lisbon hotel, Ariel wakes up and discovers her husband is gone. Stranded in a foreign country, she proves quick-thinking and contacts the local police and the American Embassy. She is even quicker in contacting the officials than John’s kidnappers are in reaching her with the message that she must pay the ransom of three million euros to get her husband back and alive.

Ariel has dark secrets and trauma in her life, which made her change her name and lifestyle – she used to be an actress, then a socialite wife married to a wealthy businessman, and now she lives with her son in a small town, running a bookstore; at home, she has two dogs and a pet goat. We learn that John changed his name, too. They decided to get married after one year, and Ariel didn’t know much about her new husband. The stakes become higher when the CIA enters the picture. Eventually, “the most powerful man in the world” might be involved – the shadow of the White House looms in the distance. This is the case when two questions should be asked – who benefits from John’s kidnapping, and who will suffer the consequences? And is Ariel really a victim or a clever player trying to win?

“Two Nights in Lisbon” is a skillfully written political thriller that I’m sure will be made into a movie. Chris Pavone did a great job creating an exciting plot, with Lisbon in the background. It seems like the author tried hard to make Ariel a likable, strong woman, practically a spokesperson for women’s rights. She despises the New York society where wives are treated as trophies and husbands are eager to have large families to brag about their beautiful children. She detests the expectations that a woman has to be thin – yet she used to limit her meals and was always a little hungry. Ariel even hates the new language, with terms like “mansplaining,” thinking that providing a label for a behavior makes it less evil, taming it rather than trying to eradicate it. There are just so many things Chris Pavone’s heroine hates! And all her opinions are announced by the author, while I would prefer to discover them on my own.

Eventually, I became interested enough in the story to overlook its flaws and slightly patronizing language. I appreciated that Chris Pavone points out the method of non-disclosure agreement as a tool to protect sexual predators. His voice is undoubtedly essential in the #metoo movements. However, I wish it was a voice I would find more refined.

TWO NIGHTS IN LISBON, Chris Pavone, MCD, 2022