Thursday, June 30, 2016

The Travelers - Chris Pavone

I've read and enjoyed Chris Pavone's previous two books, his award winning debut novel, The Expats and The Accident.

His latest book is The Travelers.

Travelers is a travel/lifestyle magazine. It has correspondents (travelers) traipsing across the globe writing and experiencing. And some of those correspondents are carrying out their other assignments. For you see, Travelers Magazine is a front for a spy organization.

Will doesn't know that. He only knows that his boss asks him to drop off sealed envelopes on certain trips. But on a trip to Argentina, Will makes a bad decision - he sleeps with a beautiful woman who turns out to be more than a one night stand. To protect his marriage, he agrees to her terms. And he is thrust into a different web of international intrigue. Who works for who? Who is legit? Government sanctioned? Rogues? Demands and tension ratchet up as competing organizations cross paths.

Pavone incorporates his own experience into his books. He's a former book editor and has lived abroad for years.  He does the international/espionage thing very well. I enjoyed the premise and thought it was quite clever. What better cover than a person paid to travel and write about it? But it took me a bit to finish the book - I found myself getting bogged down and losing interest. The same thing seemed to happen more than once, just in a different setting. The random sexual scenes thrown in seemed gratuitous. I wanted a quicker paced read than the slow pace The Travelers was offering. I did finish the novel and appreciated the plotting, but this one was just an okay read for me. Read an excerpt of The Travelers.

3 comments:

holdenj said...

Very similar to how I felt about this one. Enjoyed the other two much more.

bermudaonion said...

It does sound like a good premise - too bad it dragged.

Mystica said...

Sorry it did not work out for you. I've read just The Expats and liked it.