The Expats

A Novel

By: Chris Pavone

Narrated by: Mozhan Marnò

Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©2012 Chris Pavone (P)2012 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“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)

“Brilliant, insanely clever, and delectably readable, this debut thriller breaks the espionage genre bounds with its American-as-apple-pie heroine... Pavone displays the best characteristics of the form and will earn a faithful and yearning readership.” ( Library Journal)

“Fans of John le Carre and Robert Ludlum will welcome [this] meticulously 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)

unusual story, well-written

This book definitely does not follow predictable plot lines and is well-written and beautifully read. I would characterize this work as intelligent entertainment and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. The jumps in time, however, are frequently sudden and if you are not paying attention (or have fallen asleep!) you may be a bit confused about what is taking place.

Flashback Failures

I read reviews of this book and thought it would be worth a credit. I tend to listen to books in the car to make my commute more tolerable, in this case it made it more stressful. This book constantly jumps from the present to the past. It happens so often and with such poor description you often find yourself trying to figure out when what your currently listening to takes place in the novel. There is no warning and no description to help you clarify its poorly put together. The plot is decent but I would not recommend this as a listen unless you pick it up for a good sale price since its definitely not worth a credit.

Great Book but hard to follow

If you could sum up The Expats in three words, what would they be?

Intracate Story

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Expats?

The final scene where all is pretty much revealed

Which character – as performed by Mozhan Marno – was your favorite?

Kate was very well done. I really connected with her.

Any additional comments?

This was a great book but the flittling back and forth in time made it difficult to listen to. The reader did a good job of catching the mood but it might be a book that is better read than heard.

Pretty good

I just reread this in 2019 to prepare me for the The Paris Diversion, having read it for the first time in 2012!! I remembered only a tiny bit, although I knew I'd read it, but didn't exactly know what was coming, probably because there are so many twists and turns. I do prefer the next book more than this one. I've enjoyed reading both back to back in a binge, really, but I wouldn't want to get stuck in that world where no one has much of a moral centre and everything is turned on its head. You would have to say how clever it is for sure in terms of plot and you do get the feeling of ennui that the main character feels.

This book was frustrating

I gave this book 3 stars because it was well written & the narrator was good too. I agree with other people's reviews that some sort of pause should be done by a narrator to distinguish between the present & the past. I have not read the Kindle or paperback versions of the book to know how it looks in print, but the editor of this production should have caught this early. The book requires patience because it does get tiring being inside the main character's head. It's a long read to the ending where almost all becomes clear. Layers upon layers of deceit are eventually revealed. However, I found the ending to be anticlimactic because it wasn't clear [to me] exactly what happened to the main characters. The ending felt abrupt. I wonder if a sequel is planned & there is more clarity there. I will not read it because I dont know if the author will produce another mini-enigma. I blame his publisher in part because editing was needed for the book prior to publication.

Great Spy Story Among Expats

Great story. Incredible writer. This is a character(s) driven story more than action. Unusual plot and written from a amoral point of view. Really liked it. Look forward to more from writer.

My one criticism is that the story keeps going back and forth over a 2 or 3 year period. In the written form of the book these delineations are probably separated by spacing between paragraphs. This creates a problem when it is being read because you have no idea sometimes or at first if the story has shifted to a different period in time. Wish there was a way to let the listener know this so we are not left guessing or lost sometimes.

Didn't work for me

First, the narrator's fine, so my problem was just with the book. The characters were inconsistent and implausible, the plot tepid and less fully believable than I'd like, and the feelings expressed by the characters all over the place vs. what you'd expect from the action. There's a lot of interior monologue on the part of the heroine, Kate, but she doesn't feel what you the reader feel when you're in her head. She especially agonizes over things, when you want her to be decisive (she used to be a CIA spy), then wusses on resolution. The author also misuses words, not a lot, and not atrociously, but I like elegant writing, and the wrong word breaks the spell for me every time.

Choppy

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Maybe it was listening to this book vs. reading it. But I listened to it at 2x to get though it as quick as possible. I read this for my book club so felt I had to finish it. Maybe it needs to be read so you can figure out which time period she is talking about!

What do you think your next listen will be?

Something I pick and not chosen by my book club.

How could the performance have been better?

Maybe more of a pause when switching to a different time period.

What character would you cut from The Expats?

All of them!

Any additional comments?

I really did not enjoy this book at all, I did not like the ending either.

Kept me finding excuses to keep listening!

Oh my goodness, this was a great spy story! There were so many twists and turns and I kept reconsidering who was good and who was bad in the story. The narration was quite good to keep all the characters believable. The plot.....ex-CIA, the FBI, a secretive husband, cyber theft, banking (sort of).....it had it all. I highly recommend this one!

Great story, a bit choppy

The style of this story is that it switches from timeframe to timeframe, from a listener's perspective it is very difficult to keep straight what is happening 'now' v.s. past v.s. future. the story is very interesting, but the jumping around in time is difficult to follow.
I finished the story, but had to rewind A LOT.