The Expats by Chris Pavone

[Lexie]

Four out of Five stars.

This was a pretty good book. I found I was drawn into the plot and I actually cared about the characters. I liked the concept of an ex-CIA agent turned stay at home Mom. I liked the concept of a family moving to Luxembourg. I liked the drama and action of the CIA/FBI plot (when it was there).

Now, here's what I did not like (and it's kind of a big one- enough to cause this book to lose a star): the pacing. Oh my goodness, we spent 3/4 of the book wringing our hands about what Dexter (the husband of the protagonist) will think about Kate (the protagonist) being an ex CIA agent. There was a slow line of intrigue developed at the same time, involving some FBI agents watching the couple and that was nice...but slow. Then we hit the last 20 pages and everything wrapped up nice, neat, and tidy. I wish that there had been more action and less hand wringing. There was also these weird flashes to to the future of Kate running around, grabbing passports for the kids, and getting ready to flee Paris with the family. But that didn't make sense because they were in Luxembourg (and I don't want to discuss these any further as they are definite spoiler material). I don't feel that the random flashes added anything to the story but confusion.

So overall, a great read for the summer. Just get ready for some choppy pacing issues!

[Annie Lee]

This is on my list Lexie - thanks for the review! I hope to read it sometime this summer.