Book Review: The Expats by Chris Pavone

Title: The Expats: A Novel by Chris Pavone

Publisher: Crown Publishing; March 6, 2012
Genre: suspense
Objective rating: 4/5

She knew why she was picking a fight: because she was furious, because the FBI and Interpol were for some reason in her business, because she'd once made a horrible decision that would haunt her forever, and because the one person in the world she'd trusted without reservation was lying to her.

Perhaps his lie was about something benign. And maybe his lying had nothing to do with her anger. (ch. 16)

About the book: Kate Moore quit her job but didn't tell her husband Dexter the real reason why. She had also kept her real job a secret from him for 15 years. When they move to Luxembourg for Dexter's new job with a private bank, Kate has to reinvent herself as a stay at home wife and mom, a job she finds more and more tedious as time goes on.

When another expatriate American couple, Julia and Bill, make their acquaintance and insist on becoming their friends, Kate becomes suspicious of their motives and begins her own investigation of them. She then begins to wonder about her husband Dexter, begins to spy on him, go through his papers, find out new things about him. She feels nothing may be what they seem on the surface. Maybe Dexter has secrets, just as she herself has had for many years.

This is really a story about the two American couples, expatriates, how their relationship develops, how their past seems to catch up with them, how their secrets are gradually revealed to show what and who they really are.

Comments: I can't say more in detail without giving away the plot and spoiling the book for readers. The novel reads like a spy novel but is also a novel about secrets people live with, hiding them even from their loved ones. The book held my interest throughout, although the ending was a little long, the plot unfolding slowly in dialogue, although in a very realistic way.

I enjoyed the descriptions of the European cities that Kate and Dexter and their children visit, the old world atmosphere, the dank weather in winter, and more. I recommend the book for lovers of Europe and lovers of suspense.

I received a complimentary review copy of this book.

The Shepherd by Ethan Cross: Book Tour

Title: The Shepherd by Ethan Cross
Paperback: 400 pages; Publisher: The Fiction Studio (March 16, 2011)
Genre: Thriller
Source: ARC provided by Pump Up Your Book Promotions

Publisher's description: Marcus Williams and Francis Ackerman Jr. both have a talent for hurting people. Marcus, a former New York City homicide detective, uses his abilities to protect others, while Ackerman uses his gifts to inflict pain and suffering. When both men become unwilling pawns in a conspiracy that reaches to the highest levels of our government, Marcus finds himself in a deadly game of cat and mouse trapped between a twisted psychopath and a vigilante with seemingly unlimited resources. Aided by a rogue FBI agent and the vigilante's beautiful daughter–a woman with whom he's quickly falling in love–Marcus must expose the deadly political conspiracy and confront his past while hunting down one of the most cunning and ruthless killers in the world.
 
Comments: Very intense thriller with a surprise ending, pitting the Shepherd against the villain. Not for the faint of heart, and one I would recommend for adults only for the intense action. For more about the book, visit the author at Ethan Cross.
 
Thanks to Tracee of Pump Up Your Book promotions for arranging the book tour, which runs through mid-May.

Challenge: Mystery and Suspense Challenge 2011

Book Review: Dead Light District by Jill Edmondson

Title: Dead Light District: A Sasha Jackson Mystery
 by Jill Edmondson

Paperback, 224 pages
Published December 20th 2010 by Dundurn
Genre: mystery
Source: review copy provided by author

Comments: This mystery doesn't hesitate to show the underside of the great city of Toronto - the seedy side of this hugely cosmopolitan city. Private investigator Sasha Jackson is asked to find a missing woman, an illegal immigrant who works for a local madam. Sasha solves the mystery but not before encountering two murders and a good look at the convoluted workings of the underground.

More than a few times, I wanted to give Sasha and many of the characters in the book a good mouth washing with harsh soap. The language they use makes the book more realistic and fitting for the environment and circumstances, but the f--- words do fly! For this reason, I'd suggest the novel for adults only.

Goodreads book description: "As open-minded as she is, private investigator Sasha Jackson feels out of place when her latest case plunges her into the world of commercial sex. A classy madam has hired Sasha to find a missing Mexican hooker, which seems easy enough at first. However, everything becomes complicated when a nasty pimp turns up dead in the wrong hotel. Things get even worse when a spaced-out call girl, an arthritic old lady, and a Rastafarian pawnbroker enter the scene.

Sasha figures out why the hooker ran away but not where to. How fast can anyone run in stiletto heels? When the next body turns up, Sasha has her moral compass tested as she tries to understand the sex trade and how those enmeshed in it will do anything to survive - even if it means murder." (Goodreads)

I would recommend the book for mystery lovers who like an interesting plot but who don't mind stark language.

Objective rating: 3.75/5

Challenges: Immigrant Stories Challenge 2011, Mystery and Suspense Reading Challenge 2011

Reading Challenge: Mystery & Suspense 2011

Reading 12 mystery or suspense novels for 2011 shouldn't be too hard as I read over 50 each year. Sign up for the challenge HERE.

My reads this year:

1. Crashed (The Junior Bender Series) by Timothy Hallinan, a new eBook.
2. 9 Gold Bullets (Vincent Calvino Crime Novel) by Christopher G. Moore, eBook.
3. Delirious by Daniel Palmer
4. A Heartbeat Away by Michael Palmer
5. Dead Light District by Jill Edmondson
6. Red Jade by Henry Chang
7. A Red Herring without Mustard by Alan Bradley
8. Cat Sitter among the Pigeons by Blaize Clement
9. The Thieves of Darkness by Richard Doetsch
10.Beaglemania by Linda O. Johnston
11.Murder in Passy by Cara Black
12. Death of a Chimney Sweep by M.C. Beaton
13. The Headhunter's Daughter by Tamar Myers
14. Scones and Bones by Laura Childs
12.The Beloved Dead by Tony Hays
13. The Shepherd by Ethan Cross

Thanks to Book Chick City for another year of this challenge.