We’re holding our monthly book club with an online meetup on May 3. Sign up on Team Snap to join us.

We’ll discuss Two Nights in Lisbon by Chris Pavone.

Discussion questions

1. The structure alternates between Ariel’s present search for her husband in Lisbon and her life in New York in the past. Did learning about Ariel’s past help you better understand her current actions? Did your feelings about Ariel change as you learned more about her history?
2. The novelist Lee Child says this book is “timely, important, layered with ticking suspense.” The plot and characters definitely have a few parallels with recent important events and people in American life. How do you feel about this commentary? Does it enhance the reading experience for you? Do you prefer fiction to be a total escape from reality, or a reflection of it?
3. The structure alternates between Ariel’s present search for her husband in Lisbon and her life in New York in the past. Did learning about Ariel’s past help you better understand her current actions? Did your feelings about Ariel change as you learned more about her history?
4. When Ariel discovers that her husband is missing, did you think she was overreacting? What would you have done differently? What did you think had happened to John?
5. Chris Pavone is a man, and this book’s protagonist is a woman. Do you think Pavone was successful at capturing the female point of view? Where do you think he made missteps? Do you believe that an author’s gender, race, ethnicity, or any other factors should limit their authority in writing from certain points of view?

Summary

Tautly wound and expertly crafted, Two Nights in Lisbon is a riveting thriller about a woman under pressure, and how far she will go when everything is on the line.

You think you know a person . . .

Ariel Pryce wakes up in Lisbon, alone. Her husband is gone—no warning, no note, not answering his phone. Something is wrong.

She starts with hotel security, then the police, then the American embassy, at each confronting questions she can’t fully answer: What exactly is John doing in Lisbon? Why would he drag her along on his business trip? Who would want to harm him? And why does Ariel know so little about her new—much younger—husband?

The clock is ticking. Ariel is increasingly frustrated and desperate, running out of time, and the one person in the world who can help is the one person she least wants to ask.

With sparkling prose and razor-sharp insights, bestselling author Chris Pavone delivers a stunning and sophisticated international thriller that will linger long after the surprising final page.