Back in 2012, I read The Expats by Chris Pavone. I loved it! It was an international thriller, telling the story of a couple who pick up and leave the US so the husband, Dexter, can take a lucrative job in Luxembourg. They jump at the chance to start a new life abroad with the promise of a much higher standard of living…only catch is that Kate has been leading a double life, with all sorts of entanglements and plot twists. It was reminiscent of Ludlum at his best, or LeCarré (who is always first rate). So, when I saw that Chris Pavone’s latest book continued the saga of Kate and Dexter, still in Europe but now settled in Paris, I was happy to have the chance to read an advance copy in return for my honest review.

The Paris Diversion opens with Kate dropping her kids off at school and going to meet Dexter for coffee. Just another day for their new life they began after they got out of Luxembourg after some nifty adventures unraveled in Expats. Across town, two other primary characters are going about their mornings: In one location, tech CEO Hunter Forsyth is puzzled as to why his police protectors are leaving him to head to the Louvre and he can’t get any connectivity on any of his devices. And then there is Mahmoud Khalid, who climbs out of a van, carrying a metal briefcase and wearing what looks like a bomb vest.

So, everyone’s plans for the day seem ready to explode (some more literally than others), and the story evolves to reveal Dexter’s plan to make a fortune at the expense of his adversary, Hunter Forsyth. Hunter is hoping to make a major announcement about an acquisition that will enrich him even further, and Mahmoud is just planning to die and take a lot of people with him.

There are lots of plot twists and a boatload of  tension, as Kate realizes “There is no such thing as safety for anyone, anywhere. Not anymore.” Her experience with the CIA has made her wary of everyone, as “…CIA halls were suffused with the miasma of testosterone and Kate was under a more or less constant threat of getting dismissed, getting ignored, getting rejected.”

I love the way today’s danger IRL is woven into the story: “This is how a police state happens, isn’t it? An emergency that never subsides.” And the characters are well-drawn, with the big surprise for me being Pavone’s skill at writing a woman’s thoughts: “Kate wants to look to other people the way she sees herself. She wonders if anyone, ever, has attained that goal.”

There are multiple viewpoints in this story, which can make it challenging to keep straight  unless you are able to sit down and just read until it’s done. Good idea to block out time for this one, because once it starts, it grabs you and you need to hang on and enjoy the ride!

I’m a big Pavone fan, with this one and The Expats being my favorites. Five stars.