The Expats

Part parenting journal (Kate, the protagonist, is raising two small boys in Luxembourg), part travelogue (the book visits most of Europe's top cities), and part spy story (lots of acronym-laced agents double-crossing each other), this book may not keep you on the edge of your seat but will probably keep you in it. Its strong suit is the use of marriage as a metaphor for spy intrigue; its weakness is that it jumps around in time, making it a bit tricky for audiobook listeners. And, alas, there are a bunch of loose ends that remain loose after the book is over. It's hard to imagine a better narration than the one provided by Mozhan Marno, who carefully constructs the third-person/first-person voice of the book's heroine. But ultimately, this title is a lot like a new bottle of ketchup. You spend a lot of time trying to get something out of it, and then right at the end, when you're about to give up, too much comes pouring out at once. R.W.S. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

Starred review from January 2, 2012
Fans of John le Carré and Robert Ludlum will welcome former book editor Pavone’s first novel, a meticulously plotted, psychologically complex spy thriller. When Dexter Moore, a financial systems security expert in Washington, D.C., receives a lucrative offer to work for a bank in Luxembourg, his wife, Kate, resigns her position as a CIA operative—a job her husband knows nothing about—and vows to recreate herself as a devoted wife and mother to their two boys. But Kate soon discovers that computer geek Dexter has been living a secret life as well, and that he may be a thief being investigated by the FBI and Interpol who’s stolen millions of euros in online banking transactions. 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. Agent: David Gernert, the Gernert Company.