Global Thriller

• Book: The Travelers
• Location: World
• Author: Chris Pavone

Review Author: tripfiction

The Travelers is real page turner, moving rapidly from New York, to Argentina, to Paris, to Barcelona, to Dublin, to Capri, to Stockholm, to Edinburgh, to Iceland – reminds me a little of a James Bond movie!

Travelers is a New York City based global travel magazine, with bureaux or stringers in most countries of the world. Malcolm Somers, the editor, presides over the empire… Will Rhodes is a leading travel journalist, a friend of Malcolm’s who also works for the magazine. Will is married to Chloe.

Will is on assignment in Mendoza, Argentina when he is seduced, and then blackmailed by Elle, an American pretending to be an Australian. She and her partner have filmed his indiscretion and threaten to show the film to Chloe – unless Will agrees to work for the CIA, and use his cover as a travel journalist to spy on those of interest to the CIA that he meets in his job. He says he will. But are the people he is to spy on the real target? Is he actually working for the CIA? Could Travelers magazine itself be at the heart of the story?

The plot and intrigue is fast moving – from an oligarch’s yacht in the Mediterranean via Dublin, Edinburgh, Paris, and Barcelona to a final dramatic climax on a cliff top in Iceland – with side scenarios along the way in Capri and Stockholm. Nothing is as it seems and no one is who they appear to be. The climax features (amongst others) Will, Malcolm, and Chloe – but how did they all get to be there?

Chris writes in an extremely readable style – and you can just flow along with the book as it takes you from location to location. In TripFiction terms we don’t really spend enough time in any one place to become that familiar with it, but each location is described pretty authentically. Ideal reading for a globe trotter dropping in on various destinations! Bits of the plot may go over you as you read (they did for me…), but all becomes clear in the end.

The Travelers is Chris’ third book. The first two, The Expats and The Accident, both featured in the New York Times and Sunday Times best sellers lists. I confidently predict that The Travelers will do the same. It is a great read.

This review first appeared on our blog where we also chat to the author.

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