Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
I'm not sure what I feel about this book. It took me a long time to get through it. I definitely wanted to get through it because I really wanted to know what was going on. It was interesting but not captivating. I wasn't disappointed by it but I wish it had been more enthralling.
This is just a preposterous book. And I haven't read a book that was so engaging and so much fun in a long time. Will is lured into being a reluctant "spy"... he's a travel writer who's to bring back contact info and gossip from his around-the-world travels and give it to his beautiful but ruthless handler. The book takes off from there. It's a spy novel so, obviously, things are not what they seem. The pace is breakneck and like any good spy novel, the action takes place in diverse locales. There's sex, mystery, and action. If you're a spy novel junkie like me, this book has all the expected elements and then some. But you can also kind of figure out what's going on. So that, for me, knocks off a star. However, if you're headed to the beach this summer, going on a long plane ride, or if you simply want a good fast-paced yarn, "The Travelers" is for you. Highly recommended for spy novel fans. Recommended for anyone else looking for a fun read.
Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Fun and twisty. Perhaps it could have been 50 pages shorter, but that's a minor quibble. highly recommended!
So here's the deal: the dude can write. What I WISH is that he would leave some of the frat boy out of his storytelling. I love his detail, his characters, and getting sucked in. I finished this, unlike his last book, despite the sex and crassness by skipping a few sections and luckily for me was able to stomach the rest. Mostly.
I did think that the last 1/3 or 1/4 was rushed; he sets up a great complicated story and then the conclusion pieces fell together a little too quickly and without enough story for me.
I did think that the last 1/3 or 1/4 was rushed; he sets up a great complicated story and then the conclusion pieces fell together a little too quickly and without enough story for me.
Will is a journalist and travel a lot. His task: to write articles about places that the Americans should visit, where they have to eat, and tell their lives when they decide that in a certain place they no longer want to be tourists, but want to live by expats. The newspaper he works for is ancient and famous, and is called The Travelers. Will travels so much that friends jokingly often ask him if in fact he is not a spy, but Will is not a spy, although every now and then is assigned to transport and deliver strange envelopes that can not be opened. Will is not a spy until one day a beautiful colleague seduces him and everything for him changes: his conception of himself and of his marriage, the way it interprets the behavior of those around him, and above all, his idea of what really is the magazine for which he works.
Despite some delays and banality of the plot, some characters that you do not understand what are doing, and some complication that seems put there just for the sake of putting it, is a nice book written well enough, great for a rainy afternoon, when the longest trip that you are willing to do is to go to the kitchen to pour hot coffee.
Thank Faber and Faber Ltd and Netgalley for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
Will è un giornalista e viaggia molto. Il suo compito: scrivere articoli sui posti che gli americani devono assolutamente visitare, dove devono mangiare, e raccontare le loro vite quando decidono che in un certo posto non vogliono più essere turisti, ma vogliono viverci da espatriati. Il giornale per cui lavora è antico e famoso, e si chiama The Travelers. Will viaggia così tanto che gli amici, per scherzo, gli chiedono spesso se in realtà lui non sia una spia, ma Will non è una spia, nonostante ogni tanto venga incaricato di trasportare e consegnare strane buste che non possono essere aperte. Will non è una spia finché un giorno una bellissima collega lo seduce e tutto per lui cambia: la sua concezione di se stesso e del suo matrimonio, il modo in cui interpreta i comportamenti di chi lo circonda e, soprattutto, la sua idea di che cosa sia realmente la rivista per cui lavora.
Nonostante alcune banalità e lungaggini della trama, qualche personaggio che non si capisce che cosa ci stia a fare, e qualche complicazione che sembra messa lì solo per il gusto di metterla, è un libro piacevole a abbastanza ben scritto, ottimo per un pomeriggio piovoso, quando il viaggio più lungo che si è disposti a fare è quello per andare in cucina a versarsi un caffè caldo.
Ringrazio Faber and Faber Ltd e Netgalley per avermi fornito una copia gratuita in cambio di una recensione onesta.
Despite some delays and banality of the plot, some characters that you do not understand what are doing, and some complication that seems put there just for the sake of putting it, is a nice book written well enough, great for a rainy afternoon, when the longest trip that you are willing to do is to go to the kitchen to pour hot coffee.
Thank Faber and Faber Ltd and Netgalley for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
Will è un giornalista e viaggia molto. Il suo compito: scrivere articoli sui posti che gli americani devono assolutamente visitare, dove devono mangiare, e raccontare le loro vite quando decidono che in un certo posto non vogliono più essere turisti, ma vogliono viverci da espatriati. Il giornale per cui lavora è antico e famoso, e si chiama The Travelers. Will viaggia così tanto che gli amici, per scherzo, gli chiedono spesso se in realtà lui non sia una spia, ma Will non è una spia, nonostante ogni tanto venga incaricato di trasportare e consegnare strane buste che non possono essere aperte. Will non è una spia finché un giorno una bellissima collega lo seduce e tutto per lui cambia: la sua concezione di se stesso e del suo matrimonio, il modo in cui interpreta i comportamenti di chi lo circonda e, soprattutto, la sua idea di che cosa sia realmente la rivista per cui lavora.
Nonostante alcune banalità e lungaggini della trama, qualche personaggio che non si capisce che cosa ci stia a fare, e qualche complicazione che sembra messa lì solo per il gusto di metterla, è un libro piacevole a abbastanza ben scritto, ottimo per un pomeriggio piovoso, quando il viaggio più lungo che si è disposti a fare è quello per andare in cucina a versarsi un caffè caldo.
Ringrazio Faber and Faber Ltd e Netgalley per avermi fornito una copia gratuita in cambio di una recensione onesta.
Another enjoyable contemporary espionage/thriller by Pavone. Will Rhodes is a 30-something guy who seems to have it all - a beautiful wife, house in Brooklyn, and enviable lifestyle as a travel writer for a venerable magazine. While on a trip to France, Will meets a beautiful Australian woman who comes on to him. Later, he meets her again in Argentina, and is blackmailed into gathering information for her. He is asked to collect information on people he meets through his travels, as well as his employers. Everyone has secrets, including Will's increasingly distant wife, Chloe. The book is told from multiple points of view, going back and forth in time. The novel has several dramatic action scenes, and an almost cinematic ending, but is mostly focused on the interior thoughts of Will and those around him, yet is nevertheless a quick read. What I love about the book is the spycraft, and Pavone's excellent depictions of today's world and some of the B.S. of contemporary life (e.g., Will's boss's passive-aggressive tweeting several times a day since he has been told to do so by his employers). The ending leaves the story open for a sequel.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley.
Pavone has crafted an excellent spy thriller. His plot is tight and intricately woven across time and geography. The main characters were well developed, if not always set in plausible situations. Action-packed, fast moving, but there are no real surprises, fairly predictable.
Worth the read, not over done with tech details as is commonly the case, but as I said, well-written but predictable.
Pavone has crafted an excellent spy thriller. His plot is tight and intricately woven across time and geography. The main characters were well developed, if not always set in plausible situations. Action-packed, fast moving, but there are no real surprises, fairly predictable.
Worth the read, not over done with tech details as is commonly the case, but as I said, well-written but predictable.
I received a copy of The Travelers from Crown Publishers as a First-Reads giveaway on Goodreads.
Chris Pavone is without doubt a compelling writer and the espionage genre is his go-to niche. I've enjoyed other novels that he had previously written. The Travelers isn't as strong a narrative as he has given us before, but it is still an enjoyable read. Much of the first half of the book leads us a bit awkwardly into the undercover life that has been thrust upon travel writer Will Rhodes. Eventually, Pavone ratchets-up the pace and excitement as Rhodes tries to follow his orders while simultaneously trying to determine if he's a legitimate operative of the CIA or if his handlers are actually a bogus bunch just using him to extricate intelligence, placing him at great risk in the process. The story effectively layers mystery upon mystery and leads to a very satisfying conclusion, with some mysteries left vague enough for another book of similar exploits, or a spin-off of the type which characterizes each successive Pavone novel. He is very clever at lightly tying-in people or places from previous stories, much to the enjoyment of the reader.
Chris Pavone is without doubt a compelling writer and the espionage genre is his go-to niche. I've enjoyed other novels that he had previously written. The Travelers isn't as strong a narrative as he has given us before, but it is still an enjoyable read. Much of the first half of the book leads us a bit awkwardly into the undercover life that has been thrust upon travel writer Will Rhodes. Eventually, Pavone ratchets-up the pace and excitement as Rhodes tries to follow his orders while simultaneously trying to determine if he's a legitimate operative of the CIA or if his handlers are actually a bogus bunch just using him to extricate intelligence, placing him at great risk in the process. The story effectively layers mystery upon mystery and leads to a very satisfying conclusion, with some mysteries left vague enough for another book of similar exploits, or a spin-off of the type which characterizes each successive Pavone novel. He is very clever at lightly tying-in people or places from previous stories, much to the enjoyment of the reader.
It took me a while to get into this, but once I suspended my disbelief, I found it a light, fun summer read.
Enjoyed this for something totally different than my usual read. It could have used a little more intrigue, the whole premise was a little drawn out and obvious, but entertaining still.