THE TRAVELERS
Meet Will Rhodes: globe-trotting journalist, barely solvent, living in a crumbling house and a crumbling marriage, his idealism giving way to disillusionment, to the increasing worry that he’s living the wrong life, with the wrong person. One night in Argentina, an irresistible woman makes Will an offer that he can’t resist, then a very different sort of offer that he can’t refuse.
Will is suddenly plucked from his New York offices at Travelers magazine, thrust into the treacherous world of international intrigue, of secret training facilities and next-generation surveillance, of shady expats in the Pyrenees and oligarch parties on Mediterranean mega-yachts. Will starts asking dangerous questions—about missing colleagues and incomplete archives, about disappeared ex-spies—and soon finds himself fleeing for his life on a frantic race across Europe, from the menacing late-night streets of Dublin and Barcelona to a midnight raid on a Paris mansion and an isolated cabin perched on a desolate cliff in Iceland.
It becomes clear that nothing about Will’s life was ever ordinary. That the network of deception ensnaring him is part of an immense conspiracy with complex origins in World War II and global implications today. That no one is who they appear to be—and that the people closest to Will may pose the greatest threat of all.
It’s 3:00 a.m. Your husband has just become a spy.
Praise for THE TRAVELERS
“Combines Pavone’s trademark Swiss-watch plotting with warm and human characters caught up in a deadly scenario that gets plausibly and inevitably more dangerous as each page turns. It’s hard to believe this is only Pavone’s third book—he’s already an automatic must-read for me.”
—LEE CHILD
“The Travelers does confirm what Mr. Pavone’s first two books have established: that when it comes to quick-witted, breathless thrillers that trot the globe, his are top-tier.”
—NEW YORK TIMES
“Wit, suspense, great scenery, and a cast of dozens propel this well-paced escapade to its (literal) cliff-hanging conclusion; it’s like a ‘Spy vs. Spy’ comic-strip done in 3-D.”
—WALL STREET JOURNAL
“In his previous two books, The Expats (2012) and The Accident (2014), Pavone established himself as a highly adept weaver of complicated tales of deceit and danger with an international backdrop and a seemingly innocent central character. This latest is his most effective to date.”
—FINANCIAL TIMES
“Chris Pavone’s The Travelers is a Hitchcockian thriller that recalls Notorious (spying for the government; explosive marital secrets) and North by Northwest (man on the run) . . . Pavone works here in an expansive mode. He brings on a full slate of characters, sharply etching their dress, their moves, their motives, all the while evoking the world they occupy.”
—WASHINGTON POST
“The Travelers puts Pavone’s excellent pacing on parade; it’s a fast, fun read, like binge-watching Alias.”
—GQ
“Pavone continues his run of smart, elegant thrillers with The Travelers . . . written with wit and charm as well as satirical brio.”
—THE GUARDIAN
“Nobody brings the human aspect of the spy world into focus better than Pavone, and his stellar writing carries the day.”
—ASSOCIATED PRESS
“Sneaky, insightful and surprising, Pavone’s latest dazzles with its take on modern spycraft.”
—CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER
“Acclaimed thriller writer Chris Pavone seems to have another winner with The Travelers a rock ’em-sock ’em adventure . . . The richly complicated plot keeps Rhodes (and readers) guessing until book’s end.”
—ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
“Engaging, complex, fully fleshed characters with believable backstories and narrative depth and elegance to go along with suspense and derring-do . . . One of the most intelligent thrillers of the year.”
—BOOKLIST starred review
“The so-called ‘great game’ of espionage has a sort of historical ring to it, but Chris Pavone’s compelling new thriller, The Travelers, shows that in our globalised, hyperconnected world the game is more alive than ever, just as dangerous, and just as thrilling. What doesn’t change is the human stuff, the messy moral ambiguity, and Pavone guides us through this with great skill.”
—ALAN GLYNN
“With its intricate plot pinballing down dual, occasionally criss-crossing tracks, the story offers plenty of page-turning action in exotic locales.”
—PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
“I love Chris Pavone’s writing, it’s smart and elegant and brilliantly intertwines intrigue with menace.”
—PETER JAMES