This book was recommended to me by a trusted source. The source was right. I was not familiar with the writings of Chris Pavone, but now I am a fan. The Expats is set in Luxembourg, primarily, but takes the reader to Paris, Geneva, New York City and Washington, D.C.
The primary “good guys” are Kate and Dexter Moore who have two boys ages 4 and 5. Kate has worked for U.S. Government for about 15 years. Dexter thinks she writes position papers for the State Department. Dexter is a self-professed cyber-security expert, or so Kate thinks. They live in Washington, D.C. and barely make financial ends meet. Dexter is a private contractor and he comes home one day and tells Kate their financial worries are over. He has just been hired by a bank in Luxembourg that will pay their expenses for a year plus $300,000 (360,000 euros). They have to move almost immediately. Kate has to leave her job in two weeks.
In Luxembourg, the Moores are befriended Julia and Bill Maclean. They are childless and slightly younger than Kate and Dexter. Julia does not work. Bill hints that he too works in the financial field. After all, it is Luxembourg, home to super-secret banks. To Kate, Julia and Bill do not ring true so she begins to investigate them. What she finds shakes her to the core.
Another major character that the reader learns about is an offstage player, who is a truly evil Serbian military officer turned unscrupulous arms dealer. Dexter knows about him since that man was responsible for the dismemberment and murder of Dexter’s brother in 1990s Serbia. The last character is an old friend of Kate’s named Hayden Grey. None of the characters are who they seem to be. No spoilers here.
Hayden Grey is the subject of another book by the author, The Accident, that I have just started reading. There is a third book, Paris Diversions, featuring Kate and Dexter. A fourth stand-alone novel is set in Argentina and Europe. That book is entitled The Travelers. I always love to find an awesome author with multiple books to take me away to other times and places.
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–Jim Harris, retired book sales rep
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