...you need not have read The Expats to be immediately captivated by The Paris Diversion ... as much the story of a modern woman as it is a globe-hopping thriller ... The outrageous plot and equally crazy subplots unravel in just one day in Paris. Readers may be scratching their heads ... Eventually it melds together ... With the deft hand of someone who understands what drives people to make bad decisions, Pavone delivers mostly selfish and shallow characters who both fascinate and repulse us ... It may be the most clever plot twist of the year.
Pavone delivers another thoroughly immersive, stylish, and intelligent thriller ... Pavone again unspools a tightly wound plot in which the levels of deception keep multiplying ... Pavone keeps us zooming through this book to find the answers to those and many other questions, but, in the middle of that race to the finish line, most readers are likely to find themselves slowing down a bit, savoring the richness of virtually every character.
Pavone does a lot of things really well. A terrific writer, he paints a beautiful picture on the page, bringing Paris right to life for readers ... Likewise, in addition to his clean prose, he knows how to spin a solid mystery, and his latest will no doubt keep readers guessing along the way until he’s ready to reveal the truth. On the other hand, the secondary cast of characters is rather large, resulting in too many of them feeling just slightly underdeveloped ... Those are very minor complaints, however, and shouldn’t be an issue for anyone willing to suspend their disbelief—and those who do will have a seriously fun time.
The Expats was so intricate that it is essential to read it before tackling the sequel. If you pick up The Paris Diversion cold, you’ll spend a lot of time wondering who the Moores are ... The Paris Diversion provides an unearned frisson from the fact that its sections are named for Paris’s most famous places, with accompanying photos ... The idea that the key word in The Paris Diversion is 'diversion,' and that we are being put through something very petty, is just unthinkable ... The Paris Diversion does have a tight, extremely clever bit of exposition, in which all its diverse pieces suddenly fall into place and its many red herrings are exposed as empty trickery. But it comes much too late ... This is his first eyebrow-raiser.
The Paris Diversion is the second installment in the masterfully crafted Kate Moore series and much like its forerunner it’s jammed with nonstop adventures and electrifying action ... Because the story is told from several viewpoints and given the fact that a few of these are from peripheral characters the casual reader who does not have prior understanding might be confused about their roles ... once these viewpoints are understood the storyline transforms into a read that is appealing, absorbing, and intensely spellbinding. The twists and turns are never predicable, and the heart-pounding tension of The Paris Diversion effortlessly transports the reader through a labyrinth of hypnotic suspense
The plot twists and turns like a desperate running back on fourth down, with readers sometimes hard-pressed to determine which character is lying to whom and why. Some readers will find Pavone’s style fascinating, while others will find it frustrating ... Still, he gives some crisp observations on the society in which we live.
A good thriller isn't so much written as built, and Pavone is one of the genre's most consistently dazzling architects ... Pavone gives us a fresh, pulsating, and introspective thriller that delivers on its tourist-heavy Parisian setting and expands and connects territory from his previous novels ... Absolutely not to be missed.
More than anything, a Pavone thriller can make a reader worry whether the heroes will be OK, even after the book is finished, an unsettling thought for genre fans ... While marital distrust is another feature of Pavone’s literary tradecraft, the stakes in The Paris Diversion are considerably higher ... Diversion is Pavone’s specialty, which he employs here with panache, clockwork precision and a great command of Paris locales.
[A] sizzling thriller ... Pavone strikes a somber note ... Both characters are so realistically drawn that their quarrels sound unscripted. But Pavone takes great pains with all his characters.
[A] sturdy sequel ... Poorly established stakes and underdeveloped characters lessen the tale’s urgency and impact, but Pavone’s clever setup and nimble execution buoy the book to an action-packed finish. Fans of latter-day le Carré will be well satisfied.
[A] fast-paced thriller ... With all those players, mercenaries, and assorted bad guys thrown into the mix, you just know that the storyline is going to be knotty, and it resolves in a messy spatter of violence that’s trademark Pavone and decidedly not for the squeamish. A satisfying puzzler, one to shelve alongside le Carré, Forsyth, and other masters of foreign intrigue.
