Have you read Pavone's previous novel, "The Expats", and if so, how do the books compare? Do any other authors come to mind whose writing styles are similar?
Created: 01/14/20
Replies: 9
Join Date: 10/15/10
Posts: 3442
Have you read Pavone's previous novel, "The Expats", and if so, how do the books compare? Do any other authors come to mind whose writing styles are similar?
Join Date: 07/28/11
Posts: 436
Join Date: 03/03/12
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Join Date: 04/23/12
Posts: 182
I read the Expats and enjoyed the book. Paris Diversion was OK but not as good as The Expats. I was somewhat disappointed having read the first book. I think new readers of Pavone would enjoy it more.
Join Date: 02/06/17
Posts: 438
I read The Expats after I finished reading The Paris Diversion. I liked it better than The Paris Diversion, but it is possible my opinion would be different if I had read the books in order. The plot seemed more straightforward in Pavone's first book. I felt like devoting entire chapters to Mahmoud, Ibrahim, and even Wyatt detracted from the action and unnecessarily slowed the pace. It stuck me as a weak attempt to make a "thriller" more literary.
I'm not so sure that I am a big fan of Kate in either book. Her incessant complaining in the Expats annoyed me (the laundry, the shopping, the cleaning, the playing with the boys, the expat moms, the coffee). I also thought that she and Dexter would move closer together after what they had discovered in the first book. It felt that it had been left that way to me. I was surprised that their relationship was in such a rocky place from the very beginning of The Paris Diversion.
Join Date: 01/04/20
Posts: 4
I read the Expats quite some time ago but really loved it. It was very complicated but also gives you all the background info about this couple and their lives. This book was short on background and I felt I would not have totally understood the marriage and or the revenge scenario if I had only read this book.
Join Date: 10/13/14
Posts: 176
I read The Expats several months ago and liked it very much. I did not like this book as well, as I felt the plot was even more convoluted than The Expats. I think the devotion of entire chapters to some of the lesser characters' points of view was a bit of a diversion (is this a reference to the title?) and the story drug a bit for me because of this. I did like the fact that the whole thing "came out in the wash" by the end of the book, just as it did in The Expats.
Join Date: 04/07/12
Posts: 265
I agree with many of the comments above in that I read The Expats and enjoyed that book more than The Paris Diversion. I read it some time ago and wish I could have refreshed my memory since I forgot many of the details in it. Still, I think both books were comparable in tone, pace, and style.
Join Date: 05/13/19
Posts: 52
Join Date: 10/14/11
Posts: 153
I read The Expats in May 2017 and enjoyed it very much which is the reason I requested this book. I did not like the book & had to force myself to finish it. The author chose to refer back to the 1st story over & over again. I did not find that helpful & most often distracting.
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