The Travelers by Chris Pavone--A 433 Page Jigsaw Puzzle --A Real Page Turner

The Travelers by Chris Pavone


This is the third book I've read by Chris Pavone and each one gets more exciting. Travelers is the name of a print magazine which is in the process of being purchased by a multimillionaire investor who is planning to convert it to a more modern format. The Travelers are the journalists who travel the globe writing articles about various aspects of travel for American tourists.

Malcolm Somers and Gabriela Rivera are the editor and assistant editor who work out of the New York City home office. Obviously, there is some concern about the approach the new owner will take with the publication but there seems to be more than a publishers' anxiety in their and other department heads conversation at editorial meetings.

Will Rhodes is a newcomer to Travelers--he has been hired to replace a fellow, Jonathan, who has seemingly disappeared. No one seems to know where he has gone; his body never found. So, did he get murdered or did he decide to disappear himself? Strange but Malcolm has gotten himself a new, younger traveler to write articles about the food, culture, vineyards, lifestyle of far-flung tourist meccas. Will has gotten a more prestigious job with better pay and will be able to do the renovations on the brownstone he and his wife, Chloe, have inherited in Brooklyn.

At one point, Pavone describes Will as " bored " and " jaded", knowing he has an exciting job but isn't sure he has chosen the right career or the right wife. " He is 35 years old, halfway to dead"--what???? And he questions all the life decisions he's made to this point! Well, dear reader, let me tell you--he's about the make one that will get rid of all that boredom and fast. He is tempted in several locales around the world, where he seems to run into an attractive Australian blonde named Elle. Finally, he succumbs in Argentina and within minutes of consummating his indiscretion, Elle and a friend, Roger, let Will Rhodes know that there are real consequences for cheating on one's wife. He is informed that he will now provide them with information about any and all persons he encounters on his travels that have any type of power or prestige. He has no idea for whom he is now subcontracted but life becomes far more exciting and dangerous than ever before.

The book is written in a kaleidoscope of different locations and events that involve different characters in the book. It is not until almost three quarters of the way through that the connections among the characters and their activities begin to converge and clarify the various organizations and their operations that are involved. Is Will working for the CIA, as Elle has informed him? What is the true mission of Travelers, the magazine and how are Malcolm and Gabriela involved? What exactly does Chloe do for the magazine, now that Will is a world traveler and she has taken a position that keeps her in New York, when once, she, too, traveled?

The action, the locales, the characters all keep the reader involved and like Will, trying to figure out what is going on and who is who. There was only one place that I knew who the character was that, unidentified, committed a murder in Italy. Even though I knew who she was, I have no idea what subliminal clues gave her away and I certainly did not know who the guy was she killed, why she killed him or for whom she was working. So even this small glimmer of knowledge was not enough of a puzzle piece to provide a full picture. For, this book is like that, a huge jigsaw puzzle with the pieces all laid out on the table but none of them assembled until the very last pages. So, if you like puzzles, you'll love this book!

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

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