The Expats by Chris Pavone

Published by

Sarah Ann

on

May 6, 2015

The Expats caught my eye at the bookstore because I just spent the last three weeks binge-watching FX’s The Americans. I’m more intrigued than ever by spies, and by how they can manage to balance both a family life and a secret life. Like in The Expats by Chris Pavone!

Kate Moore leaves her career in the CIA to live as an expat in Luxembourg with her husband Dexter, a security system genius who works as an independent contractor for one of the country’s most prestige financial institutions. After working in secrecy as a CIA agent for several years, Kate is bored with her new life, which consists mostly of shuffling her kids to and from school and drinking coffee with the other expat moms.

Shortly after Kate and her family settle in, she and Dexter become friends with an attractive, mysterious couple named Julia and Bill. Kate’s CIA background helps her realize Julia and Bill aren’t who they claim to be, and so she starts finding ways to protect her family from these potential enemies who may be investigating her.

As daily life in Luxembourg gets stranger with each passing day, Kate suspects that maybe her husband isn’t who he claims to be, either.

The Expats flows very nicely from start to finish. Pavone’s style is fun and direct. I like novels with short chapters, and this one fits the bill. It’s told entirely from Kate’s point of view, so we get to enjoy her thought processes as she tries to figure out whether Bill, Julia, Dexter, or all of the above are deceiving her. I got a huge kick reading about how Kate would go into actress mode when feigning ignorance about certain topics she knew everything about, being in the CIA and all. Loved it.

The book was about 30 pages too long. I appreciated all the red herrings and twists, which became a bit tiring toward the end. Nevertheless, this novel is highly enjoyable, and I loved every minute of my time with it.

Other books by Chris Pavone include:

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Last Updated on November 23, 2025 by Sarah Ann

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