The Expats

Expat Life as a Deadly Secret

The Expats by Chris Pavone (2012, Faber and Faber) peels back the glossy veneer of cross-border privilege to reveal a world where luxury apartments and diplomatic immunity mask lethal conspiracies. When Kate Freeman relocates to Luxembourg with her diplomat husband, she believes she’s trading secrecy for safety. Instead, Pavone’s razor-sharp prose shows how a restless past can follow you across continents, turning every café meeting and grand soirée into a potential ambush.

Trust Betrayed and Identities Unraveled

As Kate settles into her new role as an expat wife, unsettling fragments of her former life resurface: cryptic phone calls, untraceable bank transfers and a mounting trail of bodies. Pavone orchestrates a tense duel between Kate’s careful deceptions and the forces determined to expose her. Every revelation pushes her toward a breaking point—can she protect her family when the greatest threat comes from within?

Brutal in its depiction of espionage’s personal toll, The Expats refuses romantic clichés. It’s a high-stakes thriller about reinvention and survival, reminding readers that escape is never absolute—and that sometimes the most dangerous journey is the one back to yourself.