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57 pages 1 hour read

Chris Pavone

Two Nights in Lisbon

Chris PavoneFiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2022

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Part 1, Chapters 1-11Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1: “The Disappearance”

Part 1, Chapter 1 Summary

Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses the novel’s storylines about rape, attempted rape, conversations about sexual assault and violence against women, and drug use.

Ariel Pryce is alone in a Lisbon hotel room looking for her new husband, John Wright. She is seized by a familiar anxiety: “What if she’s wrong about him? About this whole thing?” (3). A timestamp indicates that it is Day 1 and 7:28 am. The counted days mark the duration of John’s disappearance and Ariel’s efforts to find him, which turn out to have wide-ranging repercussions in American politics. The novel plays up the ambiguity of Ariel’s situation by noting that she is groggy due to a sleeping pill John “foisted upon her” (3), but it dispels doubts by emphasizing that the two spent a passionate night together that was entirely consensual. Ariel prepares for the day, reminding herself that the news headlines will involve the confirmation hearings for a new vice president.

Part 1, Chapter 2 Summary

Ariel sees headlines about the likely new vice president and reflects that “today is not at all comfortable” (10). Ariel alerts the hotel staff to John’s absence. The third-person narrator comments cryptically that “the absence of clues is in itself, a clue” (13).

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By Chris Pavone