Two Nights in Lisbon

Two Nights in Lisbon is a 2022 thriller by Chris Pavone. Pavone has written several other espionage thrillers, including 2019’s The Paris Diversion and 2012’s The Expats, which won the Edgar and Anthony Awards for Best First Novel.

Page numbers in this guide refer to the Kindle e-book edition. This guide contains extensive spoilers and reveals key twists sooner than they appear in the novel.

Content Warning: This guide discusses the novel’s storylines, which include accounts of rape and attempted rape, as well as discussions of sexual assault and violence against women. There are also brief descriptions of drug use.

Plot Summary

The work opens in Lisbon with Ariel Pryce, the protagonist, alone in her hotel room after a passionate night with her husband, John Wright. She becomes worried about John’s absence and visits the local police and the US embassy. In both cases, she meets skepticism, given that John has been missing for mere hours. She begins to look for him. Her search is punctuated by references to news from the US, particularly confirmation hearings for a new vice president.

Ariel attracts the attention of a local foreign correspondent, Pete Wagstaff, as well as law enforcement. Flashback sequences show that in her former life as Laurel Turner, Ariel was the wife of a wealthy businessman, Bucky Turner, in New York City. Ariel’s inner monologue is deeply cynical about the ways women are ignored when they discuss sexual harassment and assault.

Her search for John takes a turn when a mysterious person on a motorcycle delivers her a cell phone. When the phone rings, Ariel is told John has been kidnapped, and she must deliver €3 million to secure his release.

Ariel calls Bucky for ransom help. When he declines, she contacts an unnamed man they both know, whom Bucky fears and Ariel detests. Ariel speaks with the unnamed man, who will only discuss the details of the ransom over a secure line in the US embassy.

After Ariel threatens him with exposure, the man agrees to help but insists she sign a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) about this payment related to one she signed years before.

The Lisbon police ask Ariel probing questions about her son George’s trust fund and John’s sister, Lucy, who lives in Morocco. Ariel is forced to acknowledge her past as Laurel Turner. The CIA realizes the man Ariel called is Charlie Wolfe, the vice-presidential nominee. Wagstaff becomes interested in George’s paternity, wondering if his conception was the result of rape.

After a circuitous journey through Lisbon, Ariel provides the ransom money and finds John. The couple’s reunion is brief, as the Lisbon police suspect John faked the kidnapping to extort the funds.  

Flashback sequences reveal that, 14 years earlier, Ariel was married to Bucky and hoping to conceive her first child when Wolfe raped her during a party at his summer home.

In the present, the CIA team discovers John’s army service in Afghanistan and CIA career. An embassy official tells Wagstaff about Ariel’s use of the secure line, intensifying his belief the case has implications for US politics. Ariel refuses to explain to the Lisbon police how she got the ransom money, reminding them of the strict penalties for NDA violation.

The Lisbon police plan to arrest John for extortion. Ariel and John cross into Spain, thwarting the police and the CIA. Pete combs newspaper archives to identify Ariel’s rapist. Flashbacks reveal that Ariel left Bucky when he did not support her after the rape.

Powerful intelligence officials entertain the idea of killing Ariel to protect Wolfe. Ariel is detained at the airport. The Portuguese police decide not to pursue her, but CIA agent Nicole Griffiths has her taken in for questioning. John leaves Spain with an unnamed woman.

Another flashback reveals that Ariel told Wolfe she was pregnant as a result of the rape and signed the original NDA in exchange for $3 million. She carried her pregnancy to term and used the money to buy a home and bookstore. In the present, Wagstaff finds a former friend of Ariel’s who confirms his suspicions about Wolfe’s violence against women.

Griffiths interrogates Ariel. She posits that Ariel is an unwitting pawn in John’s extortion scheme. She persuades her superiors to let Ariel return home and uncovers that Wolfe also raped John’s sister Lucy. The CIA finds Lucy depositing funds in a Swiss bank.

After her return home, Ariel tells George the truth. Wolfe raped her, and she let him believe George was conceived as a result. Bucky is his father, but Ariel lied to secure their financial future.

The reader learns that John originally tracked Ariel down because she, like his sister Lisa, was a survivor of sexual violence by Wolfe. The three of them hatched the kidnapping ruse to extort further money from Wolfe and leave clues that would lead the press and law enforcement to the truth about his crimes without violating Ariel’s NDA. The plan works, and Wolfe’s political and business career is soon in shambles.

In the Epilogue, Ariel reflects on the real story of her relationship with John. They married only for the sake of this scheme. However, in pretending to be a loving and trusting couple, they became one. They reunite in Montenegro. Ariel feels free to pursue her desires now that Wolfe has no power over her or anyone else.