The Expats by Chris Pavone

When Dexter Moore gets a job offer in Luxembourg, his wife Kate Moore decides to leave her secretive job in U.S. and enjoy being a stay-at-home mom in their new home. The Moores move to Luxembourg and Dexter is always busy at his work. Kate finds lots of time on her hands and in spite of constant jet-setting travelling different European countries in the weekends and holidays, she is bored. Kate gets friendly with Julia and Bill Maclean, only to learn that all is not as it seems. Is it because Kate is bored that she finds the need to investigate her new friends or is just her habit? What are the secrets our Kate is hiding? What are the secrets, if any, her new friends are hiding? Why is Dexter so secretive about his new employer?

The story has a disjointed feel. One moment the children are going to school in Luxembourg, another in Paris. It takes some time to understand that they are different timelines. Only the present is labelled as Today, the timeline in the past is not labelled, causing confusion. I don't know if it is done on purpose. It takes lots of time to get used to the structure. The story gets interesting to me after a magical number appears. Before that the story seemed to be going in the direction of spouse swapping. With the magical number, the story takes a completely different turn. The second half is exciting with lots of surprises, twists and turns. And you get a feel of the expat life in Luxembourg.

I bought the ebook for £0.20 for kindle from Amazon UK. For all I know, it is still the same price, a bargain I think.

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