MAPLEWOOD, NJ — Chris Pavone first got the idea for his new novel “The Travelers,” while working a summer job at an international advertising agency during the late 1980s, where the future best-selling author was surrounded by employees of various countries who spoke multiple languages, each often jetting off to some foreign locale to handhold a client. It all might seem glamorous to outsiders, but to Pavone the experience only raised a glaring question — was everything truly as it seemed?
“This was before normal people had access to the internet and there was no way for me to research the veracity of what this company was claiming they did for a living,” Pavone told the News-Record in a March 3 phone interview about the novel ahead of his book signing at Words Bookstore in Maplewood on March 9. “There are definitely in this world front companies that are pretending to be in business for one goal and, in effect, are in business for another goal entirely. Perhaps I was working at one of those.”
Years later Pavone has expounded on that concept in “The Travelers” to tell the story of Will Rhodes, a travel writer disillusioned with his seemingly idyllic career and perfect marriage. One night in Argentina Rhodes has a fateful meeting with a woman who draws him into a world of intrigue and espionage, changing his life forever. For it is in crossing that threshold that he learns much of his past has actually been a web of lies. And the deception stems from the magazine for which he writes.
“The Travelers” is Pavone’s third book involving ordinary people caught up in extraordinary circumstances, and follows “The Expats” and “The Accident,” which is not a coincidence. The best-selling author said he is interested in writing about characters with whom people can identify. And while getting caught up in a global conspiracy may not be an everyday occurrence for the average Joe, he pointed out that being lied to is something everyone has likely experienced at some point.
“I don’t think there’s any intimate relationship where one party or another doesn’t believe that the other is being to some degree dishonest or misleading about certain things,” Pavone said. “That’s something I want to explore in these books, both because I think that it’s an interesting circumstance to begin with, but also because it’s something that I think a large population of readers can relate to.”
Another commonality shared by all of Pavone’s novels thus far is an abundance of exotic locales. “The Travelers” alone features scenes set everywhere from Paris to London to Iceland and beyond, complete with descriptions detailed enough to make readers feel as if they have been transported there themselves. Such authenticity comes from the author’s own love of travel, and he has visited almost every place included in the book. He said his goal is to get as much of his firsthand knowledge of a location onto the page so that his audience can imagine themselves in another world, something he enjoys doing as a reader himself.
“One of the things that I find most enjoyable when I’m reading fiction is when (a character’s) point of view is also an adventure into something that I want to experience,” Pavone said. “One of the things that I’m trying to deliver in these international thrillers is the experience of going somewhere else and tasting and smelling and hearing what it is like to be in these places.”
Being in a foreign place was actually what first inspired Pavone to write his first novel. He recalled that living in Luxembourg for more than a year due to his wife’s job was very disorienting since he had to adjust to both residing in an unfamiliar place and being a stay-at-home father for the first time. But after getting settled he decided to try his hand at writing a book, figuring his experience would make for interesting material. He said he never intended to write a spy thriller — the story simply evolved into one.
Pavone’s finished product wound up being “The Expats,” which climbed the New York Times’ best-seller list while earning him Edgar and Anthony awards for best first novel in 2013. It was even optioned by CBS Films, a feat that “The Travelers” duplicated when its movie rights were recently snatched up by DreamWorks. Yet the author does not let himself get too excited about one day seeing his work on the big screen, pointing out that the possibility is so uncertain that he does not even follow the films’ production progress. He will just show up at their premieres if they ever happen, he said.
In the meantime, Pavone said he is currently at work on a sequel to “The Expats” titled “The Paris Diversion.” He is also interested in writing additional books set in the world of “The Travelers.” The author said he initially envisioned “The Travelers” as a continuous television series, so had developed a wealth of story ideas for the eventual book’s major and minor characters. That material could be translated into sequels, though he said he does not know when he will ever write them.
Pavone also does not know if any of his future work will veer from his present trend of writing spy thrillers. He said he did not know he even wanted to be a novelist at the start of this decade, so he cannot predict what his interests will be in the coming years. He said he enjoys writing stories in the vein of “The Travelers,” but he is not ruling out any other ideas.
“I don’t know what the future will hold for me,” Pavone said. “I haven’t been doing this for very long, and it still feels like a brand new career to me. So I’m not sure what I’m going to want to do. I just hope that I have the opportunity to write novels and find readers.”
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