New York Times best-selling author Chris Pavone’s third outing, The Travelers (Crown Publishing, $27), is his best yet. Once again, Pavone mixes spies with seemingly ordinary people, throws in some exotic locales and intriguing situations, and yields a thrilling page-turner.

Unlike his previous efforts – The Expats and The Accident – which were both good in their own ways, this one races along at an exciting clip. Pavone, who can get a bit wordy at times, sheds much of the literary style of writing he excels at to tell a more straightforward, tightly written novel.

Some may miss the lyricism, but as a thriller reader, the story is paramount.

The Travelers follows Will Rhodes, a globe-trotting travel writer by day who suddenly finds himself entangled in a complex web of deceit and subterfuge on an international scale. It is on one such routine assignment for his magazine when Will commits a transgression that he cannot so easily erase: he cheats on his wife by having sex with a beautiful woman, Elle Hardwick. Elle, as it turns out, is a CIA operative and basically blackmails Will into joining the ranks or risk his already tenuous marriage.

Will, who is somewhat overwhelmed at this point, acquiesces and so begins on a whirlwind training regimen in which he learns how to follow people, how to recognize if he’s being followed, and how to defend himself should the need arise, which it does. Pavone could have lingered over the training curve for quite a while, but fortunately doesn’t, opting instead to keep the story moving in new directions.

Soon enough, Will is officially on assignment, running missions for Elle even while trying to maintain his cover as a travel writer and caring husband. Even as Will plays a dual role, he doesn’t realize the duality of roles unfolding all around him. It seems that everyone in this story has something to hide, from his wife to his boss to Elle herself.

It all may seem a bit excessive and far-fetched, but the best thing to do here is just go with it. Enjoy this book for the twists and turns and the fun it offers in trying to figure out who’s who. If you give it too much thought, that would just ruin the fun.

All of it comes down to a rousing finale that will leave you hoping to see these characters again.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for this review.

You can find The Travelers here.

Guest review contributed by G. Robert Frazier’s Adventures in Writing. Robert has an interesting mix of information about books, movies, screenwriting, and acting, including advice articles.