The Christmas Train (edition 2002)

Every year around the holidays I pick one christmas book off of my shelves to read in the month of December to get me in the holiday spirit. It's strange to me that the last few years the christmas books i've picked up have been a mystery of sorts. This one felt more holiday-centric then the one I read last year, which despite the holiday cover and title, had very little holiday "spirit".

This wasn't my favorite Christmas book i've ever read, but I've definitely read worse. This was a solid read, that had average characters (None of which I really connected with or felt a strong pull towards), and a pretty well layed out storyline.

I've read one other David Baldacci book, and unlike more of his mystery/thriller novels, the one book I read was more on the romance side, and I really enjoyed that one. I like Baldacci's writing style, just felt no real connection with the characters in this story, but if your looking for a decent holiday read, then pick this one up!! It's just not a book that really got me into the holiday spirit, which is what I typically want from a Christmas read. ( )

Great lighthearted audio book for a road trip around Christmas time. Was it a bit cheesy and far-fetched? Yes. Were some of the characters very much one dimensional and/or barely present in the story? Yes. Still, it made me wish I was riding the rails instead of in an uncomfortable car. Maybe someday I will take a transcontinental train trip. ( )

Tom Langdon, a seasoned and weary war correspondent/journalist, takes a cross-country trek by rail from D.C. to L.A. As per his father's death bed request, he plans on making a story out of it, in honor of a similar journey that Samuel Clemens a.k.a. Mark Twain allegedly took but never finished writing about. He meets some truly interesting characters, makes some friends along the way, becomes part of solving a mystery aboard the train, gets roped in to be best man at a young couple's wedding, and comes face to face with the one woman he ever loved--and lost. Add to the mix "the perfect storm" of dangerous winter weather and quite a few surprising twists.

I enjoyed the behind-the-scenes info regarding train travel and the history of how the railroad really made our country great. Baldacci was able to get the point across of really what a shame it is that more funding isn't provided to improve our railroad system within the U.S., and he makes you feel the nostalgia and sense of loss that long-time lovers of rail travel feel as they sense the eventual demise of passenger railways in our country because people prefer to get to where they are going quickly and don't take the time to sit back and enjoy the journey itself.

I like the idea of some employees really loving their jobs and spending upwards of 20 years working for Amtrak. I hope that's true. I know the few times I have traveled on Amtrak, I was quite impressed by the employees who would actually spend time playing games with my kids, teaching them magic tricks, and making sure we had everything we needed. There really are good people working the rails, especially the "old-timers".

The whole time I was reading this, I enjoyed the kind of old-fashioned feeling the writer evokes. He mentioned the Cary Grant movie, "North by Northwest", and I feel he somehow brought that type of black-and-white dignified kind of romance to life again in this book. Although, admittedly, this book's main characters, Tom and Eleanor, did not have the same kind of chemistry that Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint so smokingly portrayed! ( )

When I glanced at the title I thought of N. Sparks and then was surprised that it was written by David Baldacci. I did like this book - certainly had a top 10 best seller as Baldacci's suspense novels are but it was a quick read, interesting and a "feel good" book. ( )

Pretty slow in the beginning, but then got better. Enjoyable but not great.