The 6:20 Man

The only other David Baldacci thriller that I've read was 'Split Second' (2002) which kicked off his six-book King and Maxwell series. I had fun with it but didn't take the series any further as I didn't like either of the main characters.

So, twenty years later, Baldacci launches another thriller series with an action hero at its heart. I hear good things about the plot and the characters and I decide to give it a go.

Twenty years have made a lot of difference. This time around, Baldacci's characters, while still (almost) incredibly competent, aren't cut from the white middle-class effortlessly entitled stock that put me off the King and Maxwell series, The plot was fast-moving and action-packed but it was also stuffed with contemporary show more issues and attitudes that engaged and kept my attention.

This is good solid entertainment. We have multiple murders, flawed main characters with guilty secrets, the creeping corruption of Dark Money, Wall Street Assholery, computer hacking, deep fake technology, secret government agencies and lots of violence ranging from hand-to-hand fighting that would make Jack Reacher proud to the frequent, efficient and lethal use of knives and guns, all moved along by a plot that continues to surprise almost to the last page.

Our hero is an ex-Army Ranger (of course - where else would he get all those skills that make him so hard to kill) who has resigned from the Army, taken an MBA and signed up to work seventy-hour weeks crunching numbers on Wall Street and trying to make the cut for the next level by competing with everyone around him. He's bright, dangerous and (like pretty much everyone else except the Russian White Hat hacker and the sleazy billionaire) good-looking. He's also more introspective than Baldacci's heroes were twenty years ago and more socially aware, He has a (guilty) conscience and is working on Wall Street as a self-imposed penance.

I enjoyed watching his life being de-railed as he stumbles into murders and financial malfeasance and gets coopted by a covert government agency. He copes with it well but I liked that he didn't just sail through everything. He regrets being back in a place where people keep trying to kill him. He's disturbed by having to doubt everyone around him. He's a nice guy who keeps being asked to win the trust of people around him by lying to them about who he is and what his motives are and from time to time, he has to stab, shoot and kill people (all of whom deserve it of course). He's also surrounded by beautiful, brave, intelligent women, some of whom are keen to have sex with him,

This is the kind of book where I feel I should have popcorn to hand as I read it. I don't mean that as a criticism. I was totally entertained and consumed this eleven-hour book in two days.

I've had fun with this book, so I've pre-ordered the audiobook version of The Edge, the second Travis Devine book, which will be released in November 2023.

I recommend that audiobook version of The 6:20 Man. Zachary Webber does a great job of narrating the book from Travis Devine's point of view and Christine Lakin and Mela Lee improve the listening experience by providing the voices of the female characters. This works so much better than asking a deep-voiced male narrator to attempt multiple credible female voices. show less

The Man on the Train
Review of the Grand Central Publishing Kindle eBook edition, released simultaneously with the Grand Central Publishing hardcover (July 12, 2022)

Author Baldacci often writes interesting protagonists. I especially like his cranky detective Amos Decker with his hyperthymesia (total memory recall) & synesthesia (ability to crossover senses e.g. to "feel" a "colour"). But frequently his twists and conspiracies are so over the top that you are left feeling unsatisfied by the end. He is also so prolific that you can't really keep up and you worry that quality will suffer as quantity increases. So I didn't rush to pickup The 6:20 Man when it released last summer. When it was a Kindle Deal of the Day for $2.99 on January 8, show more 2023, I did grab it though.

This was actually quite good almost right up until the end, when the absurd twist finally appears to provide the letdown. The twist was also pretty much un-guessable on the part of the reader (you could say there was one very slim clue), so there was the added feeling of having the rug pulled out from under you. An Unsatisfactory Ending Alert™ is the result.

Ex-Ranger Travis Devine has left the army under mysterious circumstances, despite having had a successful military career. He now works in a low-level entry position at a high-end Manhattan investment firm. He commutes daily on the 6:20 a.m. train into the city, thus the title of the book. His life begins to unravel when one of the firm's high-earners is found dead in a supply closet one morning, an apparent suicide. Travis had dated the woman in the past (not actually allowed under the firm's code of conduct) and it soon appears that he is being framed for what is quickly determined to have been a murder. His housemates all play supportive roles in attempting to assist him, but they are each perhaps not whom they seem. He has run-ins with various other workers at the firm and other associated businesses. And finally he meets the actual working partner CEO who may be a figurehead for something much more nefarious than investments. Devine has to choose his allies carefully and call upon his close combat skills (there is a recognizable Reacher-vibe to those encounters) to solve it all.

So although the twist was a let-down, I did enjoy the book for the most part. It isn't listed as the first of a series, but I suspect that Travis Devine may become another recurring character for Baldacci. show less

The 6:20 Man, David Baldacci, author; Zachary Webber, Christine Lakin, Mela Leen, narrators.
Travis Devine is what is known as a burner at Cowl and Comely. He is an entry level grunt who is a lot older than most of the others with whom he is employed. He spent several years in the military, in spite of his father’s deep disappointment in him when he went to West Point.
Now, after leaving the service and furthering his education, with an MBA in hand, he takes the 6:20 train every morning to his job in order to punish himself, and perhaps, to please his father by working for a high-powered investment firm. Because he lives in Mount Kisco, every morning the train actually passes by and stops at a station that offers a view of his boss’s show more mansion. There, at Brad Cowl’s pool, he, along with the other riders, are gazing eagerly out of the train window. They are hoping to catch a glimpse of a beautiful woman as she lounges or swims there most mornings.
Travis shares an apartment with three other roommates. One, an MIT graduate, runs Hummingbird, a dating service, one is a Russian tech wizard hoping to become an American citizen, and one says she is a lawyer. They are all workaholics. When one of his fellow workers, at Cowl and Comely, Sara Ewes, is found dead, He is deeply affected by it. She had been a beautiful and bright woman, destined for success. He had once had a brief, secret relationship with her. Employee fraternization was forbidden at the company. He would have liked the relationship to develop, but she broke it off without explanation. Soon after her death, other bodies began to pile up and Devine’s life began to fracture and go in several directions at once. Many began to point fingers at him, since he was acquainted with all of the victims. He enlisted the aid of his roommates in their various capacities, to help him clear his name and solve the crime.
When Devine retired from the service, although bedecked with medals, he left under a cloud. Two of his friends had died, one by suicide, and one after a violent fight. After he was cleared of any wrongdoing, he felt forced to leave. To satisfy his dad, he resumed his education and then took the job with Cowl and Comely. Emerson Campbell, also a highly decorated former veteran of the Army, is in charge of a secret Special Projects Office. He reaches out to recruit/coerce Army Ranger Captain Devine, to help him in his investigation of the company, Cowl and Comely. It was a matter of national security and an offer he could not refuse.
There is a great deal of intrigue, and there are many diverse characters introduced, all of whom seem to have secrets or some sort of shadowy past. None of the characters are completely innocent or blame free in any situation that develops, and only some are of basic good character. As we learn more about Travis, and his interactions with them, his character actually develops more positively. We also find that he is sought after by women, which may seem surprising since he was rejected by Sara. As the novel plays out, Travis finds that someone is attempting to frame him for the murder of several of the recent victims, and his own life seems to be in danger. As the two themes run together, the personal one about Devine’s life, and the secret one involving Emerson’s Office of Special Projects, the tension builds rapidly.
Unfortunately, at the end, as the conclusion draws near, and part of the mystery is resolved, some of the revelations change what started out as a really interesting and hard to solve mystery, and made it into a novel written to satisfy the woke world. Why so many authors feel they must participate in the liberal mantra, making a good book seem contrived, simply to please the masses of progressive readers, is confounding, yet many authors today choose to do just that. The plot became a bit silly as gender confusion and race almost became more important themes of the book than the murders and threats to national security. The novel was suddenly disappointing. Still, I gave it three stars for the effort. show less

Travis Devine is haunted by a particular memory of his service in the Mid East. To punish himself for what he sees as his transgressions, he obtained his MBA when he returned home, and now works 16-hour days on Wall Street doing financial analysis, work he abhors. No one working at Cowl and Comely is happy about it, but there's a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, if they work hard enough and wait long enough. So Travis works.

But when a co-worker who is several steps up the ladder from him apparently commits suicide, Travis is suspicious -- and a bit heartbroken, as he'd been at least a little in love with the woman. His initial inclination to ask questions is goosed when the NYPD blackmails him into doing an investigation into show more whether Cowl and Comely is dirty, and whether that had anything to do with Sara Ewes' death. Soon Travis is exploring his boss's mansion and enjoying the company of the boss's girlfriend when he's not dodging bad guys or trying to figure out what's going on.

The puzzle is convoluted and doesn't really play fair with the reader in the sense that one would expect a classic mystery to do, but that's not the point of this book: it's a thriller, not a mystery, and boy, does it thrill. This is a bread-and-butter sort of Baldacci, not his best, not his worst, just a great book to read in the sun with an umbrella drink at your elbow.

The listing of Baldacci's works in the book refers to this as a stand-alone, but I'd sure like to know what happens to Travis Devine from here. I'm hoping Baldacci reconsiders! show less

The writing was a little rougher than what I usually expect from David Baldacci but it fit this new character, Travis Devine. “Ranger tabbed and Ranger scrolled. And a seasoned financial analyst to boot. Devine would probably need all of it and a little more to survive.” This was so good, so tense, so tight, so twisty. This story just gives me one more thing to lose sleep over while believing and embracing the notions of black ops, down and dirty corporate greed which condones anything and everything as long as the money is huge.

OMG Baldacci has a new character and I am hoping for a repeat performance soon, sooner, soonest. Thank you NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for a copy.

**.5

Did you ever wonder what would have happened had Jack Reacher sought out a desk job after his time in the army, commuting every morning from the suburbs to a boring job on Wall Street? Me neither, but apparently Badacci thought that it was an important question to answer.

Aside from the ridiculous premise, nonsensical plot, and awful dialogue, it's a fun exercise, as long as you don't mind sacrificing a few brain cells as they stab themselves in the neck rather than be subject to the absurd conclusion.

Another terrific Baldacci book.....there were so many "shades of a Trump-like" person in this book, illegal activities and all!!! Baldacci knows how to write a book that moves along with not a dull moment, page to page. NO, I did not figure out the ending ahead of time---so many twists and turns. Watching Travis Devine evolve in another book would be great!!