The 6:20 Man: A Thriller (6:20 Man, 1)

Travis Devine is a 30-year-old man who is working for a financial firm. Before becoming an analyst for an investment firm, he was a Captain in the U.S. Army with a very promising career. However, he made a decision that haunts his dreams at night and at times during his days. Travis takes the 6:20 train to Manhattan where a stop every day on his way to work provides an interesting view into the back yard of the firm’s owner.
The firm and its employees get rattled to the core when a body is discovered in the building. Thus begins the search for the killer and the reason for her death. The focus of the story is on a small group of characters that interact with Devine both at work and where he lives. The past life experiences of the characters come to the forefront with their choices in the present.
The author is a brilliant storyteller, and I have appreciated the different series published. However, I have noticed in the last few novels there seems to be more clutter than substance. The 6:20 Man has a fascinating premise and that drew me in as a reader. Unfortunately, the clutter at times overshadowed the characters and the mystery. I do plan to read the next book that is coming out in the fall titled, Long Shadows, so look for my review sometime in 2022.

This novel, "The 6:20 Man" by Baldacci has a very good story line and the suspense builds with each chapter. Lots of twists and turns. The story was riveting until the last 50 or 60 pages. Then, it turns "Woke" to the max. Between the homosexual relations and the weak conclusion, I was left extremely disappointed. The worst part is that the "wokeness" was totally unnecessary. It could have been concluded without the lesbian lover triangle. I cannot recommend this novel, it is not typical Baldacci. Huge dissapointment.

I like how there are twists and turns in this book!

The book has a decent plot in the beginning. But completely fails to deliver on the build up. The author interjects his woke political ideology that is completely out of place in the story. Almost like you are no longer reading the book, and now are being lectured about the authors own beliefs. This continues at the conclusion of the story where all is revealed. Only nothing is revealed. You find out that everything you just read was meaningless and murders have nothing remotely to do with the entire plot line. it is just a political propaganda piece. A complete sham. Do not waste your time or money. I feel like my money and my time was stolen from me. Avoid at all cost

An easy summer read but too many unrealistic plot holes. Our hero is constantly being chased by thugs and killers yet goes home every night to sleep in his apartment he shares with three total strangers? Come on. There is more but don’t won’t to ruin the story for anyone. On a separate note do we really need all the wokeness in a book about a distinguished Army Ranger? According to the author the most evil people in the whole book are the parents of a girl who are Christian missionaries who are strong anti abortionists. Have to kill off these people because they are evil. This in a book about greedy Wall St scum.

Travis Devine is a complicated and diverse man who has led many lives before he became a member of the wall street minion squad. Travis had a beyond reproach career in the Army that gave him more than enough training to be lifelong member but sometimes decisions have to be made that you do not like yet are required.

Right now, Travis needs all the training in his background he must as he battles forces unknown as they try to tie him to a murder of a co-worker he was remotely acquainted with. Then so many mysterious and clocked individuals keep showing up at home and work that the confusion abounds and his determination to resolve kicks in.

The most unique opportunity that is forced upon him is from another branch of the government that wants him to use his inside position at his company to obtain information about what this firm is really up to. Everyone knows something is not right but proving intuition is not easy, especially when more than half the people chasing Travis are not who they say they are.

As another person is murdered and the pieces still do not fit together even at any angle, Travis recruits his room mates to see if their still set can help him out of the mess he is in. What Travis thinks of himself as a simple man riding the train to work every day turns him into a super spy and forces him to use every resource at his disposal including the boss’s girlfriend.

Not knowing who foe or friend is never a good place to be, but for Travis the battles are the way to win the war.

I like misdirection but this many… over the top …. It was ludicrous. The characters were cardboard. The explanations about the financial markets was so boring. This can’t be the same guy who wrote The Winner and The Camel Club. This protagonist was running in multiple directions chasing … what? Nothing was cohesive. He teams up with the “bad guy’s” girlfriend and then tries to redeem her from bimbo to possible government agent. And the government agent meeting in the back room of an Italian restaurant — that was so cliché. And all the gut wrenching guilt over his time in the Army … ok we got it. I’m so glad all the woke boxes got checked too. I’m dismayed at the number of 5 stars.

This is an odd duck coming from one of my favorite thriller writers. His protagonists are usually extraordinary in some way and have a compelling backstory, but not Travis Devine. He's a clueless middle-aged man with Daddy issues who seems to be sleepwalking through danger, constantly fretting. I think Baldacci may have lost interest in him at some point - this reader did. Too bad he's such a nothing burger, because the supporting characters are a wonderful hodgepodge. The ending is laugh-out-loud funny: ten pages (really!) of the villain explaining the hows and whys of everything while holding Devine at gunpoint but not shooting him until finished boasting. It's like a parody of those early James Bond films sans the witty repartee.

Baldacci uses The 6:20 Man to introduce us to a new protaganist, Travis Devine, whom I'm sure we'll see in future novels. However, Baldacci seems to be following the path of Connelly and Grisham, where he churns out novels at regular intervals without full regard for his readers. The plot of The 6:20 Man is convoluted and implausible, where the first 95% of the novel takes the reader in one direction and then the last 5% wraps everything up in an entirely different (and implausible) direction. I was disappointed with Baldacci's efforts in the recent Atlee Pine series, but figured I would give him another chance. At this point, I think I'll just re-read some of his earliest (and best) works.

I have read all of Baldacci’s books and love the various series, reading each one in sequence. I was skeptical about this stand-alone book about Travis Devine, but I was wrong. As always, character and plot development began from the first page; twists and turns were numerous; and now I’m sure there should be another Travis Devine entry because the ending left me asking, “OMG, what’s next?” Well done and riveting. I think I know who Brad Cowl is modeled after; is it prophetic?