David Baldacci’s gift for writing fleshed out characters that feel larger than life and supremely entertaining makes The 6:20 Man a distinctive thriller set in cutthroat Wall Street setting with a charismatic and impressionable protagonist who has quickly become a favorite of mine.
Travis Devine is a character who speaks to all readers who feel lost in the constant hustle bustle of making money at the cost of their sanity. Trading in his Army uniform for a Wall Street suit, he rides the daily 6:20 train to work, joined by others like him on the constant prowl for success. What starts off like just another office day turns cruel quickly when a former flame of Devine turns up dead in the office storage room, supposedly having killed herself; only thing is that Devine receives a cryptic message that screams otherwise. With a megalomaniac at the helm of Devine’s firm making some unsavory decisions to make quick and dirty buck, Devine finds himself embroiled in a financial conspiracy spanning global territories. He must utilize his army training as well as his street smarts to get to the heart of the conspiracy before the bullseye finds its way on his back.
The 6:20 Man is superbly paced throughout, starting off with a gentle ease to introduce Devine and his predicaments to gel well with the readers before the momentum picks up speed and propels readers and Devine alike into the mystery. The action is akin to the Reacher series, with powerful descriptions of hand to hand combat sequences and crisp shootouts. Devine’s physical prowess is a delight to read as he gets into skirmishes with antagonists and tackles his opponents with awe-inspiring moves.
Not only is Devine proficient at dispatching threats, he’s also a very convincing leading hero to have a whole narrative centered around him. Baldacci’s singular focal point on Devine in the entirety of the narrative immensely elevates the unpredictability of the plot and makes for a much more page-burning intense read as you can’t help but follow Devine into battle as a modern day knight in shining armor. Devine embodies the best of humanity in the worst of situations, from religious beliefs to general empathy towards his fellow peers, making him that much easy to root for.

The 6:20 Man offers a gleaming insight into the world of finance with technical details to spruce up the content aligned with the plot without becoming too overbearing for non-finance majors. The beauty of the narrative however lies in the experience that even 80% into the narrative, you won’t have all the pieces to solve the gut-wrenching mystery. It’s only at the moment of truth where the WOAH factor kicks in to paint the full picture that sparked the entire conspiracy. It’s a twist I did not see coming.
Dark, visceral, action-packed, and at times disturbing, The 6:20 Man is an extraordinary kickoff to a brand new protagonist by an author who understands the essence of establishing an enchanting leading character with memorable moments and a distinctive storyline.


Full review on https://www.bestthrillerbooks.com/kashif-hussain

Another solid whodunnit by David Baldacci. Travis Devine is our protagonist, toiling away as a worker bee in the financial sweatshop of Cowl and Comely The job, a self-assigned penance for Travis, exposes him to a series of events and revelations that all is not quite what it seems. A plethora of shady characters, mysterious high tech happenings and alluring women guide the plot through twists and turns. As Travis works his way through deep financial conspiracies and a complex cast of characters, the themes of things not being as the appear, trust and choosing your family work their way into the story as well as this reader’s mind. While not as initially sold for me as the initial Memory Man or Atlee Pine books, David Baldacci is a prolific, solid author. I would definitely continue the ride along with Travis should this become a series. Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to preview this book.

The 6:20 Man by David Baldacci was entertaining. I had a difficult time understanding why a Billionaire would build a house so close to the railroad tracks until this was explained much later in the book. Even then, it was hard to conceive a Billionaire living this close to the noise of commuter trains running past his house all day just so he could use the location to send signals to his fellow crooks. I found some of the characters to be well developed and believable, while others to be stereotypical. The plot kept my interest and the twists made me want to read more. I can definitely see this as the first in a series of Travis Devine books. Overall, I'd give it 3.5 stars.

Every morning, Travis Devine rides the 6:20 train to a job he hates, a freshman financial analyst at the powerhouse investment firm Cowl and Comely. One morning, his coworker Sara is found dead in a supply closet. Although an apparent suicide, Devine suspects something more is afoot. The Sara he thinks he knew wouldn’t kill herself. It isn’t long before Devine finds himself down a rabbit hole of intrigue, conspiracies, and deceit.

This is quintessential Baldacci – lots of players and lots of misdirection: bad guys who are really good guys, good guys who are really bad guys, and bad guys that are even worse guys. The action is non-stop and the body count keeps ticking upward as Devine races to uncover what happened to Sara, what’s really happening at Cowl and Comely, and clear his own name of any wrongdoing. This story is fun and fast-paced, but there are times that it definitely strains the bounds of believability.

Although so far The 6:20 Man is a standalone novel, this book has the makings to be new series for Baldacci, so I won’t be surprised if we see Travis Devine again in the future. Many thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for providing me an advance copy of this book.

Travis Devine is The 6:20 Man in the new thriller by David Baldacci hitting the shelves July 12. He takes the 6:20 a.m. commuter train to Manhattan six days a week where he is an entry-level financial analyst at Cowl and Comely. His nose is to the grindstone, every day the same grueling routine that bores him to pieces, but he does it to atone for something that happened when he was an Army Ranger.

One day at work, an anonymous email hits his computer screen: “She is dead.” The “she” in this case is Devine’s coworker and friend, Sara Ewes, who has hanged herself inside a utility closet in their workplace. For some reason, Devine is singled out by the NYPD as a “person of interest” in Sara’s death, while at the same time, Devine is tapped by an obscure office within Homeland Security to investigate some things going on in Cowl and Comely that are not up to snuff.

Of course, all is not as it seems as Devine puzzles through the company’s complicity in nefarious goings-on as well as searches out things that do not add up to Sara committing suicide. How can Devine figure out what is really going on at Cowl and Comely as well as find Sara’s killer?

This is a Baldacci whodunnit, which means the answers require a twisted plot full of confrontations with people who would just as soon kill Devine as to allow him to continue his investigation. The bodies will pile up before Devine can flush out the bad guys and serve up some justice with an unlikely accomplice.

David Baldacci, a former lawyer, has published more than three dozen page turners during his writing career, which started in 1996 with Absolute Power. Baldacci and his wife Michelle live in Virginia.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting May 24, 2022.

I would like to thank Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this book early. As expected, it did not disappoint. I am a huge David Baldacci fan, especially of his stand alone thrillers, but this one has the makings to be a new series. At least I sure hope so. The 6:20 man is a veteran who stumbles into a web of circumstances that keep him twisting and turning to solve the puzzle. I didn’t anticipate the villain at all. What a great read and I highly recommend this to anyone

Excellent characters include a super soldier who's working in big business for a number of reasons, computer experts, intelligence operatives, and many other, including a beautiful bikini-clad lady who distracts riders on the 6:20 train. The plot has lots of turns and potential bad guys as characters start dying. Will the 6:20 man solve the case or become another victim? If he survives, a sequel is a must.

Another Baldacci winner. I have my fingers crossed that this will be series and not a stand alone. It was a great mystery and the ending totally surprised me. I loved this book and will highly recommend it to others.

Baldacci’s latest thriller, right now a stand-alone but with all the makings of a first novel in a new series, is a blast of excitement that will push you into a nonstop readfest, blowing up any plans you might have of going to bed early. Set in Manhattan’s towering financial district among the movers and shakers of monetary trading, our story takes an ex Army ranger, Jack Reacher like in his fighting ability, and throws him kicking and screaming into a constantly changing investigation into financial fraud, murder, and international intrigue. Conspiracies are big here and are guy is about to find out what happens when you are at the center of a conspiracy and all the evidence points to him as the crazed killer and the wheels of Justice turn inexorably against him. Don’t think you know what’s really going on till you get to the end.

Not everything falls neatly into the believability camp from the hackers at hand to the 6:20 bikini princess to the secret black ops agency and even the bad guy is perhaps a bit too much out of central casting. Nevertheless, the story moved along so well and the reader wants so much to find the answers that it remains a great in-put-downable read.

I was given this book by NetGalley for an honest review - -
Once again Baldacci writes a winner!!!
Every day Travis hops the 6;20 train to get to work at the investment firm. The boring ride lets him look at all the expensive homes of the rich - and usually at one there is a beautiful women by the pool.
One morning he gets an email - She is dead! Who? How does he find out who sent the email? Why was it sent to him?
He finds out that a co-worker he had dated was found hanging - they assume suicide - but was it? Something is going on in this company There is a floor they are not allowed on -what are they hiding? He needs to get on this floor. As the killing continue to mount he must find out what they are hiding. Can he do this or will they target him?

Baldacci does it again! This title kept me up too late and woke me too early. I really like that I didn't figure out what was going on until it was naturally revealed. I had my suspicions, but they were wrong! Devine is a great character and I enjoyed his story. I'm not sure if this will turn into a series or not. If it does, great. If not, I'm okay with that too. It was an informative and entertaining read.