Very Quick Review: THE 6:20 MAN by David Baldacci (Grand Central)

A cryptic murder pulls a former soldier turned financial analyst deep into the corruption and menace that prowl beneath the opulent world of finance…

Every day without fail, Travis Devine puts on a cheap suit, grabs his faux-leather briefcase, and boards the 6:20 commuter train to Manhattan, where he works as an entry-level analyst at the city’s most prestigious investment firm. In the mornings, he gazes out the train window at the lavish homes of the uberwealthy, dreaming about joining their ranks. In the evenings, he listens to the fiscal news on his phone, already preparing for the next grueling day in the cutthroat realm of finance. Then one morning Devine’s tedious routine is shattered by an anonymous email: She is dead.

Sara Ewes, Devine’s coworker and former girlfriend, has been found hanging in a storage room of his office building — presumably a suicide, at least for now — prompting the NYPD to come calling on him. If that wasn’t enough, before the day is out, Devine receives another ominous visit, a confrontation that threatens to dredge up grim secrets from his past in the army unless he participates in a clandestine investigation into his firm. This treacherous role will take him from the impossibly glittering lives he once saw only through a train window, to the darkest corners of the country’s economic halls of power… where something rotten lurks. And apart from this high-stakes conspiracy, there’s a killer out there with their own agenda, and Devine is the bull’s-eye.

I’ve decided to get caught up on David Baldacci’s novels — he’s one of my favourite authors, but for some reason I’ve allowed myself to fall very far behind (he’s increased his output, lately, which is partly to blame for this). The 6:20 Man is the first in his Travis Devine series, and it’s an interesting, timely mystery set in the world of New York finance.

Baldacci doesn’t waste time, with this novel. We’re dropped right into the action, when Travis learns of the death of his co-worker (well, sort-of his supervisor). The story moves quite quickly, as we slowly learn more about Devine’s past and why he left the military for the world of finance (which he clearly, and quite openly despises), and as more bodies start to drop. Why has this financial firm been targeted? Who is the actual audience for these deaths: Devine? The firm? Someone else?

Travis Devine is a pretty interesting protagonist — his age sets him apart from many others in his cohort, as does his experience in the military. He has an interesting motivation, too — for shifting his career into finance, but also for inserting himself (rather unwisely, if you ask me) into the investigation. When the cops start sniffing around his life, others start to look at him and treat him with suspicion. The fact that many of the people dying have a connection to him only exacerbates the problem. The cops are circling, as are some other shadowy forces. Despite the fact that he’s not in law enforcement, Devine nevertheless starts to investigate the deaths for himself (which, of course, does not endear him to the detectives who are supposed to be investigating what’s happening).

Sometimes the story takes some fortuitous turns, at others rather sudden shifts. There are plenty of red herrings, and they’re mostly well-executed. Almost every character has an ulterior motive; readers will even come to question his roommates, who are an interesting and diverse cast of characters. The novel contains pretty much everything we’ve come to expect from the author’s books. There’s also plenty of commentary about the finance industry, including its brutal entry-level work, the exploitation, the shadiness of so very much of it, and the questionable ethics of anyone able to amass fortunes in the billions.

Overall, though, this isn’t among Baldacci’s strongest novels. Sometimes certain story beats came about in ways that felt a bit too easy — not that Devine et al have an easy time of things, but some of the plot shifts felt a bit obvious as they were happening. I don’t think it’s a case of this being mystery-paint-by-numbers, but I’ve certainly read better from Baldacci. The 6:20 Man nevertheless held my attention and his writing and plotting pulled me through; and I finished reading it wanting to read The Edge as soon as I can (and, eventually, the recently-announced, upcoming third book in the series).

David Baldacci’s The 6:20 Man is out now, published by Grand Central Publishing in North America and Macmillan in the UK.

Also on CR: Reviews of Stone Cold, Divine Justice, Hell’s Corner, The Whole Truth, First Family, True Blue, Deliver Us From Evil, Bullseye, The Innocent, The Hit, The Target, The Guilty, The End, Memory Man