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.
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.
Critiques-
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February 1, 2022
There's no word on plot, but this summer thriller is a stand-alone--Baldacci's first in over a decade--and boasts a million-copy first printing.
Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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May 16, 2022
Army veteran Travis Devine, the protagonist of this disappointing thriller from bestseller Baldacci (One Good Deed), had a distinguished career serving in Afghanistan and Iraq, but he quit under mysterious circumstances to join Cowl and Comely, a high-pressure Wall Street investment firm. Every weekday, he takes the 6:20 a.m. commuter train from the suburbs into Manhattan, where he toils until evening. His life’s upended when he gets a text from an unknown person informing him that a colleague, Sara Ewes, whom he had a romantic interest in, was found hanging in a storage room in his office building. That death, which may not be the suicide it appears to be, triggers a cascade of dramatic developments. Devine becomes a murder suspect, others are killed, and he’s tapped to conduct a covert investigation into Cowl and Comely by a Homeland Security official. Despite lip service paid to recent real-life revelations from leaked documents about U.S. companies’ role in international money laundering, the implausible plot, in which the DHS official gives Devine no real guidance, makes it difficult for the reader to suspend disbelief. Baldacci has done better. Agent: Aaron Priest, Aaron M. Priest Literary. -
June 1, 2022
Travis Devine, a former U.S. Army Ranger who now works on Wall Street, is blackmailed into working for a new organization within the Department of Homeland Security. They want him to dig up dirt on the firm for which he works (apparently there's been some shady business going on). He takes the job--he doesn't really have a choice--but he has an ulterior motive. A woman, who works at his firm and whom he recently dated, has died, apparently by suicide. Travis wants to know whether she really did kill herself, and if she didn't, who did. The investigation leads him into some dark corners. Baldacci (the Atlee Pine novels, the Amos Decker series, and many others) keeps readers guessing with an intriguing story and a few good plot twists. This is ostensibly a stand-alone, although there is plenty of room for a sequel, and the way the book ends, it seems like Baldacci might be planning more Travis Devine stories. Let's hope so.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Baldacci, the author of more than 40 novels, regularly tops bestseller lists, and his latest promises more of the same.COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Starred review from July 1, 2022
A complex, high-powered thriller that will keep the reader guessing. Former U.S. Army Ranger Travis Devine regularly takes the 6:20 commuter train to a job he hates at Cowl and Comely, the New York firm where he is an investment analyst. He's one of many "Burners," or interns, who slave 80 hours a week and more for low pay in hopes of not being fired at the end of the year. Devine works there to appease his father, who had despised his son's choice to serve his country instead of immediately going out and getting rich like his two older siblings. The morning train passes by the home of Cowl, whom the Burners are making richer and richer. Passengers get daily unfettered views of a gorgeous bikinied woman at Cowl's swimming pool. She seems oblivious to the yearning gazes of the male commuters. Then, one morning at work, Devine receives an anonymous, untraceable text saying, "She is dead." None of his fellow Burners received it. "She" is Sara Ewes, a colleague with whom he had once had sex. How could anyone know? It was a secret because dating within the company was a fireable offense. Apparently, she had hanged herself in the building. At home, Devine has interesting roommates, including a pizza-loving, Russia-born male computer hacker; a woman who's building a dating website with phenomenal potential; and another woman who has recently graduated from law school. The Russian tries and fails to track the source of the text for Devine. More people die at the company, naturally freaking everyone out. Devine is a suspect, but a retired Army general protects him--for a price. Devine must help them unravel a secret at the company, and if he refuses, they will "send my ass right to USDB" (United States Disciplinary Barracks) for an act he had committed while in the Army. Readers will suspect nearly everyone in this fast-moving whodunit. Clues abound, like the color of a bathing suit and mysterious references to Waiting for Godot. A great line states that diversity in the high finance world looks like "a jar of Miracle Whip all the way to the bottom." What fun! This is a winner from a pro.COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
