The 6:20 Man by David Baldacci @davidbaldacciauthor @davidbaldacci.bsky.social @webberesque @yolakin @themelalee @themelalee.bsky.social @hachetteaudio @hachetteaudio.bsky.social #The620Man

the setup…
Travis Devine is a former Army Ranger Captain who inexplicably left a brilliant military career and then joined Cowl and Comely, a prestigious New York investment bank. At 32-years old, he’s older than his other entry level analysts and an anomaly. He shares an apartment with three others, taking the 6:20 train from Mount Kisco where it oddly stops next to a mansion daily and he gets a glimpse of a bikini-clad woman at the pool. One morning he arrives at work to a strange and anonymous email that Sarah Ewes, a colleague, was dead, found hanging in a storage room on the 52nd floor. While he and Sarah had a brief but secret relationship, Travis doesn’t understand why he’s singled out to get that missive. What was first thought to be a suicide is later changed to a homicide and Travis becomes a suspect. As things start looking grim, retired Army general Emerson Campbell surreptitiously contacts Travis and forces him to be part of a covert Homeland Security investigation of the bank and the founder Brad Cowl.

the heart of the story…
It didn’t take long for this to turn into a high octane journey for Travis through a myriad of lies, deceptions, traps and subterfuge. There’s a reason why he left his promising military career to launch a career he hated and it’s used as leverage by Campbell. It’s a tricky path as Travis is trying to solve Sarah’s murder and avoid being arrested while also looking into the underbelly of Cowl and Comely. Friends and foes are not easily distinguishable.

the narration…
Zachary Webber is the primary voice and point of view, easily becoming Travis and capturing his personality. Christine Lakin and Mela Lee were also effective for the primary secondary characters, which made such a difference. I enjoyed the whole performance.

the bottom line…
There are lots of twists and turns here but not difficult to keep track. I made a lot of wrong assumptions and never came close to guessing that surprise ending. It’s a great start to the series and has a whiff of another of my favorite series characters (Evan Smoak). I can’t wait to see what’s next for Travis Devine.

Book Info

• Release Date: July 12, 2022
• Series: The 6:20 Man #1
• Narrators: Zachary Webber, Christine Lakin and Mela Lee
• Audio Length: 11 hours, 48 minutes
• Publisher: Hachette Audio

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