The Christmas Train

David Baldacci

Tom Langdon's life is messed up these days. He used to be an international journalist, going wherever there was a war or conflict happening. He has travelled with his girlfriend for years, then she left him. He continued, but finally began to feel too old to be running from one battle or another. Now he writes fluff pieces for journals, lives in Washington D.C., and is dating a Hollywood star across country. He also has a temper problem. The last time he flew into New York he was given a body search - again! - then taken for a terrorist. By the time he was done he was lucky he wasn't in jail. Instead, Tom is barred from flying in the United States for a couple years.

He is supposed to be in Hollywood for Christmas. He decides to take Amtrak and write a story on riding the train at the holidays. There are a lot of interesting people and characters on the train. He also learns that some big movie person is on the train - a producer, perhaps, or a star. Tom will certainly check that person out. But what he doesn't expect is to run into his old girlfriend from journalist days. Tom is excited to see her again. Eleanor is angry. She is only on the train because her boss (the famous producer) wants her to write a movie script about riding the train. She wants nothing to do with Tom.

The Christmas Train is a wonderful charmer - not the normal heavy action suspense that Baldacci writes. The romance is predictable, but the twists around it are fun and catchy. The characters that Tom meets on the train come to life - the priest, the young couple getting married on the train, Agnes Jo, who always rides the train and everyone knows, the producer, his assistant, the chess player, and the other people Tom meets.

This is also a good advertisement for Amtrak. By the time we were out of Chicago and heading towards Los Angeles I was so pulled in I wondered when I would take a train vacation (as long as I can have a sleeper - I don't want to sleep sitting up). Baldacci makes it sound fun and homey. I have to wonder if some of the Amtrak employees are real people or based on a conglomeration of people he met while researching the story.

This book is warmly satisfying. I finished it with a sentimental smile and a cheery heart. It's not supposed to be riveting great literature - but it succeeds very well at being a delightful, happy escape.