Rating: 
Summary: Christmas Train
Review: I have read all of Baldacci's books and this one was a real let down, I gave up on finishing it after 100 pages. Too bad as his first books really held my interest from the first page.
Rating: 
Summary: Ride the Rails to Romance
Review: Many writers notable in one genre seem to want to try their hands in another. It does seem strange for a best-selling author of hard-hitting action-adventure and suspense to put out a sweet little Christmas romance, but that is what David Baldacci has done - and done very well.
Journalist Tom Langdon enjoyed being a foreign correspondent, working at the cutting edge of war, famine, pestilence, and terrorism. He enjoyed it so much that when his lover, soul-mate and fellow correspondent Ellie wanted to quit, he just let her go. After the glamor died for him, and he returned to the states for much more mundane writing assignments, he missed her, but couldn't bring himself to admit error and seek her out.
Now its almost Christmas, and Tom is on his way from Washington to Los Angeles to meet Lelia, with whom he has a generally satisfactory part-time and long-range relationship, for the holiday. However, because of an episode where he vigorously expressed his resentment about being hassled by an airport security guard, he is banned by the airlines from domestic flights. So he decides to take the train, and maybe get an article about the experience. And an experience it is!
Tom meets many interesting people on his journey, not least of whom are the train crews who embody the best of an old fashioned customer service orientation. He also finds Ellie, now Eleanor, currently a movie writer who is traveling with her producer boss to research - you guessed it - a movie about train travel. The trip is full of romance - eloping lovers who are to be married on the train- as well as skulduggery, interesting characters of various types, and adventure. Tom also does some soul-searching and self-evaluation about Eleanor and other life choices. And, of course, there is a very satisfactory surprise ending.
Sometimes when writers go outside of their niche the result is disappointing. This trip (both in genre and in plot) is very successful.
Rating: 
Summary: Simply Magical
Review: It's sickening to me to read all of these negative reviews for this glorious novel. I have only been a Baldacci fan for a little more than 3 years, but now I know I will be one for life. He is by far my favorite author right now and with good reason. Each and every book I've read of his just keeps getting better and better, and this one is no exception. I have absolutely loved every single one of his novels since The Simple Truth and I greatly enjoyed The Christmas Train as well. I think the plot and storyline were very well done, had great heartwarming sometimes hilarious dialogue, many thrilling scenes, and a wonderfully unexpected twist ending. As in all of his novels love plays a major part, and I enjoyed the relationships in this one just as much as his previous relationships in his previous novels before this one. I find it very disheartening that people can say such horrible things about this book, because it really is a gem that sparkles as brightly as Christmas lights. God bless to everyone and especially to you Mr. Baldacci. As always, I am eagerly anticipating your next sure to be wonderful novel, Mr. Baldacci, which by the way is coming September 30th and is called Split Second.
Rating: 
Summary: The Derailed Christmas Train
Review: This book sounded like a third grader wrote it. The plot changed directions every other page. I agree with the other poster who said that maybe Balducci's kid wrote it. The train travel information was good and thankfully it was short. I can't bring myself to ever read his work again. I came on this site to see if it was just me - and it's not! Maybe those of us who didn't dole out extra stars are just too cynical but I, for one, could not wait for this to be over!
Rating: 
Summary: Fun
Review: David Balducci is a truely gifted storyteller. Like all his books this is a great little story. It dosen't pocess some of the intrigue, deception, and something I enjoy, a little violence. Enjoyable book but not quite as good a my favorite Balducci - The Winner.
Rating:
Summary: Like Holiday Candy...
Review: ...maybe it's not nutritiously substantial, but it sure is tasty!David Baldacci's The Christmas Train is a light-hearted tale that clips along at a jolly pace, much like the vehicle that carries its eclectic cast of characters. The ensemble hails from just about every temperment and every walk of life, and though they're not terribly "deep", they are interesting to watch. Much like one's travels in reality, Baldacci brings the group (with us) together, allows us to see their initial facades, and in some cases digs a little deeper. For spice, he adds a splash of intrigue to the story in the form of a none-too-complicated mystery. It's a fun diversion, but the story's focal point remains interpersonal interplay. One truly refreshing aspect of this book is the complete absence of any objectionable material - the book could be easily rated G (or stretch to a PG for one honeymooning couple). It's nice to know there are authors who can write an enjoyable novel without heavy doses of profanity, sex, or violence. Who wants to read about that stuff at Christmastime anyway? ;-) Worth the ride, The Christmas Train provides the reader with a warm holiday treat!
Rating:
Summary: Conned on the Railroad
Review: As I rarely read thrillers, I was not familiar with Baldacci. However, I picked up "the christmas train" in expectation of a transcontinental trek on AMTRAK as an antidote to occasionally experienced frustrations with air travel and pervasive accounts of same on the evening news. I came away feeling that I had been conned by masters of the art of creating best sellers. The story seems contrived, the prose often wooden, and the characters, lacking flesh and blood seeping from a writer's soul, play out their roles like programmed puppets manipulated by a Christmas-story formula. Take a world-weary reporter, his long-estranged significant other, a Hollywood director and his LA-boy assistant, a pushy passenger minder and her more-forward mother, an retired railroad employee riding for nostalgia, a couple from central casting disguised as lovers, a boys choir, and a thief. To that add a few ingredients like a mother of all snow storms, a winter resort (place it within easy skiing distance of Raton pass in a howling blizzard), two sets of skis magically at hand, three giant-size avalanches, multiple diesel engines running out of fuel, a trapped train tilting dangerously near a cliff, and a nearby tunnel to shelter the passengers. Finally, add a stretch limousine at the end of the trail in LA. Throughout most of the 258 pages I felt that I was reading copy straight from a marketing treatment expressly designed for bookstore displays rather than words from the heart and soul of an author. Near the end, however, I must admit that the suspense captured me as Baldacci's thriller talents came to the fore and I found myself enthralled and racing pleasurably along the track. And then, surprise, surprise, I was conned again, and for good, as the nefarious little plot was revealed and the tricksters rode off into the California sunshine, their limo lined, I imagine, with greenbacks. Yet, if you like to be fooled you may enjoy "a christmas train." But next time, on the Capital Limited or the Southwest Chief, I'll take along Jane Austen.
Rating:
Summary: Why all the bad reviews?
Review: I have not read another Baldacci book, so I can't compare this one with his other books. However, I enjoyed this simple story. Yea, its implausible, kinda shallow, but an enjoyable read. It does not try to make a strong seasonal statement, which was appreciated by this reader. I thought it was better than so many of the "feel good" Christmas stories published every year.
Rating:
Summary: The Christmas Train
Review: So Awful that there are no words to decribe how awful, even painful, reading this book really was.
It was as if some one who was a fan of AMTRAK and train travel kidnapped Baldacci and submitted this "I CAN READ BOOK" for fourth graders in his place. I have enjoyed almost all of his work even though a few might not be prize "Winners", but this can't be his.At least the others had plots, characters and interest. So many cliches,corn and just plain bad writing. How could this be possible? Loved "Absolute Power", "Wish You Well","The Simple Truth". Liked "Last Man Standing" and "The Winner and "Saving Faith" were OK.
This new peace of dribble was just sad!!!!!!too. Does Nicholas Sparks know you attended his writing class???
A friend had the audio copy and the narrator (a good actor who plays the VP on West Wing) did a dredful job as well.
Rating:
Summary: An On-Time In-Time Special
Review: Baldacci's latest was thoroughly enjoyable. How nice to read a good, cozy-type novel without all the trashy language that pervades nearly all best sellers these days. That's right! And nobody jumping in and out of bed with everyone either. Yes, it's still possible to find a good read that doesn't insult one's intelligence, morals and character. Thanks to the author.
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