Book review: To Die For by David Baldacci

To Die For by David Baldacci is the latest in the series featuring former Army Ranger, now Homeland Security ‘fixer’, Travis Devine. It opens with Devine facing an attempt on his life. I must confess I had no memory of ‘the girl on the train’ or reasons for the bounty on his head and was initially a little disappointed that Baldacci didn’t give us the backstory, as he’s usually great at recapping for newcomers or those with memories like a goldfish like yours truly. Later however we learn that even Devine really wasn’t sure ‘why’ he was being targeted and all is eventually revealed.

To Die For
by David Baldacci
Series: The 6:20 Man #3
Published by Macmillan
on 29/10/2024
Source: PanMacmillan
Genres: Crime Fiction
ISBN: 1761565567
Pages: 432

Goodreads

Travis Devine has become a pro at adapting to any situation to accomplish the mission set in front of him. Whether it’s a high-powered corporate setting or small-town community, Devine will become the man for the job. His time as an Army Ranger and on the financial battlefields of Wall Street gave him the skills he needed, and he’s put them to good use. But this time it’s not his skills that send him to Seattle to aid the FBI in escorting orphaned, twelve-year-old Betsy Odom to a meeting with her uncle, who’s under investigation for RICO charges. Instead, he’s hoping to lie low and keep off the radar of an enemy that he evaded on a train in Switzerland and who has been after him ever since—the girl on the train.

But as Devine gets to know Betsy, questions begin to arise around the death of her parents. Betsy is adamant that they had never used drugs, but the police in the small rural town where they died insist the Odoms died of an overdose. Devine starts digging for answers, and what he finds points to a conspiracy bigger than he could’ve ever imagined. The question is, how do Betsy, her uncle, and various government agencies all fit into it.

It might finally be time for Devine and the girl on the train to come face-to-face, and when that happens, Devine is going to find himself unsure of who are his allies and who are his enemies. And in some cases, they might well be both.

It has to be said that this is a timely read given what’s going on in the US at the moment as that country heads into an election. References to domestic terrorists and the rise of KKK-wannabe groups is kinda frighteningly confronting given how much they (IRL and in this book) believe their own rhetoric. Although of course there are also those who are not idealists but instead profit off them.

That being said, though that’s the backdrop to this book, the book itself very much focuses on Devine’s protection of a young girl (Betsy) whose parents recently died – under what he discovers is suspicious circumstances – and the uncle (on RICO charges) who wants custody of the twelve year old. Devine’s brought in because he fought alongside the uncle (Danny Glass) years before. Glass is unashamedly a bad guy into money laundering and mobster type stuff, but it becomes clear that he loved his sister and wants to protect his niece.

Initially unsure who he’s protecting Betsy from, Devine finds himself dealing with all of the US’s acronymned agencies – the CIA and FBI as well as his own (DHS). And it seems they may have agendas that conflict with his. In fact, when ‘the girl on the train’ reappears he discovers that his own government may have offered Devine’s life to their opponents as a proverbial olive branch.

We spend quite a bit of time with young Betsy along with her FBI babysitter and uncle (Glass) here and as usual Baldacci’s able to weave in compelling texture. ‘The girl on the train’ appears to be both friend and foe and we learn some of her backstory, so I’m definitely hoping to see her again in future novels in the series.

This is a well-paced and twisty read with some surprising secrets thrown in. Complex but not overly complicated, as Baldacci takes us on an interesting ride throughout small-town America and the world of espionage and geopolitics.

I really like Devine who has that combination of book and street smarts as well as the brawn required of a former Ranger. Or as he refers to himself, ‘a closer, snooper, fixer and investigator who sometimes has to kill in order to keep on breathing or complete a mission’. He is – also – a pragmatist.

Well, what else do I have, except minutes to burn and blood to shed, sir? Let’s get to it. p 9

Although I’m now impatient for the next book in this series, I’m also partial to something else from Baldacci’s stable. Such as Amos Decker, Aloysius Archer or Atlee Pine. His books take up quite a bit of space on my bookshelf and I can see why my reviews of his books are the most viewed on my website.

To Die For by David Baldacci will be published in Australia by Pan Macmillan in late October 2024.

I received a copy of this book from the publishers for review purposes. 

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