From Publishers Weekly
Recently, Baldacci has ventured with success beyond the thrillers that made his reputation, first in 2000 with the historical melodrama Wish You Well, then earlier this year with the SF mystery novella The Mighty Johns. Here's another stretch, one that he performs with good spirit, a lot of humor and only a bit of strain a Christmas charmer set aboard a cross-country train. Tom Langdon's life hasn't been the same since his all-time love, Eleanor Carter, left him years ago while the two were hotshot journalists, and since he's quit serious reporting for writing fluff. Banned from flying for a year because of an air rage incident, he's decided to write about riding the rails over the Christmas holidays, planning to link up with his erstwhile girlfriend, a Hollywood star, in L.A. Aboard the Capitol Limited, running from D.C. to Chicago, Tom meets a host of unusual fellow travelers, including rambunctious train personnel, lonely wanderers and a pair of elopers; he also runs into Eleanor, now a screenwriter for a legendary film director who's on board researching a possible film about trains. Matters complicate further aboard the Southwest Chief, running from Chicago to L.A., as Tom's Tinseltown girlfriend shows up and proposes marriage just as Tom and Eleanor are working their way back together; a sneak thief nabs valuables; and an avalanche traps the train in the midst of a historic blizzard. The narrative is loaded with cool train lore (Baldacci dedicates the book to "everyone who loves trains and holidays") and plenty of romance and good cheer, though suspense is low who can doubt how things will work out? and the author gets a bit preachy about the advantages of train travel and the lessons of Christmas. This is a more warmhearted and enjoyable novel than Grisham's comparable holiday offering last year, Skipping Christmas, and Baldacci's fans will snap it up as the Yuletide treat it is. Expect this to stuff plenty of stockings on December 25; all aboard! Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From AudioFile
Journalist Tom Langdon is banned from flying after an argument with overenthusiastic security personnel. He sees a story opportunity--a cross-country train trip at the holidays. Aboard the train, he meets up with a lost love, a screenwriter who's also researching life on Amtrak. Later in the trip, his current girlfriend surprises him by boarding the train. Will he commit to one of his loves or continue his nomadic life? Tim Matheson reads this entertaining, though familiar, story with good humor, his broad accents adding to the color of David Baldacci's holiday tale. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
From Booklist
Baldacci's latest offering--a sweet holiday tale--is a departure from his last thriller, Last Man Standing (2001). Tom Langdon is a former war reporter who now writes feature articles for various magazines. Banned from flying on airplanes after a hostile incident at an airport security checkpoint, Langdon is forced to take a cross-country train from Washington, D.C., to L.A., where his girlfriend is waiting to spend Christmas with him. As he begins talking to the passengers and staff aboard the train, he meets an eccentric older woman who seems to be a regular rider, a young couple preparing to marry on the train, and a former Catholic priest. To Tom's shock, the former love of his life, Eleanor, is also aboard the train. Sparks fly between them, bringing up old feelings along with the unresolved issues from their relationship. Tom realizes this might be his second chance with Eleanor, but a series of unexpected events may derail his plans. This latest Baldacci might not appeal to all of the fans who lap up his fast-paced thrillers, but the heartwarming holiday story might win him new fans who enjoy seasonal tales. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
The Christmas Train ANNOTATION
Tom Langdon, a weary and cash-strapped journalist, is banned from flying when a particularly thorough airport security search causes him to lose his cool. Now, he must take the train if he has any chance of arriving in Los Angeles in time for Christmas with his girlfriend. To finance the trip, he sells a story about a train ride taken during the Christmas season.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Tom Langdon, a weary and cash-strapped journalist, is banned from flying when a particularly thorough airport security search causes him to lose his cool. Now, he must take the train if he has any chance of arriving in Los Angeles in time for Christmas with his girlfriend. To finance the trip, he sells a story about a train ride taken during the Christmas season. Thereupon begins one of the most hilarious-and heartwarming-journeys ever told. Along the way, Tom encounters a ridiculous cast of characters, unexpected romance, and an avalanche that changes everyone's Christmas plans. As the mighty Southwest Chief chugs along, Tom learns what really makes the holiday special in a remarkable novel that will charm all who read it.
SYNOPSIS
In the tradition of John Grisham's Skipping Christmas, this holiday tale offers humor, romance, mystery, and a reminder of what Christmas is all about-by seven-time New York Times, bestselling author David Baldacci.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Former globe-trotting journalist Tom Langdon, 41, boards the Capitol Limited to kill many birds with one stone: he's out to fulfill his old man's death wish, find himself, write a fluff piece for a woman's magazine and visit his voice-over actress girlfriend in L.A. (He's also on the train since he's been banned from flying in the U.S. for two years after a recent meltdown at LaGuardia.) The trip turns out to be a journey of the soul-though an innocuous and predictable one. Surprised to meet famous movie director Max Powers in transit, Tom's invited to team up on his idol's next film, but shocked when he learns the screenwriter is none other than his long-lost love, Eleanor Carter. Trading suspense for sentimentality, Baldacci (Last Man Standing; Total Control; etc.), dedicates his latest to "everyone who loves trains and holidays," and the polished unabridged audio production, perfect for a long family car trip, employs plenty of musical accompaniment and evocative sound effects, from bells and whistles to conductors' calls, to suit this intended tone. Baldacci's impressionistic prose and detailed descriptions of rail travel are nice, but what's more notable is the silky smooth narration of television producer, director and actor Matheson. His energetic, distinctive renditions of the author's quirky and humorous cast of characters-including a priest, a lawyer, a personal assistant, a tarot card reader and a singer-make up for Baldacci's silly plot twists of reunited lovers, a thief on board the train and the avalanche that has "everyone contemplating their demise." Simultaneous release with the Warner hardcover (Forecasts, Oct. 7). (Nov.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
AudioFile
Journalist Tom Langdon is banned from flying after an argument with overenthusiastic security personnel. He sees a story opportunity—a cross-country train trip at the holidays. Aboard the train, he meets up with a lost love, a screenwriter who's also researching life on Amtrak. Later in the trip, his current girlfriend surprises him by boarding the train. Will he commit to one of his loves or continue his nomadic life? Tim Matheson reads this entertaining, though familiar, story with good humor, his broad accents adding to the color of David Baldacci's holiday tale. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
A long-haul potboiler from the indefatigable Baldacci (Wish You Well, 2000, etc.) introduces a hardcase reporter to America and wins him his true love. The decision to make an overnight train trip often begins with a good idea (scenery or nostalgia, say) that doesn't survive the rigors of the journey. Tom Langdon is an exception in that he takes Amtrak from Washington, D.C., to Los Angeles out of sheer necessity: The airlines have banned him from all commercial flights for assaulting an insolent metal-detector guard. That should give you a good insight into Tom's character right there-for the rest, all you need to know is that he's a divorced freelance journalist who is dating a Hollywood voiceover actress. Since Tom is due to spend Christmas in LA with his girlfriend, he decides to make a virtue of necessity by writing an article about train travel in the US, so he books a private compartment on the Capitol Limited and heads for Washington's Union Station one snowy December night. His fellow passengers are a mix of flesh: There's Agnes Joe (a large and overbearing former trapeze artist), Father Paul Kelly (a retired priest), Julie and Steve (an engaged couple who decide to get married on the train-literally), Gordon Merryweather (a sleazo lawyer who calls himself the "king of the class-action lawsuit), and a mysterious group from Hollywood who board secretly to avoid publicity. Tom wanders about the train, innocent and relatively carefree, until he discovers that the woman at the center of the Hollywood group is the famous screenwriter Eleanor Carter-his ex-wife! Even more amazing, Eleanor's director Max Powers finds out that Tom is a writer and convinces Eleanor to collaborate on aproject with him. It looks like Tom's career is taking off after all. But will he be able to work with Eleanor now that they're on a purely platonic level? Probably not-but who said they had to do it that way? Harmless, obvious, and about as full of surprises as a timetable.
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