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book_concierge's review
2.0
Book on CD read by Tim Matheson
2.5**
Former war correspondent turned magazine features writer Tom Langdon is taking the train from Washington DC to Los Angeles to spend Christmas with his girlfriend. He’s also researching an article on modern-day train travel. Having in mind the spacious compartments of classic movies, he’s in for a rude awakening, but he certainly finds plenty of interesting characters to profile, including a young couple planning to wed on the train, a big-name movie producer, a Bohemian fortune teller, a retired priest, and a woman who is such a frequent passenger everyone knows her. There is also a thief aboard.
I’d never read anything by Baldacci before and somehow thought of him as a writer of “legal thrillers” so I was surprised to find this holiday romance with a little bit of mystery involved. I was quickly drawn into the story. I loved Regina and Roxanne, the two women Amtrak employees who showed such an interest in their passengers, though I thought several of the other characters were little more than caricatures. I had figured out who the thief was fairly early and this part of the story seemed really incidental to the central romance, so I’m not sure why Baldacci even included it. For the genre, it was fairly entertaining, but the resolution of the central conflict was just too over the top for me. The novel lost a half star with that.
Tim Mathewson does a fine job performing the audio book. He is a gifted voice artist and had many different voices for the big cast of characters. The audio also includes sound effects of train whistles and the clackity clack of rail cars over the rails, as well as some seasonal music. Usually this kind of embellishment irritates me, but it really added to the atmosphere of this story.
2.5**
Former war correspondent turned magazine features writer Tom Langdon is taking the train from Washington DC to Los Angeles to spend Christmas with his girlfriend. He’s also researching an article on modern-day train travel. Having in mind the spacious compartments of classic movies, he’s in for a rude awakening, but he certainly finds plenty of interesting characters to profile, including a young couple planning to wed on the train, a big-name movie producer, a Bohemian fortune teller, a retired priest, and a woman who is such a frequent passenger everyone knows her. There is also a thief aboard.
I’d never read anything by Baldacci before and somehow thought of him as a writer of “legal thrillers” so I was surprised to find this holiday romance with a little bit of mystery involved. I was quickly drawn into the story. I loved Regina and Roxanne, the two women Amtrak employees who showed such an interest in their passengers, though I thought several of the other characters were little more than caricatures. I had figured out who the thief was fairly early and this part of the story seemed really incidental to the central romance, so I’m not sure why Baldacci even included it. For the genre, it was fairly entertaining, but the resolution of the central conflict was just too over the top for me. The novel lost a half star with that.
Tim Mathewson does a fine job performing the audio book. He is a gifted voice artist and had many different voices for the big cast of characters. The audio also includes sound effects of train whistles and the clackity clack of rail cars over the rails, as well as some seasonal music. Usually this kind of embellishment irritates me, but it really added to the atmosphere of this story.
ayami's review against another edition
4.0
A great Christmas read. The explanation in the end was a little bit unnecessary but I really enjoyed the story overall. Great, believable and interesting characters. Light and pleasant story.
meme_too2's review against another edition
4.0
Nice book about realized blessings.
I like Baldacci and have enjoyed many of his books.
I like Baldacci and have enjoyed many of his books.
tlctbr's review against another edition
2.0
It was nice to listen to while I decorated and baked but ultimately I decided I prefer my cheesy Christmas stories in the form of Hallmark movies.
flowersofquiethappiness's review against another edition
3.0
Having watched the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie based on this book a couple years ago, I was intrigued to try this. Of course, books and movies always differ, so I had a few disappointments. But overall this was an intriguing story, very Christmasy and enjoyable (mostly). There were parts I particularly liked better than others and I won't say that I will ever pick it up again, but I'm not sad I tried it. (Plus, does it ever make you feel like patting yourself on the back when you try a popular and well-known author even if you didn't love their story? Perhaps I'm the only one...
judithdcollins's review against another edition
4.0
A huge David Baldacci fan, enjoyed THE CHRISTMAS TRAIN, an ideal book for the holiday season- An uplifting and lighthearted journey.
A bit of a wanderlust, a lover of trains; Mysterious, intriguing---have always wanted to take a ride cross country-- so adventurous. A charming book - The audio offered nice effects, making it realistic, setting the mood, with vivid descriptions.
The narrator Tim Matheson delivered an excellent performance, reminding me a little of Richard Paul Evans’ heartwarming books, centered around the holiday season.
Full of colorful memorable characters: from New Orleans jazz, funny eccentric older ladies, actors, movie producers, and writers.
Tom Langdon is the main character and writer taking the train to California to see his girlfriend, to go skiing in Tahoe for the holidays. Ironically, he runs into his former love Eleanor, whom he has never gotten over who is now a big movie director.
From romance, snow storms, a thief, undercover folks, Max the movie guy and a staff full of fabulous friendly Amtrak employees – making this a humorous and fun trip.
Makes you want to plan a train trip soon to meet all the fun people along the journey, in a slower-paced time.
“It's not getting from A to B. It's not the beginning or the destination that counts. It's the ride in between...This train is alive with things that should be seen and heard. It's a living, breathing something -- you just have to want to learn its rhythm.”
― David Baldacci, The Christmas Train
JDCMustReadBooks
A bit of a wanderlust, a lover of trains; Mysterious, intriguing---have always wanted to take a ride cross country-- so adventurous. A charming book - The audio offered nice effects, making it realistic, setting the mood, with vivid descriptions.
The narrator Tim Matheson delivered an excellent performance, reminding me a little of Richard Paul Evans’ heartwarming books, centered around the holiday season.
Full of colorful memorable characters: from New Orleans jazz, funny eccentric older ladies, actors, movie producers, and writers.
Tom Langdon is the main character and writer taking the train to California to see his girlfriend, to go skiing in Tahoe for the holidays. Ironically, he runs into his former love Eleanor, whom he has never gotten over who is now a big movie director.
From romance, snow storms, a thief, undercover folks, Max the movie guy and a staff full of fabulous friendly Amtrak employees – making this a humorous and fun trip.
Makes you want to plan a train trip soon to meet all the fun people along the journey, in a slower-paced time.
“It's not getting from A to B. It's not the beginning or the destination that counts. It's the ride in between...This train is alive with things that should be seen and heard. It's a living, breathing something -- you just have to want to learn its rhythm.”
― David Baldacci, The Christmas Train
JDCMustReadBooks
bmpicc's review against another edition
3.0
This was very predictable. My main issue (aside from the simplistic writing) and the reason for only 3 stars was the main character. I know I'm supposed to root for him, but I found him to be incredible frustrating. Even saying, "Ugh, men." aloud while reading.
*Cute if you like Christmas miracle type stories during the holiday season.
*There is a hallmark movie based on this book.
*Cute if you like Christmas miracle type stories during the holiday season.
*There is a hallmark movie based on this book.
papidoc's review against another edition
4.0
Fun, snarky, outrageous characters, with a "little bit of everything" plot - crime, mystery, adventure, romance, and Christmas. Combine the ingredients, mix well, and bake on a train, and what you have is Baldacci's The Christmas Train. It's not a typical Christmas story, and the plot is a little (OK, very) contrived, but I still enjoyed listening to it on my work commute. The narrator, Tim Matheson, does a pretty good job of varying the numerous voices involved so that it's easy to keep them straight. There's humor in abundance, a little bit of love, and an ending so contrived and unnecessary that it will make you groan and grin as if you'd just heard the worst pun in the world. Not my usual fare, but I enjoyed it.
littletaiko's review against another edition
3.0
The Christmas Train was a fun book to read during December. It's a light, fluffy, and enjoyable Christmas story. Set on a cross country train trip it's filled with some traditional Baldacci scenarios. A few too many coincidences but the characters were fun to hang out with for a couple of hours. Sure made me want to take a train ride.