Six mornings out of seven, Travis Devine puts on his cheap quality suit and boards the 6:20 train into the financial heart of NYC to move money around and make big bucks for Cowl & Comely. (Can we hear Sheena Easton in the background?) Travis is a former military man turned MBA and financial analyst, but really hates the 9-5 slog. Then one morning he receives a cryptic message stating that she is dead - arriving at work to find out that the colleague he had dated was found hung to death in a storage closet at work. And when the news breaks that it was a murder staged to look like a suicide, the police like Travis for the crime. Not to mention that there is an entire floor of the building that is off-limits to everyone except the egotistical braggart of a CEO, where Travis suspects some shady deals taking place. It looks like Travis must revisit his military skills to find out what is really happening and protect himself.

This was the first David Baldacci novel I have read, although like almost everyone else on the planet, I am aware of his prolific writing career. I quite enjoyed the array of characters in the novel, although a little more nuance to the characters would probably be more realistic. Travis is a little too likeable and perhaps should have some character flaws. Likewise there is the brash CEO, Brad Cowl, the fast-food eating and jovial Russian hacker, Will, and the two plodding, sarcastic NYC cops who are always a step behind.

There are plot twists galore and lots of action, which was expected, and which I enjoyed more than I expected, in particular one confrontation outside a bar with three pretentious and overconfident fraternity types. It was a bit longer than it needed to be however, and could have been edited down without losing the story. An enjoyable action/suspense novel which makes a good summer read, and I would like to extend sincere thanks to Grand Central Pub for my copy.