AUTHOR :

OUTLINE : A former Army Ranger turned Wall Street analyst is trapped between a murder accusation and a deadly spy mission that makes finance as dangerous as the battlefield.

My Rating – 4/5,
Pages – 590,
First Published – 12, July 2022,
Language – English,
Genres – Thriller, Fiction, Mystery, Audiobook, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Suspense, Action, Adult, Contemporary

Story Snapshot (No Spoilers):

Ex Army Ranger Travis Devine now treads the marble corridors of Wall Street, trading the thunder of battle for the quiet menace of numbers and suits. Each morning he boards the 6:20 train, unaware that his orderly routine is about to fracture. When a colleague is brutally murdered, suspicion coils around him, and at the same time Homeland Security tightens its grip, forcing him to spy on his powerful employer, the elusive multimillionaire Bradley Cowl. With his own buried past used as a weapon against him, Devine is dragged into a labyrinth of secrets and lies, where he soon learns that the world of high finance can be every bit as lethal and far more treacherous than any battlefield he ever survived.

My Experience:

It is powered by solely my experience with book, zero sponsorship, zero bribe, not even a bookmark involved (forget about free copy of book).

This book was my first dance with David Baldacci, and now I am genuinely offended that I waited this long. What was I doing with my life? The story starts a little slow, with so much detail that it feels like the book is clearing its throat, but once it gets going, it absolutely sprints. Travis is a brilliant lead, a bit broken, very human, and impossible not to root for. At first he is confused, then we are confused, and then suddenly the coincidences pile up so high you can practically hear a chorus of suspicious rats squeaking in the background.

The cast is wild too, from slick Wall Street sharks to people you would cross the street to avoid even in broad daylight. The plot feels uncomfortably believable, which makes it even more gripping. Soon it turns into a full blown action ride with conspiracies, danger, and enough tension to make you forget to blink. There are twists, turns, clever dialogue, and moments that make you whisper “wait, what?” in the best way possible. The ending lands nicely, not wrapped in a shiny bow, but messy and realistic, just like real life.

Also, if Travis does not come back in another book, I will be mildly but passionately upset, because I really want to know what chaos he walks into next.

Have you read this one, or is it sitting on your TBR waiting for its moment to shine?