The Christmas Train by David Baldacci

“It’s my experience that most folk who ride trains could care less where they’re going. For them it’s the journey itself and the people they meet along the way. You see, at every stop this train makes, a little bit of America, a little bit of your country, gets on and says hello.”

Journalist Tom Langdon is traveling from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles for Christmas to see his girlfriend, but he has a “misunderstanding” with airport security. Tom finds himself boarding a train instead and uses the slower pace and interactions with fellow passengers to write about his trip. As an ex-war correspondent, he currently writes fluff pieces. The opportunity to delve into train travel and his fellow passengers is a welcome change of pace for Tom and the trip provides an opportunity to explore where he wants to be in life.

During his cross-country Christmas train-trip, Tom meets a couple looking to elope, a retired priest, a famous actor and a former train engineer. The biggest surprise though, for Tom, is finding his long-lost love (the one who got away), Eleanor, is a fellow passenger. There is a small mystery with an apparent thief on board the train and the added drama of a blizzard headed their way. The passengers and crew must ban together to survive the treacherous conditions of the storm.

This is a sweet story with interesting facts about train travel. I loved the concept of a cross-country train trip at Christmas-time and the interactions between passengers were snappy and heart-warming. As a Christmas novel, it isn’t a typical Baldacci and certainly has the cheese factor, but that’s to be expected (and desired!) in a holiday read. As a bonus, this novel was made into a Hallmark Christmas movie that is also available at the Library (see the link below to request)! The movie has a stellar cast with Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Dermot Mulroney, Danny Glover and Joan Cusack. The book is ALWAYS better, but the movie is wonderful too!

Check out The Christmas Train by David Baldacci at the Library https://catalog.lclibs.org/polaris/search/title.aspx…) and watch the movie by borrowing it from the Library (https://catalog.lclibs.org/polaris/search/title.aspx…).