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David Baldacci publishes mysteries like Patrick Mahomes throws touchdown passes. Baldacci is prolific; here are his latest two books.

To Die For

Baldacci adds another 6:20 Man mystery in To Die For (2024, Grand Central). The 6:20 Man is Travis Devine, ex-Army, ex-Wall Street, currently employed by the Department of Homeland Security, whose latest assignment turns from assisting the FBI escort a 12-year old witness, into discovering a plot to overthrow the United States government.

Travis Devine is one of Baldacci’s very capable, mysterious and deadly characters. The problem is these guys are colorless and often interchangeable men. There are exceptions, like Memory Man, the larger than normal agent who has an extraordinary memory because of a sports injury. Aloysius Archer is a P.I. In post WWII L.A., who solves murders and beds dame. Atlee Pine is an FBI agent based in Arizona, who has been searching for her twin sister and discovers her real father along the way. Those are fresh, unique characters, rather than the ex-Army, ex-Marine, ex-something that is trained in lethal warfare and has traveled the globe fixing wrongs.

Devine is given the job of being a bodyguard to a young woman whose parents were killed. At the same time he is being tracked by his nemesis who wants him dead. There’s a lot of room for thrilling action and mystery. It honestly just feels like characters and situations we’ve encountered before.

Baldacci is repeating himself now, the same problem Lee Childs has with Jack Reacher.

Strangers in Time

This is a stand-alone book, not part of an existing series. Strangers in Time (2025, Grand Central) is a World War II mystery.

Charlie is a young teenager who lives with his grandmother, after the deaths of his parents and grandfather, in London under siege from Nazi bombing. Charlie is a miscreant, having quit school and instead engaging in small crimes. One theft from a bookstore has repercussions as a clothing name tag of his was found at the scene, and the bookstore owner shows up at his apartment, and becomes part of the story. Then a young girl, Molly, enters the story and happens upon the street urchin Charlie.

This book has been an effort to get into, which is unusual for a Baldacci mystery; but stand alone books of new characters and settings takes time and patience. If you can get through the first 100 pages, the story moves forward in more typical Baldacci fashion.

Unfortunately, while I found the story interesting, the ending felt contrived and disappointing for a Baldacci novel. He threw everything into the mix, the war, spies, double agents, crooked cops, orphans, mental illness, unexpected deaths, secret codes, wartime rape, vigilante justice, and so forth. None of it rang true and much of it was unnecessary.

There are much better David Balducci books, skip this one, find something better to read or have a conversation with someone.