I know, I know. Christmas is over. Even being generous of spirit, it’s about the 24th Day of Christmas and my true love isn’t giving me anything. Wait until next year. Still, I feel the Christmas spirit in my heart, and my heart led me to read one last Christmas novel. My heart along with the library, which finally offered me the book I had on hold all season long. Despite it being mid-January, I couldn’t possibly have enjoyed The Christmas Train, by prolific writer David Baldacci, any more than I did.

Burnt-out journalist Tom Langdon wants to get from his home in Washington, D.C., to his girlfriend in Los Angeles for Christmas. Circumstances prevent him from flying. He decides to take Amtrak instead, and to document his experiences in train travel at Christmas. In the way that Christmas novels go, he runs into an old girlfriend — his one true love who unexpectedly walked out on him years before — on the train. Sparks fly initially, but eventually they are forced to be congenial and work together — both on a professional project and then to save their lives and the lives of all of their fellow train travelers who encounter a fierce snowstorm in southern Colorado. The book has the essential happy ending.

My husband and I have ridden a number of trains in our lives, most of which were in Europe. Still, we have ridden on Amtrak’s California Zephyr on a couple of occasions, and we both loved the experience. While The Christmas Train doesn’t take place on the California Zephyr, it does take place on two of Amtrak’s real trains — the Capitol Limited from D.C. to Chicago, and Southwest Chief from Chicago to Los Angeles. The Southwest Chief takes a route that parallels a driving route I have taken many times, and I have seen the train very often.

Despite the number of books and series Baldacci has written, and despite the fact that I’m an avid mystery reader, I haven’t read a single book by this author. The book, however, was recommended to me by my sister, who knew I liked both Christmas novels and train rides. Imagine my joy to discover a book that met both criteria.

The author provides a wonderful description of train travel, at least train travel back in 2002 when the book was written. He offers a almost-believable cast of characters. And if the are too good to be true, the reader must remember that this is a Christmas novel. The more cheerful it is, the more we like it. Baldacci is a fine story teller.

I highly recommend this book, especially if you have an interest in trains. Or Christmas!

Here is a link to the book.