Novelist Baldacci talks new novel Thursday at United Theatre in Westerly

Jul. 13—A multitude of successful American mystery and thriller authors trace their beginnings back to childhood reading habits and the ingenious case-solving proclivities of youthful sleuths the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, the Three Investigators, Encyclopedia Brown and Brains Benton.

David Baldacci, whose four-dozen suspense and thriller titles have sold almost 150 million copies worldwide, says that, if he'd been a kid and needed a crime solved, he'd absolutely have gone to the Three Investigators. As such, in the wake of his success, one of the 61-year-old Baldacci's indulgences has been to go back and acquire first editions of all the titles in the Three Investigators series.

"There's a Three Investigators collectors site, and I was able to find them," Baldacci says. He's speaking from his Virginia home before heading out on a signing tour in support of his latest book, "The 6:20 Man," which hit stores earlier this week. He appears at a book talk and signing Thursday at the United Theatre in Westerly.

For those sadly unaware, the adolescent Three Investigators were made up of Jupiter Jones, the group's sky-high IQ'd Sherlock; Pete Crenshaw, who provided the physical brawn of the outfit; and records/research wizard Bob Andrews. Perhaps not surprisingly, Baldacci, whose wide-ranging plots and characters require voluminous amounts of homework, relates most to Investigator Andrews.

All in the details

"Bob was responsible for all the facts and details, and that's what I think I'm best at," Baldacci says. This is overwhelmingly apparent in "The 6:20 Man," wherein the author had to assimilate intricate knowledge of computer science, close-contact hand-to-hand combat, a Wharton-level familiarity with mergers and acquisitions, and a Sports Illustrated photographer's acuity when it comes to the world of bikini design.

As with many of his books, Baldacci says he actually looks forward to mid-novel situations where he has to tap into his inner Bob Andrews. "I try to anticipate plot situations ahead of time and do the research before I start, but invariably something will come up and you need to know more about a subject," he says. "I just stop and do the work and then get back to writing. I enjoy it, to tell you the truth, and it's all part of the process."

In "The 6:20 Man," protagonist Travis Devine, a much-decorated Army Ranger for his efforts on numerous tours of Iraq and Afghanistan, has left military service and is starting a bottom-of-the-heap, brutal-pressure gig at a Wall Street investment firm. When a colleague with whom he'd shared a brief relationship commits suicide, Devine is shocked and saddened.

But when it's revealed she was actually murdered, Levine comes under police suspicion. He begins to feel additional pressure from the company's CEO, a wunderkind billionaire with a ruthless reputation. Suddenly, a top-ranking agent from a secret defense department group approaches Devine with an offer/threat: find out what chicanery the CEO is up to — including, if necessary, finding out who murdered the dead colleague — or face charges for an ambiguous legal situation dating back to his military days.

Devine gets help from the three uniquely qualified but very different roommates with whom he shares a rental house on the train line north of New York City — but are all of them trustworthy? As more employees start to die, Devine begins to encounter increasingly dangerous altercations. Then, in a distinctly Baldaccian twist, he learns a young woman — who dazzles him and fellow commuters on his way into Manhattan each morning by appearing poolside in a bikini at an exotic mansion — is the girlfriend of his boss, things go into overdrive.

Pedaling for inspiration

"The 6:20 Man" is the 13th standalone novel of Baldacci's career, which exploded overnight in 1996 when his first publication, "Absolute Power," with its amazing premise about a witness to an assassination, was made into a film starring Clint Eastwood. At the time, Baldacci worked on fiction as a hobby after logging hours at his day job as an attorney. He came up with the idea for "Absolute Power" on a bike ride around Washington D.C.

Nearly 50 books later, Baldacci remembers that situation with appreciation and maybe a bit of awe.

"Back then, experiencing the publication and unexpected success of a first novel was incredibly exciting," he says. "I do not take that for granted. I'm still excited and thrilled with each book because I realize there are a lot of writers out there who are just as good or better than me — who haven't had the opportunity or the break. Yes, I work hard, but so do a lot of qualified people. Sometimes luck plays a big factor."

Maybe it's the bicycle part. Baldacci was pedaling when the concept for "The 6:20 Man" popped into his head.

"I was riding my bike in Florida at the height of the pandemic and everyone including me was freaked out," Baldacci says. "I was thinking about transitions because, as a country, we were moving into a new and bewildering time on a lot of levels. And I'd started out as a lawyer before being lucky enough to transition into a career as a writer. Suddenly, the idea of Travis entered my mind. I knew his name and a lot about him; he, too, changed one career for another and I wanted to know why. And that started it."

The joy of creation

Baldacci is also famous for the number of series characters he's created. So far, he's written more than one book starring, respectively, Atlee Pine, Aloysius Archer, "Shaw," the Camel Club, "the Memory Man," John Puller, King & Maxwell and Will Robbie.

"As a writer, there's a lot of joy in coming up with a new character," Baldelli says. "There are so many things I can do with that person. It's almost like learning you're expecting a child. Until that child is born, there are a lot of ups and downs but it's part of the process and the reward is coming. And sometimes I want to spend more time with a character and get to know them better — and so more books come along."

As for the trouble these fictional folks get into, Baldacci acknowledges his imagination is such that he sometimes writes himself into expository and narrative situations that aren't easy to get out of.

"I've written myself into many corners — and sometimes intentionally," Baldacci says. "I don't outline everything I write; a lot of the story grows organically. It's easy enough to write down an outline but it's different doing the writing. It's the difference between plotting out a battle plan in a tent over maps and the soldier fighting the battle in real time. I like to write in the trenches."

Inasmuch as most of Baldacci's novels deal with government issues, international intrigue and/or high finance, it's not surprising that elements of real-time distress and conflict in America are evident in the new novel. It's enough to make a longtime reader wonder if some of the conspiracy threads from Baldacci's earlier works are becoming eerily less fantastical.

"It absolutely occurs to me," Baldacci says. "I think about plausible deniability all the time. Now some of this stuff is happening. We are the world's longest surviving democracy and I always remember that the founding fathers said it was an experiment. We're reaching a point as American people where we'll find out whether this will continue to work."

"I fear for this country and what's happening: border checks for pregnant women, schools requiring children to write down their political beliefs to see if they're American enough ... The laws are subtle at first and it's easy to think some of the early things that are happening are sedate."