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Terminal List #1
THE TERMINAL LIST - Die Abschussliste: Thriller
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Debut Author (2018)THE TERMINAL LIST - jetzt als Amazon-Prime-Serie mit Chris Pratt in der Hauptrolle.
Bei einem Hinterhalt durch Taliban-Milizen wird fast das komplette Team von Navy-SEAL-Kommandant James Reece ausgelöscht. Geplagt von Schuldgefühlen kehrt er in die Heimat zurück.
Doch nun muss er erleben, wie weitere Menschen aus seinem engsten Umfeld unter mysteriösen Umständen sterben. Wie sich herausstellt, litten alle Verstorbene an Hirntumoren.
Schnell wird klar, dass keine feindliche Macht hinter den Anschlägen steckt, sondern machtgierige und skrupellose Amerikaner. Die Spur der Verschwörung führt bis in die höchsten Regierungskreise.
Als Reece ebenfalls erkrankt, hat er nichts mehr zu verlieren. Ihm bleibt nur noch Rache. Sorgfältig erstellt er eine Liste mit allen Verantwortlichen und macht sich auf den Weg …
Nervenkitzel von Anfang bis Ende. Für Fans von Vince Flynn, Tom Clancy und Stephen Hunter.
Brad »Absolut großartig! So kraftvoll, so atemberaubend, so gut geschrieben. Selten liest man einen so verdammt guten Erstlingsroman.«
Washington »Definitiv das beste Thrillerdebüt 2018. Außergewöhnlich gut und authentisch. Packt einen sofort.«
The Real Book »Eine beeindruckende neue Stimme unter den Polit-Thriller-Autoren. Die erbarmungslose Action von Jack Carr sollte man sich echt nicht entgehen lassen.«
Steve »Aufpassen bei der Lektüre, sie hinterlässt Spuren.«
Bei einem Hinterhalt durch Taliban-Milizen wird fast das komplette Team von Navy-SEAL-Kommandant James Reece ausgelöscht. Geplagt von Schuldgefühlen kehrt er in die Heimat zurück.
Doch nun muss er erleben, wie weitere Menschen aus seinem engsten Umfeld unter mysteriösen Umständen sterben. Wie sich herausstellt, litten alle Verstorbene an Hirntumoren.
Schnell wird klar, dass keine feindliche Macht hinter den Anschlägen steckt, sondern machtgierige und skrupellose Amerikaner. Die Spur der Verschwörung führt bis in die höchsten Regierungskreise.
Als Reece ebenfalls erkrankt, hat er nichts mehr zu verlieren. Ihm bleibt nur noch Rache. Sorgfältig erstellt er eine Liste mit allen Verantwortlichen und macht sich auf den Weg …
Nervenkitzel von Anfang bis Ende. Für Fans von Vince Flynn, Tom Clancy und Stephen Hunter.
Brad »Absolut großartig! So kraftvoll, so atemberaubend, so gut geschrieben. Selten liest man einen so verdammt guten Erstlingsroman.«
Washington »Definitiv das beste Thrillerdebüt 2018. Außergewöhnlich gut und authentisch. Packt einen sofort.«
The Real Book »Eine beeindruckende neue Stimme unter den Polit-Thriller-Autoren. Die erbarmungslose Action von Jack Carr sollte man sich echt nicht entgehen lassen.«
Steve »Aufpassen bei der Lektüre, sie hinterlässt Spuren.«
515 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 6, 2018
12023 people are currently reading
43746 people want to read
About the author
Jack Carr
20 books7,202 followersJack Carr is a former Navy SEAL who led special operations teams as a Team Leader, Platoon Commander, Troop Commander and Task Unit Commander. Over his 20 years in Naval Special Warfare he transitioned from an enlisted SEAL sniper specializing in communications and intelligence, to a junior officer leading assault and sniper teams in Iraq and Afghanistan, to a platoon commander practicing counterinsurgency in the southern Philippines, to commanding a Special Operations Task Unit in the most Iranian influenced section of southern Iraq throughout the tumultuous drawdown of U.S. Forces. Jack retired from active duty in 2016. He lives with his wife and three children in Park City, Utah. He is the author of The Terminal List, True Believer, and Savage Son.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 4,982 reviews
April 19, 2018
This book is totally for you if you dislike things such as: liberals, Muslims, America's acceptance of foreigners, Mexicans, gun laws, California and any military strategy that doesn't include "Kill Em All." There's even a very subtle swipe at African Americans, implying that the only reason they ever convert to Islam is when they are in prison and are not real Muslims. They're criminals, but not real Muslims.
Also, the women in the book are all very accomplished, and aside from the corrupt and presumably liberal Secretary of Defense, all have their bodies described in great, fawning detail. A blonde, petite journalist is of course described as "exactly what a journalist should look like." This book is pretty much trash.
Look, I know there are people out there that this outlook appeals to. Unfortunately.
Also, the women in the book are all very accomplished, and aside from the corrupt and presumably liberal Secretary of Defense, all have their bodies described in great, fawning detail. A blonde, petite journalist is of course described as "exactly what a journalist should look like." This book is pretty much trash.
Look, I know there are people out there that this outlook appeals to. Unfortunately.
July 5, 2022
Update July 2, 2022:
I just finished all 8 episodes on Prime video also called "The Terminal List" (Chris Pratt, Constance Wu, Taylor Kitsch). It was so gooood! If you like to watch action thriller, DO NOT miss this one! Now the wait for season 2.🍿🎬
2019
LOVED it! LOVED it!
Hallelujah, James Reece is the Punisher! An awesome first novel is full of action. The pace is great from front to back there is no downtime. I was a bit concerned that it'll be too technical, but it wasn't. Pure good vs evil. Need a longer list in the next book because I didn't want it to end. A book this good, I'll read anything Carr writes.
Thank you Jack Carr for your service. 🙏❤️
I just finished all 8 episodes on Prime video also called "The Terminal List" (Chris Pratt, Constance Wu, Taylor Kitsch). It was so gooood! If you like to watch action thriller, DO NOT miss this one! Now the wait for season 2.🍿🎬
2019
LOVED it! LOVED it!
Hallelujah, James Reece is the Punisher! An awesome first novel is full of action. The pace is great from front to back there is no downtime. I was a bit concerned that it'll be too technical, but it wasn't. Pure good vs evil. Need a longer list in the next book because I didn't want it to end. A book this good, I'll read anything Carr writes.
Thank you Jack Carr for your service. 🙏❤️
December 21, 2023
”His thoughts were focused beyond the grave. Sorry buddy, Reece thought. We never should have gone on that mission. I knew it and we went anyway. But, the truth of it is, we were set up before we even deployed. I’m the only one left. They took Lucy, Lauren, and our unborn son, and I don’t have long. The bastards that killed you, killed us all back in this country during our work-up. Don’t worry, though. I still have a bit more time. I know who they are now and I’m hunting them. They don’t know it yet, but they will soon. I’m coming for them and I’m going to put them all in the ground.”
The SEALS are the tip of the spear. They are the Spartan 300. They are the most dangerous weapon on the planet, and James Reece is about to show everyone just how dangerous he can be.
When Lieutenant Commander James Reece’s SEAL team is wiped out in an ambush in Afghanistan, it almost defies belief. How could this happen? How could their intel be this bad? This isn’t about the insurgents getting lucky. They were waiting for them. Reece was uneasy about the mission from the beginning. Usually his team found the missions and implemented them, but this mission came from the top down. As one of two survivors and the commanding officer, he doesn’t need a flow chart with a bunch of red arrows and green circles to know who the failure of this mission is going to be pinned on.
Something isn’t right.
Is it the tumor in his head? Never good news, but it becomes more strange with potentially insidious overtones when he discovers that the other members of his team have the same tumors. So the healthiest young men on the planet all have the same tumor?
Something is definitely not right.
Reece gets stateside and hasn’t even had a chance to see his family before they are murdered by a random act of gang violence. A radicalized Muslim tries to gun him down in the street. It is obvious that his being alive has proven inconvenient for somebody, but they have made one grave mistake.
They’ve left him alive with absolutely nothing to lose.
As he follows the clues, he discovers that his tumor is a walking time bomb not only for himself but for those who want him dead. Unknowingly, he and his team were part of an experimental program to cure PTSD, and when the results produced tumors, suddenly his team was a hitch in a multi-million dollar bonanza. When someone considers their ruthlessness a competitive advantage and their greed to be their North Star, arranging for a few SEALS and their rescue team to be killed, well those are just pawns in a much bigger chess game.
Reece begins to make a list, and as that list grows, he soon learns that the malignancy that created all this death, really the assassination of Reece’s whole life, goes up through the military chain of command and all the way into the White House.
He’s the treatment, and there’s a lot of cancer to kill.
What is most impressive about this book isn’t all the accolades from some of the biggest names in the business, although the list is impressive, but the legitimacy of the writing. Jack Carr has been the tip of the spear. ”Jack Carr led special operations teams as a Team Leader, Platoon Commander, Troop Commander and Task Unit Commander. Over his 20 years in Naval Special Warfare he transitioned from an enlisted SEAL sniper, to a junior officer leading assault and sniper teams in Iraq and Afghanistan, to a platoon commander practicing counterinsurgency in the southern Philippines, to commanding a Special Operations Task Unit in the most Iranian influenced section of southern Iraq throughout the tumultuous drawdown of U.S. Forces.--From the Jack Carr Website”
We love movies and books about revenge. Who hasn’t fantasized about clearing the board of all the people who have insulted them, made fun of them, or even tried to destroy their lives or career? I like to always say that the history of my life is strewn with the corpses of my enemies. It sounds really cool, right, and always gets a laugh, but for complete deniability, I want to make clear that I have no idea why certain people have disappeared. Karma’s a bitch as they say. :-)
Look at the popularity of the John Wick trilogy. I watched two more of them than I needed to. I was pretty satisfied with the revenge of the puppy murder, and everything after that was just unmitigated carnage. Unlike John Wick, James Reece is surgical. He takes out the people who deserve to die. This isn’t about killing a hundred guys to get to the one asshole he needs to take off the board. Reece is smarter than that. He isn’t a chainsaw; he’s a tomahawk.
First Blood came out in 1982 and spawned the Rambo franchise, the ultimate revenge movie. I was fifteen years old when that movie came out, and it changed the way I saw and thought about the Vietnam War. It was the first time I had a reason to question whether the people working in our government were always working for the good of the people. Questioning the true intentions of the people who serve us in government is certainly a theme that travels from Rambo to Reece. We want to trust our government, but when that trust is broken, we have to serve notice to those perpetrators of distrust that we will strip them of their power and entrust it to someone else. There are certainly ties between David Morrell’s books and this book, and Morrell, not surprisingly, is a big fan. On the home page of Jack Carr’s website, there is a quote from Morrell that I completely agree with. ”He’s the real deal. Having lived the life he writes about, he absorbs the best of the thriller tradition and moves it forward. Thoughtful as much as visceral, he’s my idea of what a thriller author should be.”
Yes, there are descriptions of cool gadgets and lots of cool acronyms. No worries, Carr has included a handy glossary of definitions in the back of the book to clue you in if you encounter a term that doesn't readily make sense. The reader certainly feels locked and loaded as he travels along with Reece on his revenge tour, but there are also well-written, poignant scenes. Coffins draped in golden tridents still give me a lump in my throat. There are thoughtful scenes and questioning scenes to the true purpose of his mission. There are the concerns he has for putting the few friends he can count on in danger and the raw disappointment when he discovers the treachery of those he thought he could trust.
Prepared to be thrilled, enlightened, and proud of our men in uniform. Politics should never be about them, but unfortunately, too many times they have been the pawns in the naked ambitions of others.
If you are looking for the perfect gift this Christmas for the favorite men in your life, this series will be a superb choice. They will love it.
I want to thank David Brown and Simon & Schuster press for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten and an Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/jeffreykeeten/
The SEALS are the tip of the spear. They are the Spartan 300. They are the most dangerous weapon on the planet, and James Reece is about to show everyone just how dangerous he can be.
When Lieutenant Commander James Reece’s SEAL team is wiped out in an ambush in Afghanistan, it almost defies belief. How could this happen? How could their intel be this bad? This isn’t about the insurgents getting lucky. They were waiting for them. Reece was uneasy about the mission from the beginning. Usually his team found the missions and implemented them, but this mission came from the top down. As one of two survivors and the commanding officer, he doesn’t need a flow chart with a bunch of red arrows and green circles to know who the failure of this mission is going to be pinned on.
Something isn’t right.
Is it the tumor in his head? Never good news, but it becomes more strange with potentially insidious overtones when he discovers that the other members of his team have the same tumors. So the healthiest young men on the planet all have the same tumor?
Something is definitely not right.
Reece gets stateside and hasn’t even had a chance to see his family before they are murdered by a random act of gang violence. A radicalized Muslim tries to gun him down in the street. It is obvious that his being alive has proven inconvenient for somebody, but they have made one grave mistake.
They’ve left him alive with absolutely nothing to lose.
As he follows the clues, he discovers that his tumor is a walking time bomb not only for himself but for those who want him dead. Unknowingly, he and his team were part of an experimental program to cure PTSD, and when the results produced tumors, suddenly his team was a hitch in a multi-million dollar bonanza. When someone considers their ruthlessness a competitive advantage and their greed to be their North Star, arranging for a few SEALS and their rescue team to be killed, well those are just pawns in a much bigger chess game.
Reece begins to make a list, and as that list grows, he soon learns that the malignancy that created all this death, really the assassination of Reece’s whole life, goes up through the military chain of command and all the way into the White House.
He’s the treatment, and there’s a lot of cancer to kill.
What is most impressive about this book isn’t all the accolades from some of the biggest names in the business, although the list is impressive, but the legitimacy of the writing. Jack Carr has been the tip of the spear. ”Jack Carr led special operations teams as a Team Leader, Platoon Commander, Troop Commander and Task Unit Commander. Over his 20 years in Naval Special Warfare he transitioned from an enlisted SEAL sniper, to a junior officer leading assault and sniper teams in Iraq and Afghanistan, to a platoon commander practicing counterinsurgency in the southern Philippines, to commanding a Special Operations Task Unit in the most Iranian influenced section of southern Iraq throughout the tumultuous drawdown of U.S. Forces.--From the Jack Carr Website”
We love movies and books about revenge. Who hasn’t fantasized about clearing the board of all the people who have insulted them, made fun of them, or even tried to destroy their lives or career? I like to always say that the history of my life is strewn with the corpses of my enemies. It sounds really cool, right, and always gets a laugh, but for complete deniability, I want to make clear that I have no idea why certain people have disappeared. Karma’s a bitch as they say. :-)
Look at the popularity of the John Wick trilogy. I watched two more of them than I needed to. I was pretty satisfied with the revenge of the puppy murder, and everything after that was just unmitigated carnage. Unlike John Wick, James Reece is surgical. He takes out the people who deserve to die. This isn’t about killing a hundred guys to get to the one asshole he needs to take off the board. Reece is smarter than that. He isn’t a chainsaw; he’s a tomahawk.
First Blood came out in 1982 and spawned the Rambo franchise, the ultimate revenge movie. I was fifteen years old when that movie came out, and it changed the way I saw and thought about the Vietnam War. It was the first time I had a reason to question whether the people working in our government were always working for the good of the people. Questioning the true intentions of the people who serve us in government is certainly a theme that travels from Rambo to Reece. We want to trust our government, but when that trust is broken, we have to serve notice to those perpetrators of distrust that we will strip them of their power and entrust it to someone else. There are certainly ties between David Morrell’s books and this book, and Morrell, not surprisingly, is a big fan. On the home page of Jack Carr’s website, there is a quote from Morrell that I completely agree with. ”He’s the real deal. Having lived the life he writes about, he absorbs the best of the thriller tradition and moves it forward. Thoughtful as much as visceral, he’s my idea of what a thriller author should be.”
Yes, there are descriptions of cool gadgets and lots of cool acronyms. No worries, Carr has included a handy glossary of definitions in the back of the book to clue you in if you encounter a term that doesn't readily make sense. The reader certainly feels locked and loaded as he travels along with Reece on his revenge tour, but there are also well-written, poignant scenes. Coffins draped in golden tridents still give me a lump in my throat. There are thoughtful scenes and questioning scenes to the true purpose of his mission. There are the concerns he has for putting the few friends he can count on in danger and the raw disappointment when he discovers the treachery of those he thought he could trust.
Prepared to be thrilled, enlightened, and proud of our men in uniform. Politics should never be about them, but unfortunately, too many times they have been the pawns in the naked ambitions of others.
If you are looking for the perfect gift this Christmas for the favorite men in your life, this series will be a superb choice. They will love it.
I want to thank David Brown and Simon & Schuster press for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten and an Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/jeffreykeeten/
August 2, 2022
I will word things as carefully as I can. This was a very masculine book bordering on toxic at times. Yes. I get that this is a book about a navy seal doing navy seal stuff so there was certainly a lot of running, shooting, crotch grabbing (their own, most definitely not other people's), spitting and blowing stuff up. I have read lots of books like this and really enjoyed them. There was just a slight undertone in this that I felt excluded me from being part of the target audience. It seemed to lean towards one particular set of political views. I also never felt sympathy for James because he barely seemed to grieve before he became so bloody minded and vengeful. I love revenge stories when I can get behind the main character but this was not the case in this novel. Others have loved this series so it's just not for me.
March 24, 2019
Having agreed to read this book on the recommendation of a friend, I was unsure what to expect from Jack Carr. Using elements of his past work experiences in the military, Carr creates and develops a wonderful character in James Reece, adding a thrilling adventure to propel the reader into the middle of something quite memorable. While serving as a Navy SEAL, James Reece watches much of his team die in an ambush ordered by a ruthless imam. Able to escape, Reece’s orders to return stateside cannot come soon enough. Before he is shipped back, an army doctor notices a tumour in his brain, something about which Reece is completely baffled. Landing in Southern California, Reece puts the idea of the tumour out of his mind, wanting to see his family before anything else. Arriving home to a ‘break-in gone wrong’ leaves his wife and young daughter dead, devastating Reece. With little left to do, he reports to his commanding officer and discovers that he is being blamed for the ambush. Meanwhile, those in the highest levels of the US Administration have been trying to keep some of their most covert plans under wraps, but Reece knows too much and must be eliminated. When Reece partners up with a keen investigative journalist, they soon discover an experimental medical program being tested on SEALs, something that creates a great deal of animosity and is the likely cause of the tumour. Add to that the murder of Reece’s family, and this SEAL is ready to eliminate all those who have used and abused him. Reece creates a payback list, vowing to hunt down everyone with a connection to destroying his life. Dodging the law and those contracted to hunt him, Reece is fuelled by passion and determination, using his past training and covert measures to bring some semblance of order to his life. A wonderful debut thriller, Carr pulls the reader into the middle of this story and does not let up. Recommended to those who enjoy military thrillers with a strong protagonist.
While I have an eclectic taste when it comes to books, I thoroughly enjoy novels that are well-written and filled with detail. Jack Carr uses much of his military background to develop a story that is both believable and full of nuances that allows the reader to feel in the middle of the action. Carr admits in the introduction that he has used much of his past to shape both the story and his protagonist, James Reece, but that he has freely used some literary freedoms, as well as the redaction requirements of the Department of Defence. Reece proves to be quite the character, who is a mix of military hero and scorned man who has seen much of his life come apart at the seams. His training makes Reece a man not to be messed with, though when his emotions cloud his mind, one can never know what will transpire. Reece pushes through all his adversity and focuses much of his attention on retribution, which becomes the central tenet of the novel. Other characters offer interesting flavours to the narrative, both military and civilian individuals. Carr utilises these characters well and thickens the plot throughout, keeping the reader enthralled. The story may not be entirely unique in its plot, but Carr does well in keeping the tale believable and full of intrigue. From the military parlance through to the grit of a man wanting justice, the novel takes the reader on a mission with only one goal, revenge. Gritty and emotional in parts, Jack Carr delivers a debut novel not soon to be forgotten.
Kudos, Mr. Carr, for an entertaining opening novel in this series. You have a wonderful way with words that is sure to keep the reader hooked.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
While I have an eclectic taste when it comes to books, I thoroughly enjoy novels that are well-written and filled with detail. Jack Carr uses much of his military background to develop a story that is both believable and full of nuances that allows the reader to feel in the middle of the action. Carr admits in the introduction that he has used much of his past to shape both the story and his protagonist, James Reece, but that he has freely used some literary freedoms, as well as the redaction requirements of the Department of Defence. Reece proves to be quite the character, who is a mix of military hero and scorned man who has seen much of his life come apart at the seams. His training makes Reece a man not to be messed with, though when his emotions cloud his mind, one can never know what will transpire. Reece pushes through all his adversity and focuses much of his attention on retribution, which becomes the central tenet of the novel. Other characters offer interesting flavours to the narrative, both military and civilian individuals. Carr utilises these characters well and thickens the plot throughout, keeping the reader enthralled. The story may not be entirely unique in its plot, but Carr does well in keeping the tale believable and full of intrigue. From the military parlance through to the grit of a man wanting justice, the novel takes the reader on a mission with only one goal, revenge. Gritty and emotional in parts, Jack Carr delivers a debut novel not soon to be forgotten.
Kudos, Mr. Carr, for an entertaining opening novel in this series. You have a wonderful way with words that is sure to keep the reader hooked.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
March 25, 2018
Disappointed
Couldn't finish this thinly veiled hit piece on the Democratic party and how it "infiltrated" our armed forces. Hmm, I guess the infiltration part is somewhat true as there are a lot of Democrats combat veterans.
The book is inline with comrad KGB Colonel Putin thinking: Democrats - bad, we have nothing to say about Republicans :)
Basically if you are a "bone spur deferment" Trump cheerleader and enjoy watching Trump News that book is for you, otherwise skip.
Giving 2 stars as the book might have been actually OK if not for political garbage.
Couldn't finish this thinly veiled hit piece on the Democratic party and how it "infiltrated" our armed forces. Hmm, I guess the infiltration part is somewhat true as there are a lot of Democrats combat veterans.
The book is inline with comrad KGB Colonel Putin thinking: Democrats - bad, we have nothing to say about Republicans :)
Basically if you are a "bone spur deferment" Trump cheerleader and enjoy watching Trump News that book is for you, otherwise skip.
Giving 2 stars as the book might have been actually OK if not for political garbage.
July 8, 2022
Revenge fiction.
And I’m not complaining, writer Jack Carr, himself a former Navy SEAL, tells a good thriller about a SEAL officer who gets betrayed and lots of bad stuff happens to him and his family and he goes out looking for vengeance as only a SEAL can.
Funny anecdote: A guy I was in the National Guard with was prior Navy. He had been a cook. He liked to tell a story about how he was NOT in special forces. Yep, pies in the oven, but unlike Steven Seagal, he was not going to kill everyone else. Apparently he and I were some of the very few veterans with no ties to the special forces community.
Anyway.
What sets this apart is the author’s technical detail, this is filled to the brim with the nuts and bolts of DIY warfare, as our hero James Reece goes off the reservation and exacts his retribution on those who have wronged him. Actually, to be fair, I can see where this would get tedious for some, but I found his attention to detail endearing and added depth to the story.
I’ve also read some negative reviews about how the writer has interjected too much of his political views into the novel and that has distracted from and or diminished the quality of the narrative. I get that too, and I could see where that would lessen the enjoyment of this otherwise good action thriller for some.
This also got very dark, and the serious violence may also turn some off. This is after all, though, a special forces operator going full commando on the bad guys so I set the squeamish alarm on silent and kept going.
But, for those of us left, Carr’s writing is smooth, and this is a page turner. While some of the action stretches the believability quotient, it is after all a military book and, like watching a Bruce Lee martial arts film, we must judge it within the confines of the genre. And with those rules of engagement, this was very good, and I’ll likely read more from this author.
And I’m not complaining, writer Jack Carr, himself a former Navy SEAL, tells a good thriller about a SEAL officer who gets betrayed and lots of bad stuff happens to him and his family and he goes out looking for vengeance as only a SEAL can.
Funny anecdote: A guy I was in the National Guard with was prior Navy. He had been a cook. He liked to tell a story about how he was NOT in special forces. Yep, pies in the oven, but unlike Steven Seagal, he was not going to kill everyone else. Apparently he and I were some of the very few veterans with no ties to the special forces community.
Anyway.
What sets this apart is the author’s technical detail, this is filled to the brim with the nuts and bolts of DIY warfare, as our hero James Reece goes off the reservation and exacts his retribution on those who have wronged him. Actually, to be fair, I can see where this would get tedious for some, but I found his attention to detail endearing and added depth to the story.
I’ve also read some negative reviews about how the writer has interjected too much of his political views into the novel and that has distracted from and or diminished the quality of the narrative. I get that too, and I could see where that would lessen the enjoyment of this otherwise good action thriller for some.
This also got very dark, and the serious violence may also turn some off. This is after all, though, a special forces operator going full commando on the bad guys so I set the squeamish alarm on silent and kept going.
But, for those of us left, Carr’s writing is smooth, and this is a page turner. While some of the action stretches the believability quotient, it is after all a military book and, like watching a Bruce Lee martial arts film, we must judge it within the confines of the genre. And with those rules of engagement, this was very good, and I’ll likely read more from this author.
![Profile Image for Terence M [on a brief semi-hiatus].](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1712357414i%2F6658001._UY200_CR4%2C0%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
October 10, 2025
Audiobook - 12:04 Hours - Narrator: Ray Porter
1.5 Stars - "It was ok" - rounded down.
Edit: July 01, 2019: I have "reviewed" my review and decided all my "I didn't likes" really make it a 1 Star - "I did not like it" review, hence the change!
There are several series in the "Assassination/Professional Killing" genre (or whatever you wish to call it) which I have enjoyed: Gregg Hurwitz - The Orphan series; Mark Greaney - The Gray Man series; Barry Eisler - The John Rain series; and several others. Neither "The Terminal List", nor its author, Jack Carr, deserve to be ranked positively with any of the above-mentioned authors or their series.
I didn't enjoy this audiobook. As noted in my 'reading progress', I didn't like the somewhat amateurish dimensions of the plot, storyline or writing, and the narration was very average. I didn't like the opening gambit: "This is a story of revenge..." (or something very similar). I didn't like the "I was born to kill...", or other, similar, statements. I didn't like the gratuitously violent methods of killing, particularly in the latter part of the book. I didn't like the fact that the protagonist was barely challenged by his opposing forces and when he was, he prevailed effortlessly.
Late Edit: October 10, 2025 - sorry if it caused any 'distress':
Edit: July 01, 2019: I have "reviewed" my review and decided all my "I didn't likes" really make it a 1 Star - "I did not like it" review, hence the change!
There are several series in the "Assassination/Professional Killing" genre (or whatever you wish to call it) which I have enjoyed: Gregg Hurwitz - The Orphan series; Mark Greaney - The Gray Man series; Barry Eisler - The John Rain series; and several others. Neither "The Terminal List", nor its author, Jack Carr, deserve to be ranked positively with any of the above-mentioned authors or their series.
I didn't enjoy this audiobook. As noted in my 'reading progress', I didn't like the somewhat amateurish dimensions of the plot, storyline or writing, and the narration was very average. I didn't like the opening gambit: "This is a story of revenge..." (or something very similar). I didn't like the "I was born to kill...", or other, similar, statements. I didn't like the gratuitously violent methods of killing, particularly in the latter part of the book. I didn't like the fact that the protagonist was barely challenged by his opposing forces and when he was, he prevailed effortlessly.
Late Edit: October 10, 2025 - sorry if it caused any 'distress':
July 28, 2022
The only problem I have with this book is that I did not read it earlier!!
This has got to be one of the best action/thriller fiction books out there. Mr Carr with all his experience and insider knowledge of special operations has written a masterpiece!! The writing is excellent and all his scene descriptions are great and really takes you to a time and place. His character development is also next-level and even characters that only has one or two paragraphs gets a bit of a back story which really ads value to the book, as does his attention to detail with the smallest of things he writes.
The main man, James Reece is also one of the best protagonists I have encountered during my time reading, and he is not the flawed hero as you get in some books, but someone that stands out as an honest to God hero that has a clean slate up until the start of his vengeance fueled crusade against some of the most evil villains there is. I like Reece's outlook on life and how he sees the world around him, also his skills and creativity while operating is magnificent and he really takes it up a level. His supporting cast of characters that help him is also very diverse and each bring some special talents to the table.
The twists in the end will also blow you away and I will definitely read the next books in the series. Well done Mr Carr and I cannot wait to start watching the series.
PS: Some scenes in the book will not be for everyone, so hope you have a strong stomach.
This has got to be one of the best action/thriller fiction books out there. Mr Carr with all his experience and insider knowledge of special operations has written a masterpiece!! The writing is excellent and all his scene descriptions are great and really takes you to a time and place. His character development is also next-level and even characters that only has one or two paragraphs gets a bit of a back story which really ads value to the book, as does his attention to detail with the smallest of things he writes.
The main man, James Reece is also one of the best protagonists I have encountered during my time reading, and he is not the flawed hero as you get in some books, but someone that stands out as an honest to God hero that has a clean slate up until the start of his vengeance fueled crusade against some of the most evil villains there is. I like Reece's outlook on life and how he sees the world around him, also his skills and creativity while operating is magnificent and he really takes it up a level. His supporting cast of characters that help him is also very diverse and each bring some special talents to the table.
The twists in the end will also blow you away and I will definitely read the next books in the series. Well done Mr Carr and I cannot wait to start watching the series.
PS: Some scenes in the book will not be for everyone, so hope you have a strong stomach.
January 5, 2021
Not a fan of death of innocents. I'd hoped this would be better. 3 of 10 stars
July 3, 2022
Golly, so many 4 & 5 stars. And here I am with a 2. And barely so. The thinly veiled political leanings went overboard, the author making it very clear who was who in the book. Give me a break. Just a little subtlety would have been nice. And the particular form of government conspiracy was simply inane. Giving Carr as much grace as I can muster with his first attempt, I thought the book was still poorly written and frankly, pretty dumb. (Carr was/is a SEAL himself so I give him high marks for his accuracy on SEAL training and expertise).
I know a SEAL. All combat special operatives have some form of PTSD. How could they not. James Reece was never portrayed as having PTSD. He was just angry as hell, and based on the moronic plot, he had every reason to be. But let’s be very clear here: there is no way on God’s green earth a SEAL would give up all he stands for by doing what James Reece did to people, revenge driven or not. Yes, the government did unforgivable things to Reece’s SEAL troop as well as to his family. Revenge ravaged Reece. But what the government did was also unbelievable, despite what anyone’s political favoritism may be. Maybe I’m just tired of the same old plot forms of late, but this plot was so poorly contrived I was given no opportunity to suspend my disbelief. If the author wanted another Mitch Rapp or Jack Reacher he sorely missed the mark. Mitch and Jack have their rough and violent edges but you still want to give them the high five. The violence of James Reece made him just downright unlikeable and for some ridiculous reason the author truly believes you will forgive Reece’s actions and cheer him on. You know, because he was a pissed off and righteous SEAL. Please. Oh, and don’t get me started on the book’s ending.
I know a SEAL. All combat special operatives have some form of PTSD. How could they not. James Reece was never portrayed as having PTSD. He was just angry as hell, and based on the moronic plot, he had every reason to be. But let’s be very clear here: there is no way on God’s green earth a SEAL would give up all he stands for by doing what James Reece did to people, revenge driven or not. Yes, the government did unforgivable things to Reece’s SEAL troop as well as to his family. Revenge ravaged Reece. But what the government did was also unbelievable, despite what anyone’s political favoritism may be. Maybe I’m just tired of the same old plot forms of late, but this plot was so poorly contrived I was given no opportunity to suspend my disbelief. If the author wanted another Mitch Rapp or Jack Reacher he sorely missed the mark. Mitch and Jack have their rough and violent edges but you still want to give them the high five. The violence of James Reece made him just downright unlikeable and for some ridiculous reason the author truly believes you will forgive Reece’s actions and cheer him on. You know, because he was a pissed off and righteous SEAL. Please. Oh, and don’t get me started on the book’s ending.
July 3, 2019
Could have been better
*Spoiler Alert*
Lt. Commander James Reece and his team are in Afghanistan on a top-secret mission that quickly turns into an ambush, leaving all his men, save two, dead.
The Navy insists James is culpable.
Then it gets progressively worse.
He lands stateside only to learn that his wife and daughter had been killed in what appears to have been a hit. At the same time, the other survivor dies in an alleged suicide. Someone wants to erase James. Someone is messing with the wrong guy.
Look, there’s nothing like a good revenge story to get one through the flu and considering this is Carr’s debut, I thought the book was good enough, even though it sometimes got bogged down by the cornucopia of gun specifications (including historical background *sigh*) which was overwhelming and surplus to requirement, IMO. Additionally, James' character was preposterously one-dimension with emotions that seemed flat and superficial.
Overall, it was engaging enough that I'll probably read the next book in the series.
June 12, 2023
Updated 12/28/2020 5 stars
I did a re-read (actually a listen an Audible) and didn’t think I could love this any more, but I did! The narrator really makes the book. Everything I said below is still true. James Reece is an amazing character.
This was a fantastic debut! It was an action-packed thriller with true authenticity that only comes from a Navy SEAL. while the endless descriptions of weaponry were a little more than I wanted to read about (and why it wasn't a 5-star for me) most former military people will appreciate his accuracy in the weapons. I loved the main character, James Reece. He definitely was not a super hero like Dewey Andreas or Scot Harvath. He is more like Pike Logan or Mitch Rapp. I am looking forward to continuing with this series!
I did a re-read (actually a listen an Audible) and didn’t think I could love this any more, but I did! The narrator really makes the book. Everything I said below is still true. James Reece is an amazing character.
This was a fantastic debut! It was an action-packed thriller with true authenticity that only comes from a Navy SEAL. while the endless descriptions of weaponry were a little more than I wanted to read about (and why it wasn't a 5-star for me) most former military people will appreciate his accuracy in the weapons. I loved the main character, James Reece. He definitely was not a super hero like Dewey Andreas or Scot Harvath. He is more like Pike Logan or Mitch Rapp. I am looking forward to continuing with this series!
August 8, 2021
James Recces team is killed on a mission when he returns home, he finds his family dead. He is out revenge and won't stop until everyone is dead nonstop action Jack Carr at his best
March 18, 2023
The story relies way too heavily on Fox News stereotyping. All “bad guys” are brown, Democrat, or non-Christian. All “good guys” are white and ammosexual, parading an anti-government, murderous rampage as justified Christ-sanctioned revenge.
February 6, 2024
I have done it yet again. Stumbled into a series I could really have some fun with. It seems that I am enjoying this type of action thriller more and more. My favourite is the Orphan X series and then Joe Ledger but there is room for more and they are a nice break from the horror I tend to fixate on.
Jack Carr is a former Navy Seal and has based this series on a seal, James Reece. He clearly knows his stuff and because he knows so much he claims that his works have to be read by some govt bureaucracy to make sure he has not let out any top secrets. Not sure if that is true though it does make sense at some level. The author claims that parts of his book were redacted due to that and he has published it with those redactions. Funny but there are very few redactions and some are only a few words blacked out at a time. I would think that if someone did publish some top secret stuff there is just the possibility of denial or stating that what was written was just someone's fantasy.
Nevertheless the author takes us on one wild ride. The book has a preface in it where the first line states "The Terminal List explores what could happen when an apex predator, a warrior at the top of his game , is thrown into a situation from which there is no return". The first line I read and I was hooked then and there.
So Reece's is that apex soldier and his team is set up by his own officials in the mideast. His whole team was to die but he and his buddy survive. When they get home his buddy soon dies of an apparent suicide but Reece knows that is not the case. Then Reece's wife and three year old daughter are murdered in their home hours before he arrives home. Reece knows this is all not normal and has questioned that initial mission from the moment he received his orders. So what the hell is going on?
Carr comes up with a nice conspiracy about those at the highest levels of government working on a PTSD drug which will make them rich. Yet there are costs associated to the drug and I am not talking just money. Soldiers are being put at risk and when they develop illnesses from the unperfected drug those soldiers need to disappear so as to not set off any alarm bells with respect to the drug being worked on.
Reece soon discovers what is going on and he knows he is seriously ill. As he is seriously ill and believes he is dying he knows he really has nothing to lose. His family, friends, they are all gone so why not make the people responsible pay? That is the mission Reece takes on. Just a personal observation here - I kind of find it funny how Americans and many in the west call suicide bombers and mass shooters cowards as they kill themselves. Yet in books like this and movies like Independence Day is the American hero in these tales any different? Lets face it anyone willing to kill himself for whatever cause is one powerful person as they simply know they will kill themselves. I am not condoning it in anyway just admitting to that fact that they are extremely dangerous and yes many times there are mental health issues involved but more often than not just a blind belief in whatever their cause may be. In this story it comes down to simple revenge really.
The whole premise of this book is quite believable. There is a glossary at the back as well to explain to the average person what certain terms mean. Carr is not over technical but there are some military terms and the like and if you need to know what they really refer to the glossary clearly helps out.
This book is also clearly pro SEAL. It was funny but the author incorporates a lot of brands that are seal friendly like RESCO watches which are built by Seals in California. He also mentioned Solomon shoes. Like there were too many things he added to my shopping list. I wonder if he is getting a commission of sorts, lol.
So I think its safe to say that one can see the story line here. Man gets screwed huge, man seeks revenge huge and in between there is just so much excitement and so many twists and turns. Funny though that when you pick up book one of a series you have an idea that this guy is going to pull through. Yet the story and narrative keep you glued as I mentioned previously from the very first line.
A solid four stars and the second in the series arrived last week. Enjoy this one :)
Jack Carr is a former Navy Seal and has based this series on a seal, James Reece. He clearly knows his stuff and because he knows so much he claims that his works have to be read by some govt bureaucracy to make sure he has not let out any top secrets. Not sure if that is true though it does make sense at some level. The author claims that parts of his book were redacted due to that and he has published it with those redactions. Funny but there are very few redactions and some are only a few words blacked out at a time. I would think that if someone did publish some top secret stuff there is just the possibility of denial or stating that what was written was just someone's fantasy.
Nevertheless the author takes us on one wild ride. The book has a preface in it where the first line states "The Terminal List explores what could happen when an apex predator, a warrior at the top of his game , is thrown into a situation from which there is no return". The first line I read and I was hooked then and there.
So Reece's is that apex soldier and his team is set up by his own officials in the mideast. His whole team was to die but he and his buddy survive. When they get home his buddy soon dies of an apparent suicide but Reece knows that is not the case. Then Reece's wife and three year old daughter are murdered in their home hours before he arrives home. Reece knows this is all not normal and has questioned that initial mission from the moment he received his orders. So what the hell is going on?
Carr comes up with a nice conspiracy about those at the highest levels of government working on a PTSD drug which will make them rich. Yet there are costs associated to the drug and I am not talking just money. Soldiers are being put at risk and when they develop illnesses from the unperfected drug those soldiers need to disappear so as to not set off any alarm bells with respect to the drug being worked on.
Reece soon discovers what is going on and he knows he is seriously ill. As he is seriously ill and believes he is dying he knows he really has nothing to lose. His family, friends, they are all gone so why not make the people responsible pay? That is the mission Reece takes on. Just a personal observation here - I kind of find it funny how Americans and many in the west call suicide bombers and mass shooters cowards as they kill themselves. Yet in books like this and movies like Independence Day is the American hero in these tales any different? Lets face it anyone willing to kill himself for whatever cause is one powerful person as they simply know they will kill themselves. I am not condoning it in anyway just admitting to that fact that they are extremely dangerous and yes many times there are mental health issues involved but more often than not just a blind belief in whatever their cause may be. In this story it comes down to simple revenge really.
The whole premise of this book is quite believable. There is a glossary at the back as well to explain to the average person what certain terms mean. Carr is not over technical but there are some military terms and the like and if you need to know what they really refer to the glossary clearly helps out.
This book is also clearly pro SEAL. It was funny but the author incorporates a lot of brands that are seal friendly like RESCO watches which are built by Seals in California. He also mentioned Solomon shoes. Like there were too many things he added to my shopping list. I wonder if he is getting a commission of sorts, lol.
So I think its safe to say that one can see the story line here. Man gets screwed huge, man seeks revenge huge and in between there is just so much excitement and so many twists and turns. Funny though that when you pick up book one of a series you have an idea that this guy is going to pull through. Yet the story and narrative keep you glued as I mentioned previously from the very first line.
A solid four stars and the second in the series arrived last week. Enjoy this one :)
December 25, 2022
4 Stars
It’s no secret that for some unknown reason I’m quite fascinated by military operations and the competent uber alphas who carry out such.
Here, our hero James Reece is betrayed by the utmost authority as his men and subsequently, his wife and daughter are killed as cleanup and collateral damage. It’s a good thing these criminals aren’t as smart as they think they are, and Reece systematically uses his own military expertise (and many strategic friends) to step by step, take out every single person responsible, sometimes in gruesome but all the more ingenious and efficient ways.
As those under fire start to feel their demise closing in, there are no feelings of sympathy for these money hungry fools. They get what they deserve, and there's nothing to stop a man who really has nothing left to live for except his well earned vengeance. Be reassured that Reece obviously survives his personal mission and perhaps will heal in time as this series is already on its 5th book. Whatever his upcoming journey, I look forward to this character’s compelling evolution!
It’s no secret that for some unknown reason I’m quite fascinated by military operations and the competent uber alphas who carry out such.
Here, our hero James Reece is betrayed by the utmost authority as his men and subsequently, his wife and daughter are killed as cleanup and collateral damage. It’s a good thing these criminals aren’t as smart as they think they are, and Reece systematically uses his own military expertise (and many strategic friends) to step by step, take out every single person responsible, sometimes in gruesome but all the more ingenious and efficient ways.
As those under fire start to feel their demise closing in, there are no feelings of sympathy for these money hungry fools. They get what they deserve, and there's nothing to stop a man who really has nothing left to live for except his well earned vengeance. Be reassured that Reece obviously survives his personal mission and perhaps will heal in time as this series is already on its 5th book. Whatever his upcoming journey, I look forward to this character’s compelling evolution!
January 13, 2023
Intense conspiracy revenge novel that reads like it is happening right now. Whew! First book in the series and I have already started the second book! Definitely recommend!
December 22, 2020
What Can I say ?
Like me, enjoy action thrillers ? "Read This Book"
Not often that you have a debut author so strong, so powerful, so gripping, so action packed rollercoaster ride....
A new name on my list of authors to keep up with and another name in the fiction action heroes.
To read this book, we have to thank the author but a few other authors who encouraged and helped former Seal Sniper Jack Carr.
*SOON TO BE A TV SERIES STARRING CHRIS PRATT** ... YES !!
James Reece has nothing to live for and everything to kill for in the debut thriller from former Navy SEAL Jack Carr, perfect for fans of Lee Child, David Baldacci, Brad Thor, Brad Taylor, Greg Hurwitz,
Mark Dawson, Kerry J. Donovan, Tim Tigner, Vince Flynn, Mark Greaney.
On deployment in Afghanistan, Lieutenant Commander James Reece’s entire team is killed in a catastrophic ambush. But the deaths don't stop there, and Reece soon discovers that this was not an act of war by a foreign enemy but a conspiracy that runs to the highest levels of government.
With nothing left to lose, Reece directs the lessons that he’s learned in over a decade of constant warfare towards revenge, ruthlessly targeting his enemies without regard for the laws of combat or the rule of law . . . The Terminal List...
A realistic, powerful, chilling, action thriller that starts at full speed, and stays on full speed throughout the book, a great new character in the action thriller genre.
Would like to talk/write much more but really all I can say is "Read this book"
I am already on book 2, which is nearly 500 pages !! Oh no, so behind on all my books, as always !!
Five stars....Plus....
Like me, enjoy action thrillers ? "Read This Book"
Not often that you have a debut author so strong, so powerful, so gripping, so action packed rollercoaster ride....
A new name on my list of authors to keep up with and another name in the fiction action heroes.
To read this book, we have to thank the author but a few other authors who encouraged and helped former Seal Sniper Jack Carr.
*SOON TO BE A TV SERIES STARRING CHRIS PRATT** ... YES !!
James Reece has nothing to live for and everything to kill for in the debut thriller from former Navy SEAL Jack Carr, perfect for fans of Lee Child, David Baldacci, Brad Thor, Brad Taylor, Greg Hurwitz,
Mark Dawson, Kerry J. Donovan, Tim Tigner, Vince Flynn, Mark Greaney.
On deployment in Afghanistan, Lieutenant Commander James Reece’s entire team is killed in a catastrophic ambush. But the deaths don't stop there, and Reece soon discovers that this was not an act of war by a foreign enemy but a conspiracy that runs to the highest levels of government.
With nothing left to lose, Reece directs the lessons that he’s learned in over a decade of constant warfare towards revenge, ruthlessly targeting his enemies without regard for the laws of combat or the rule of law . . . The Terminal List...
A realistic, powerful, chilling, action thriller that starts at full speed, and stays on full speed throughout the book, a great new character in the action thriller genre.
Would like to talk/write much more but really all I can say is "Read this book"
I am already on book 2, which is nearly 500 pages !! Oh no, so behind on all my books, as always !!
Five stars....Plus....
June 8, 2022
I am pausing in my search for the next book in this series to say, read it. If you like action thrillers this is a good one. I'm giving it 5 stars and recommending it.
I am somewhat of a sucker for books where the bad people (and here they are BAD people) get their "comeuppance". Revenge? yes this is a book about an avenger but one who happens to be dealing out justice and in the process preventing future disaster.
Wish this kind of thing could actually work...but this is a work of fiction where the good guy maybe manages his objectives if not actually obtaining a happy ending (no, no spoilers read it to see what really happens. You'll probably be glad you did).
By the way you mmmaaayyy think that some of the characters have some slight resemblance to people you recognize...or maybe not. Who really knows?
I am somewhat of a sucker for books where the bad people (and here they are BAD people) get their "comeuppance". Revenge? yes this is a book about an avenger but one who happens to be dealing out justice and in the process preventing future disaster.
Wish this kind of thing could actually work...but this is a work of fiction where the good guy maybe manages his objectives if not actually obtaining a happy ending (no, no spoilers read it to see what really happens. You'll probably be glad you did).
By the way you mmmaaayyy think that some of the characters have some slight resemblance to people you recognize...or maybe not. Who really knows?
July 29, 2019
The Terminal List is dumb.
No, not the tactics portrayed or the near-gun porn when the hand loaded jacketed rounds are more lovingly described than any character, it's Jack Carr paper-thin absurdist plot that low-balls everything else. Think Robert Ludlum but with a severe hangover, mild head injury and with a desire to pepper in right-wing pet issues. I enjoyed the senseless mayhem, but the lack of nuance was disappointingly low.
The "bad guys" are that of an 80s action movie, bad for the sake of bad without nuance. Motivation is money. That's the beginning and end.
I was willing to look past the clear Hillary Clinton stand-in with her also Bill Clinton stand-in philandering husband, the ranting about gun-laws but there's bizarrely silly claim in the novel blasting the liberals on privacy rights? Bruh... That's not a different viewpoint, that's just the opposite of true. It's like the Patriot Act never happened in Carr's world, or the constant deregulation of consumer rights didn't happen by the hand of Republicans,. That's a whole other thing, not even the biggest problem with the book. It is patently stupid, though.
I was somewhat entertained, but also disappointed when the only twist was a double-cross, any promise of a mystery by the description was never delivered. The bad guys are revealed in the first few chapters, and their motivations are comically thin. It adheres to the strictly to the template of tropes ex-military: politicians bad, enlistees good, generals suspect. I've read worse and dumber novels, but this had the complexity of a YA novel, and nary a thought on the morality of the main characters actions, as he becomes increasingly violent. For a hard-boiled-man-on-fire revenge book, there's to be said on the psychological state of our hero becoming as gruesomely violent as those he was trained to fight. Instead, he dispatches enemies like a sociopath aspy-teen playing Call of Duty. There's some deep irony as the Navy Seal, trained to fight global jihad who ends up a one-man Jihadist himself (against the US government no less), literally make improvised explosives and torturing. This is even explicitly pointed but Carr moves right past it. One might expect the warping of the mind to be a parable exploring the narrow gulf between a patriot and terrorist but there's no such dichotomy here. It bears repeating, the politics are bonkers. It mostly reads like revenge fantasy about the Clintons, with all their supposed Machiavellian actions, by a guy who reposts political memes on Facebook about patriotism.
Lastly, the audiobook was read by the almighty Ray Porter, who also read another revenge-ripped-from-headlines-hyper-violent-gun-loving series, Power of the Dog. It's like The Terminal List but written for big kids. I suggest that.
No, not the tactics portrayed or the near-gun porn when the hand loaded jacketed rounds are more lovingly described than any character, it's Jack Carr paper-thin absurdist plot that low-balls everything else. Think Robert Ludlum but with a severe hangover, mild head injury and with a desire to pepper in right-wing pet issues. I enjoyed the senseless mayhem, but the lack of nuance was disappointingly low.
The "bad guys" are that of an 80s action movie, bad for the sake of bad without nuance. Motivation is money. That's the beginning and end.
I was willing to look past the clear Hillary Clinton stand-in with her also Bill Clinton stand-in philandering husband, the ranting about gun-laws but there's bizarrely silly claim in the novel blasting the liberals on privacy rights? Bruh... That's not a different viewpoint, that's just the opposite of true. It's like the Patriot Act never happened in Carr's world, or the constant deregulation of consumer rights didn't happen by the hand of Republicans,. That's a whole other thing, not even the biggest problem with the book. It is patently stupid, though.
I was somewhat entertained, but also disappointed when the only twist was a double-cross, any promise of a mystery by the description was never delivered. The bad guys are revealed in the first few chapters, and their motivations are comically thin. It adheres to the strictly to the template of tropes ex-military: politicians bad, enlistees good, generals suspect. I've read worse and dumber novels, but this had the complexity of a YA novel, and nary a thought on the morality of the main characters actions, as he becomes increasingly violent. For a hard-boiled-man-on-fire revenge book, there's to be said on the psychological state of our hero becoming as gruesomely violent as those he was trained to fight. Instead, he dispatches enemies like a sociopath aspy-teen playing Call of Duty. There's some deep irony as the Navy Seal, trained to fight global jihad who ends up a one-man Jihadist himself (against the US government no less), literally make improvised explosives and torturing. This is even explicitly pointed but Carr moves right past it. One might expect the warping of the mind to be a parable exploring the narrow gulf between a patriot and terrorist but there's no such dichotomy here. It bears repeating, the politics are bonkers. It mostly reads like revenge fantasy about the Clintons, with all their supposed Machiavellian actions, by a guy who reposts political memes on Facebook about patriotism.
Lastly, the audiobook was read by the almighty Ray Porter, who also read another revenge-ripped-from-headlines-hyper-violent-gun-loving series, Power of the Dog. It's like The Terminal List but written for big kids. I suggest that.
December 27, 2022
Book One of a series by Jack Carr- The Terminal List is narrator by Ray Porter. This intense thriller is well written and narrated beautifully by Ray Porter. My husband and I enjoyed listening to The Terminal List on a recent road trip, and this book kept our attention. I definitely recommend if you enjoy military thrillers with conspiracies and revenge!
Slight spoiler below...
There are some triggers including the deaths of the main character's wife and child. This spoiler is pretty much spelled out in the synopsis of the book as well as the foreshadowing in the beginning of the novel. I am including it in my review because I know this can be a sensitive topic for many people.
Slight spoiler below...
There are some triggers including the deaths of the main character's wife and child. This spoiler is pretty much spelled out in the synopsis of the book as well as the foreshadowing in the beginning of the novel. I am including it in my review because I know this can be a sensitive topic for many people.
June 16, 2018
Cliched, poorly written, unreflective, self-indulgent garbage sold with two gimmicks: it’s a novel by a Navy SEAL and it has passages redacted by the Pentagon. Even the swipes at liberal politics generally and the Clintons specifically are less clever than creepy, given how much the author relishes the punishment meted out to them and their cronies in gory detail. (This can be done well: witness the obvious Obama parody in Stephen Hunter’s Soft Target.) This book was also a chore to read—poorly written, plotted, and paced, with thin characters and sometimes incomprehensible description, and badly edited to boot, with even the finished version riddled with typos. I don’t often give one-star reviews—I even gave the dreadful Ready Player One two stars—but I feel like this book also crosses the line into morally bad territory. May write a more detailed review later. For now—avoid.
August 26, 2022
I gave this another try but unfortunately, my feeling hadn't changed. Noy my kind of story.
--
An okay read but didn't really stand out for me. Might continue on with the series though before I decide to DNF it all together
--
An okay read but didn't really stand out for me. Might continue on with the series though before I decide to DNF it all together
June 22, 2020
A story about a Navy SEAL who goes rogue when betrayed by the establishment, this is written by a former Navy SEAL who definitely knows his technical stuff and the world about which he’s writing. However, it would be a much better story if he’d managed to keep his political opinions out of it. Considering the systematic rorting of the system by the Republicans currently in power, portraying Democrats as the villains in this particular story is laughable. Especially considering the journalist helping out the hero and the way the politicians attempted to decry her as ‘fake news’, a move right out of the Republican handbook.
There are some interesting concepts here which didn’t get explored in depth; when James Reece discovers he and his unit received an experimental drug designed to prevent development of PTSD, he doesn’t for one moment stop to think that maybe it’s affected his mental state. Maybe he should be reacting more with grief for his murdered family and friends and less with all-out, unemotional focus on revenge. And not one of the trusted friends who help him out, who he tells about the drug, ask him about it either.
The author’s attempts to make his hero an Everyman fall down too, for example when his one Mexican friend turns out to be less respectable businessman and more kingpin with his fingers in a lot of pies. Every named character in the story who’s not a white American turns out to be either a criminal, a terrorist or both. Torture is glorified, when Reece is described as having learned how to waterboard an opponent “just after 9/11, when Americans still had the will to win”. (I added YIKES as a note in the Kindle file about that).
Money, especially in the quantities at stake here, is a great motivator. I can absolutely buy the motivations of the villains here. The plot actually makes a reasonable amount of sense, and all this really needed to actually be good was an editor willing to clean up the political nonsense, get the author to tone down the technical weaponry talk (yes, I’m sure serving and former members of the military would notice the accuracy, but neither they nor your average layperson would really care what type of knife Reece used to gut someone or which brand of ammunition he’s loading his gun with) and actually get the author to explore the emotional fallout of such a crusade.
Military thrillers need to be apolitical, as the military itself is supposed to be. If the author is able to figure that out and find an editor who can pick out and help him remove his unconscious bias from his writing, he might be able to come up with a readable book. This, sadly, isn’t it. One star.
Disclaimer: I received a review copy of this title via NetGalley.
There are some interesting concepts here which didn’t get explored in depth; when James Reece discovers he and his unit received an experimental drug designed to prevent development of PTSD, he doesn’t for one moment stop to think that maybe it’s affected his mental state. Maybe he should be reacting more with grief for his murdered family and friends and less with all-out, unemotional focus on revenge. And not one of the trusted friends who help him out, who he tells about the drug, ask him about it either.
The author’s attempts to make his hero an Everyman fall down too, for example when his one Mexican friend turns out to be less respectable businessman and more kingpin with his fingers in a lot of pies. Every named character in the story who’s not a white American turns out to be either a criminal, a terrorist or both. Torture is glorified, when Reece is described as having learned how to waterboard an opponent “just after 9/11, when Americans still had the will to win”. (I added YIKES as a note in the Kindle file about that).
Money, especially in the quantities at stake here, is a great motivator. I can absolutely buy the motivations of the villains here. The plot actually makes a reasonable amount of sense, and all this really needed to actually be good was an editor willing to clean up the political nonsense, get the author to tone down the technical weaponry talk (yes, I’m sure serving and former members of the military would notice the accuracy, but neither they nor your average layperson would really care what type of knife Reece used to gut someone or which brand of ammunition he’s loading his gun with) and actually get the author to explore the emotional fallout of such a crusade.
Military thrillers need to be apolitical, as the military itself is supposed to be. If the author is able to figure that out and find an editor who can pick out and help him remove his unconscious bias from his writing, he might be able to come up with a readable book. This, sadly, isn’t it. One star.
Disclaimer: I received a review copy of this title via NetGalley.
March 7, 2018
The Terminal List is a fast-paced, action-packed thriller. On his last combat deployment, Lieutenant Commander James Reece’s entire team was killed in an ambush that also claimed the lives of the aircrew sent in to rescue them. Sixty-eight servicemen died on this mission. Reece knew he would get the blame for the catastrophic failure and he was resigned to take the blame he knew was his. After weeks of questioning he was finally cleared to go home to his wife and 3 year old daughter. On the day of his homecoming, Reece learns his family was murdered in a home invasion. Could it be a coincidence? His whole family and whole SEAL team dead? Reece discovers that this was not an act of war by a foreign enemy but a conspiracy that runs to the highest levels of government. With nothing else to lose, he goes on a revenge killing spree.
This would make an awesome movie. Full of action, intrigue, bad guys, and a protagonist you are rooting for throughout the story. Definitely a page-turner.
I highly recommend this book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for supplying me a copy of Jack Carr's "The Terminal List" in exchange of an honest review.
This would make an awesome movie. Full of action, intrigue, bad guys, and a protagonist you are rooting for throughout the story. Definitely a page-turner.
I highly recommend this book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for supplying me a copy of Jack Carr's "The Terminal List" in exchange of an honest review.
April 10, 2019
It's often considered a faux pas to leave anything less than an absolutely glowing review if you are an author. In the indie author world, it's an extreme faux pas in the sense that a negative review hurts us harder than those who are traditionally published.
I kind of straddle that rule right down the middle. If the book was absolute garbage, then I'll say nothing. If it had potential but required work, then I'll leave a review.
In this case, Mr. Carr will likely never read my review, and it certainly won't put a dent in his popularity and sales. In the off-chance he does read it, though, I hope that this review will serve as constructive criticism.
A brief summary: The Terminal List deals with LCDR James Reece, SEAL Team 7, whose entire team is killed in an ambush in Afghanistan when they are forced by the National Command Authority to assault an objective without proper reconnaissance and battlefield preparation. Shortly upon returning, Reece is accused of dereliction of duty by his chain of command, his best friend is suicided, and his family is murdered by gang members. Reece begins to call in every favor he can and prepares for war, uncovering a massive conspiracy along the way.
I have friends that absolutely love this book. That initially got me interested in it. Then I read the 1- and 2-star reviews and was concerned. I met Jack Carr in person and he was a nice-enough guy. I think it's that last point that compels me to write the review, because I want him to succeed and I see he's got the potential to do so.
I find myself somewhere between the glowing reviews and the total dress downs.
What does Terminal List do right?
The action is top notch, and it's clear that Carr's experience as a special warfare operator translates well onto the page. When bullets start flying, the reader is immersed in the firefight. There are glimmers of dialogue and characterization that hint at larger potential.
What does it do wrong?
The first mistake that comes to mind is that there is a **lot** of showing instead of telling. Moments that could have been powerful are reduced to summation and lose their impact. This is especially obvious in the scene where Reece loses his team. Zero buildup, which makes it hard for anyone who hasn't experienced that loss first-hand to connect.
For every glimmer of solid characterization, there are also several missteps. Aside from telling rather than showing, there were moments that really struck me as off. Reece does an awful lot of smiling for somebody whose entire world had been destroyed. In that circumstance, I think of the 2004 Tom Jane version of The Punisher, a man driven solely by revenge. He's not smiling. He's not cracking jokes. He's still reeling from the death of his family. Reece acts a lot like the death of his family is well behind him, and it's noticeably jarring. There are others examples of mischaracterization, but this is the most grievous.
The final item that docks points is the heavy-handedness with which Terminal List handles politics. It is very much "conservative good, liberal bad," with multiple tone-deaf takes throughout. I understand the thriller genre is predominantly conservative. This docked point isn't about a political disagreement but rather a disagreement on writing technique.
There are two thriller books that came out in the early 2010s which will remain nameless. Both had George Soros type characters as antagonists. One handled it with deftness, making the character nuanced while decidedly still an antagonist. The other resorted to caricatures, making conservatives out to be everything that was right with the world and liberals to be everything that was bad with the world.
Nobody sees themselves as the bad guy of the story. Nobody is going to cackle and rub their hands evilly and plot destruction like a vaudeville villain. The liberal antagonists of this novel very much come off like that, and while it may score points with the Trumpist base that's looking for "gotcha!" moments that support their political tribe, an objective eye--regardless of personal politics--will be put off.
Terminal List unfortunately falls victim to this. There were multiple occasions where I was starting to lose myself in the story, only to be snapped back to reality by the painfully obvious fictional take on Hillary Clinton spouting lines that come off as what conservatives think liberals sound like.
I have to wonder if nobody offered these suggestions to Mr. Carr on the basis of his being a Navy SEAL and wanting to be supportive. I understand that, but there is more than one way to be supportive. As I said at the onset, Mr. Carr absolutely has potential and I think he can make a fine thriller author. He certainly bats above average in the category of "SOF veteran turned author." I hope somebody makes these suggestions to him so that he can continue to grow as an author.
I kind of straddle that rule right down the middle. If the book was absolute garbage, then I'll say nothing. If it had potential but required work, then I'll leave a review.
In this case, Mr. Carr will likely never read my review, and it certainly won't put a dent in his popularity and sales. In the off-chance he does read it, though, I hope that this review will serve as constructive criticism.
A brief summary: The Terminal List deals with LCDR James Reece, SEAL Team 7, whose entire team is killed in an ambush in Afghanistan when they are forced by the National Command Authority to assault an objective without proper reconnaissance and battlefield preparation. Shortly upon returning, Reece is accused of dereliction of duty by his chain of command, his best friend is suicided, and his family is murdered by gang members. Reece begins to call in every favor he can and prepares for war, uncovering a massive conspiracy along the way.
I have friends that absolutely love this book. That initially got me interested in it. Then I read the 1- and 2-star reviews and was concerned. I met Jack Carr in person and he was a nice-enough guy. I think it's that last point that compels me to write the review, because I want him to succeed and I see he's got the potential to do so.
I find myself somewhere between the glowing reviews and the total dress downs.
What does Terminal List do right?
The action is top notch, and it's clear that Carr's experience as a special warfare operator translates well onto the page. When bullets start flying, the reader is immersed in the firefight. There are glimmers of dialogue and characterization that hint at larger potential.
What does it do wrong?
The first mistake that comes to mind is that there is a **lot** of showing instead of telling. Moments that could have been powerful are reduced to summation and lose their impact. This is especially obvious in the scene where Reece loses his team. Zero buildup, which makes it hard for anyone who hasn't experienced that loss first-hand to connect.
For every glimmer of solid characterization, there are also several missteps. Aside from telling rather than showing, there were moments that really struck me as off. Reece does an awful lot of smiling for somebody whose entire world had been destroyed. In that circumstance, I think of the 2004 Tom Jane version of The Punisher, a man driven solely by revenge. He's not smiling. He's not cracking jokes. He's still reeling from the death of his family. Reece acts a lot like the death of his family is well behind him, and it's noticeably jarring. There are others examples of mischaracterization, but this is the most grievous.
The final item that docks points is the heavy-handedness with which Terminal List handles politics. It is very much "conservative good, liberal bad," with multiple tone-deaf takes throughout. I understand the thriller genre is predominantly conservative. This docked point isn't about a political disagreement but rather a disagreement on writing technique.
There are two thriller books that came out in the early 2010s which will remain nameless. Both had George Soros type characters as antagonists. One handled it with deftness, making the character nuanced while decidedly still an antagonist. The other resorted to caricatures, making conservatives out to be everything that was right with the world and liberals to be everything that was bad with the world.
Nobody sees themselves as the bad guy of the story. Nobody is going to cackle and rub their hands evilly and plot destruction like a vaudeville villain. The liberal antagonists of this novel very much come off like that, and while it may score points with the Trumpist base that's looking for "gotcha!" moments that support their political tribe, an objective eye--regardless of personal politics--will be put off.
Terminal List unfortunately falls victim to this. There were multiple occasions where I was starting to lose myself in the story, only to be snapped back to reality by the painfully obvious fictional take on Hillary Clinton spouting lines that come off as what conservatives think liberals sound like.
I have to wonder if nobody offered these suggestions to Mr. Carr on the basis of his being a Navy SEAL and wanting to be supportive. I understand that, but there is more than one way to be supportive. As I said at the onset, Mr. Carr absolutely has potential and I think he can make a fine thriller author. He certainly bats above average in the category of "SOF veteran turned author." I hope somebody makes these suggestions to him so that he can continue to grow as an author.
December 20, 2024
In January of this year, off the coast of Somalia, a SEAL team was attempting to board a boat belonging to the Houthi. The seas were rough and one soldier lost his footing, falling through the space between the boarding platform and the Houthi ship. In what has been described as an act of sheer instinct, a second SEAL member jumped into the sea to rescue his teammate. Due to the weight of their weaponry and body armor, it is reported both men were lost.
Navy SEALs are some of the most elite soldiers the military has to offer. Their training is extensive and rigorous; the missions they tackle are frequently the most dangerous to come across the assignment desk. While they may not enter the recruitment office as all that different from you or I, the soldier emerging through the gate of SEAL team instruction often turns out to be the modern-day equivalent of Achilles. He has a heel, he most certainly does, and this would be what makes him novelistic.
What interests me most about author Jack Carr is that he is a former Navy SEAL - having spent twenty years in Naval Special Warfare as a sniper and a leader of sniper, assault, and counterinsurgency teams in several regions, including Iraq. So we have a Navy SEAL writing about a Navy SEAL in these stories of Lieutenant Commander James Reece. Verisimilitude is going to be spot-on, of course, but that's not what intrigues me. What intrigues me is the emotional distance. I can understand this in a SEAL. In a novelist, it's going to take on an entirely different dimension.
Carr's thriller, The Terminal List, is the first in a series and impressive enough to be adapted for the small screen and to attract Chris Pratt. The stakes are high here, in many of the same ways they were for Jason Bourne. Reece's team is killed in ambush overseas, but the killing doesn't stop there. Death is now following wherever he goes, and for reasons this Lieutenant Commander will be quick to deduce. We are, as with Bourne, tracking the journey of a brutally efficient killing machine...but, unlike Bourne, Carr gives his warrior limitless reign to exact his vengeance, thereby muddying the moral waters in some pretty significant ways. Which is interesting to do in a novel that lacks any emotional intensity. At all. Which is a product of what? Reece's training? Carr's training?
This is some fascinating stuff for those of us attracted to the abyss.
Navy SEALs are some of the most elite soldiers the military has to offer. Their training is extensive and rigorous; the missions they tackle are frequently the most dangerous to come across the assignment desk. While they may not enter the recruitment office as all that different from you or I, the soldier emerging through the gate of SEAL team instruction often turns out to be the modern-day equivalent of Achilles. He has a heel, he most certainly does, and this would be what makes him novelistic.
What interests me most about author Jack Carr is that he is a former Navy SEAL - having spent twenty years in Naval Special Warfare as a sniper and a leader of sniper, assault, and counterinsurgency teams in several regions, including Iraq. So we have a Navy SEAL writing about a Navy SEAL in these stories of Lieutenant Commander James Reece. Verisimilitude is going to be spot-on, of course, but that's not what intrigues me. What intrigues me is the emotional distance. I can understand this in a SEAL. In a novelist, it's going to take on an entirely different dimension.
Carr's thriller, The Terminal List, is the first in a series and impressive enough to be adapted for the small screen and to attract Chris Pratt. The stakes are high here, in many of the same ways they were for Jason Bourne. Reece's team is killed in ambush overseas, but the killing doesn't stop there. Death is now following wherever he goes, and for reasons this Lieutenant Commander will be quick to deduce. We are, as with Bourne, tracking the journey of a brutally efficient killing machine...but, unlike Bourne, Carr gives his warrior limitless reign to exact his vengeance, thereby muddying the moral waters in some pretty significant ways. Which is interesting to do in a novel that lacks any emotional intensity. At all. Which is a product of what? Reece's training? Carr's training?
This is some fascinating stuff for those of us attracted to the abyss.
January 16, 2019
The Terminal List is a strong first entry into the series, where a Navy seal agent does the impossible to avenge the death of his comrades and his family.
The author, Jack Carr, is a retired Seal, and he really infuses a lot of passion and detail into the narrative! I was damn impressed, specially as this was Jack Carr's debut novel. His writing is fluid, he characterizes well, and develops a protagonist who's so bad ass, that the likes of 'Jason Bourne' or 'Mitch Rapp' come to immediate mind!
Right of the bat, the first chapter goes full throttle as James Reece focuses on a perp with his high-power lenses rifle, and hits the mark. What follows is a series of 'flashbacks' describing a high-stakes conspiracy that will take everyone Reece has ever loved. The action slowly builds up, hence the 4 rating. I'll tell you the last 100 pages will leave you with a surge of adrenaline, as James Reece goes in full 'SICKO MODE'and kills with a vengance!
4 Stars
The author, Jack Carr, is a retired Seal, and he really infuses a lot of passion and detail into the narrative! I was damn impressed, specially as this was Jack Carr's debut novel. His writing is fluid, he characterizes well, and develops a protagonist who's so bad ass, that the likes of 'Jason Bourne' or 'Mitch Rapp' come to immediate mind!
Right of the bat, the first chapter goes full throttle as James Reece focuses on a perp with his high-power lenses rifle, and hits the mark. What follows is a series of 'flashbacks' describing a high-stakes conspiracy that will take everyone Reece has ever loved. The action slowly builds up, hence the 4 rating. I'll tell you the last 100 pages will leave you with a surge of adrenaline, as James Reece goes in full 'SICKO MODE'and kills with a vengance!
4 Stars
July 1, 2019
Dear Mr. Carr: Thank you for your service.
In regard to your novel “The Terminal List” – No Comment.
In regard to your novel “The Terminal List” – No Comment.
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