Jack Carr (1) (1975–)

This book.

Huh.

Okay, typically, I like to take a book strictly based on its own merits. The author produced the work, and it's the work—not the author—that we're here to talk about, right? The problem is, Carr seems to go out of his way to ensure that both he and his story are tightly, inextricably linked with his forwards about being a frogman, and the fact that his books have to be reviewed by the military and letting us know all redactions are in the greater good of America.

He said show more the same in the first book but, just on the topic of redactions, I have to say I didn't notice any, so, if there were, they were so minor as to be virtually invisible.

That's not the case here.

Carr's novel is riddled with redactions that, at first, seem to give the novel a touch of verisimilitude. Unfortunately, once they start, they just don't stop, tossed through the narrative like confetti. By the time he gets to two full paragraphs being redacted, he's basically taken a rocket launcher to verisimilitude, and left behind a smoking crater of annoyance.

My point here is, if you're going for authenticity, sure, toss in (or leave in) a couple of redactions. But dude, you're an author of fiction. Make. Something. Up. Give us a fictional, unredacted desert if you must.

So, there's that. But this novel has bigger problems.

Carr also states that this is a novel about the soldiers who come back to their families and lives, and the struggle with finding a way to find their way in that world. It's a noble and excellent path, especially after Carr's first novel with Reece. But Carr then proceeds to utilize the first half—well over two hundred pages—to detail Reece's flight from America to him finding some sort of peace, all while sprinkling short little bits that eventually come into play in the second half of the novel.

But if this story was about Reece finding some sort of peace, it likely would have ended with him still fighting poachers in Africa. And honestly, I could have dug that story, as I did enjoy that first part. But it really wasn't about that, it was about finding another noble cause, which he did.

Aaaaaand then it ended. Aaaaaand then the real story kicked in.

So, if the first book was The Punisher by way of Tom Clancy, then this book is Tom Clancy by way of...I don't know...Out of Africa crossed with Rambo? Whatever, ultimately it devolved into a contracted version of the first novel.

I have a feeling all Carr's books will be a twist on his first novel.

The final thing I want to mention is how I almost DNF'd this one on a few different occasions. I'm fine with opposing ideologies. I get that there's a rabid fanbase in America for the Second Amendment, and the rah rah "America's the best country in the world" stuff. Just as there's an equally rabid fanbase that doesn't buy into the gun culture, etc, etc. Everyone's entitled to their beliefs.

But when the author overtly pushes his own beliefs—clumsily disguised as those of his characters—over and over and over through the course of the novel, I do begin to lose interest. I'm here to be entertained, not dragged into a Twitter rant on Jack Carr's specific beliefs.

I enjoyed Tom Clancy's books, but when he began inserting his views, I stopped reading him. I'm close with Carr, because overall, this book did very little for me. There were two decent stories here, but I feel like he muffed both of them.

So, while I had a lot of problems with this novel, unfortunately, all of them stem directly from the author making strange choices and being a touch exuberant with his own platform. It's too bad, because he also makes a lot of good points, and when he gets out of his own way, he can tell a great story.

I'm putting all this down to the sophomore slump. I'll try one more, but if it smells anything like this one, I'm out. show less

Diminishing returns on this series, and I'm really debating on whether to continue.

As mentioned in the review of the second book in this series, Carr drizzles his own politics all over the main characters. It's fine in low doses, but Carr worries at it like a dog with a bone. He just won't let it lie. A little is okay. A lot—whether I agree with it or not (and I complained about the politics in Gwendy's Final Task too, and I agreed with them)—is unwelcome in my fiction.

The second is all show more the damn redactions. Come on, Carr...if something's redacted, you're a bloody author...make something up instead of leaving it in there to show how verisimilitudey you are. I'd rather read a fake place name rather than a redaction notice. Carr acts all upset about the redactions, but with such an easy fix at hand—and not utilized—one begins to suspect that he actually digs them, and likely puts stuff in just so it can be redacted. Whatever. Put on your big author pants and write something.

Finally, I'm beginning to see how one-dimensional the characters are. There's no shades of gray in Carr's world. The soldiers are almost uniformly incredibly good at their jobs, incredibly noble, and have a wealth of hidden skills, such as master gun builders, or archers, or wine experts, or whatever.

The women are both really hot and badass. Always. Even when they work for the enemy.

And the men that are on the bad side? They're REMFs, they're doughy and paunchy and they all seem to have some deviancy (either to do with sex or torture, more than likely both). And they're rich.

It's getting tiresome. show less

Anti-heroes are all the rage today, I guess, but if you're going to create one, he needs to generate some sympathy or give you a reason to root for him, albeit uncomfortably. And Jack Carr's character James Reece, a SEAL commander, comes close but doesn't quite hit the mark for me.

This review contains spoilers.

In "Terminal List," Reece's squad is ambushed in an operation in Afghanistan that didn't feel right to begin with. All but Reece and one other SEAL die, along with many other support show more personnel. Once Reece gets stateside, the other surviving SEAL "commits suicide," Reece's daughter and pregnant wife are killed in a "gang home invasion," and several attempts on Reece's life are attempted. On top of all this, Reece finds out his has an inoperable brain tumor (as did the rest of his SEAL team).

In the meantime, we learn that several business people, government officials, and even the SECDEF are in cahoots to create a drug that's supposed to stop PTSD. This group gives Reece's team this drug, which is what causes the brain tumors. This causes them to try and clean up the mess by killing everyone involved. (Because Reece survives, the hit on his home was supposed to include him but he wasn't there; that's why his family's killed.)

As Reece puts this all together, he makes a "terminal list" and begins taking out everyone responsible for the deaths of his team and family.

So...back to the anti-hero. It's hard to sell the idea of a SEAL who's all about honor, yet kills anyone and everyone responsible (and even some who aren't directly so, which he shrugs off as collateral damage). And he doesn't just kill these folks. He does so in brutal fashion.

I'm OK with revenge stories. And certainly Reece, as a SEAL, has those "special skills" and experience to kill those responsible. But what he becomes is a domestic terrorist, no matter how justified his motive is. And that makes him very difficult to cheer for.

The irony for me is that I bought "True Believer," not knowing it was the 2nd in a series. Within a few pages, one paragraph pretty much summed up the plot of "Terminal List." So I stopped reading "True Believer" and bought "Terminal List." Now that I'm not super enamored with James Reece, I'm a little chagrined about reading the next book even though I already own it. Sigh. I do wish books were more obvious about them being in a series... show less

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 show more 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. show less