terminal list

My wife and I watched the TV show based on this book a little while ago, and after we finished it, she found this book and told me she'd read it a few years ago and thought she'd recognized the story. She said it was pretty good so I gave it a whirl.

Jack Carr is a retired navy SEAL, and like some others who have gone this route, Carr set about writing stories about SEALs. Write what you know, if the often heard advice for beginning writers, so its seems that's what he did. In the Preface, Carr tells us that because he's a retired SEAL, that of he wants to write about SEALs, or any other thing he may have been exposed to or knew about as an employee of the United States, he needs to get it cleared first, which he did. The powers that be found a few things they wanted him to take out, and rather than re-write around those items, Carr decided to leave them in and redact them; placing black bars in lieu of the original sensitive text. Its was his opinion that it would add some realism to the story, and I think it does.

When one does a search on the interwebs for The Terminal List, the first thing that shows up is the TV series starring Chris Pratt as Lieutenant Commander James Reece, rather than the book. No surprise there, I guess. Since the first book in this series, Carr has cranked out 5 more, James Reece books.

So what are you in for? Well I don't typically like spoilers, but I will say this; think of Jack Reacher, if he was put in a position like John Wick. In the acknowledgements, Carr takes a moment to thank Brad Thor, who apparently helped him out with advice when he was getting started. Its seems to have worked out pretty well for Carr, I think his James Reece character is a little stronger that Thor's Scot Harvath.