The past and the present are intricately linked like a Gordian knot in Jack Carr’s sixth installment in the popular Terminal List series. Protagonist James Reece, a former Navy SEAL, is front and center in a maelstrom of international intrigue and deception while working feverishly to foil a devious plot organized by an international cabal first uncovered by his father decades earlier.
Reece’s father Thomas, a Vietnam vet also involved in national intelligence, was killed piecing together most of the insidious plot and posthumously left James clues as to his findings in a hidden safe deposit box. Trust no one, his father advises. The task of stopping the plot is now left to James to complete following his release from serving time in solitary confinement in a high security federal prison on a fake charge of assassinating the president of the United States.
Some Background on the Author
For readers unfamiliar with the former Navy SEAL turned bestselling author, Jack Carr served 20 years in Naval Special Warfare in multiple roles, including as a sniper, a junior officer, a platoon commander and the commander of a Special Operations Task Unit in southern Iraq.His military experience is the reason that Mr. Carr’s books crackle with authenticity and vivid portrayals of black ops grittiness and explosive violence. Mr. Carr writes about ambushes, gun battles, and lethal close-combat fighting from firsthand experience serving in the Middle East and Philippines.
As a former military member, Mr. Carr is required to submit his books to the Department of Defense (DOD) for a prepublication security and policy review. The fact that he worked as a SEAL sniper specializing in communications and intelligence, and because in his earlier manuscripts submitted for review Mr. Carr left the DOD redactions in his published novels rather than edit them, his books have a unique authenticity.
Typical of Mr. Carr’s earlier works, his brisk narrative and hard-charging storyline make it hard to distinguish his latest book from current news headlines: from the current Russia-Ukraine conflict, to suspicions of shady characters engineering global destabilization, to Iran’s continued efforts to become a nuclear state.
Mr. Carr shares some interesting observations on current affairs and conspiracy theories in his latest book, including the federal government lying about the status of missing POW’s in Vietnam and the JFK assassination. He also wryly notes American society’s preoccupation with the banal and mundane, such as in this passage uttered by the fictional director of the SVR, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, discussing the plot to overthrow the United States: “While the Americans are fighting over their pronouns, digital passports and a social credit system, we will change the world order. For the first time since World War Two the Americans will know their place.”
Mr. Carr’s latest novel is multifaceted and well-paced, with a surprise reveal near the end that won’t disappoint. His characterization of major and minor figures involved in the cabal, and their role in the puzzle Reece is trying to solve, lend both depth and vitality to the story. For example, the political dynamics and paranoia he describes among high-ranking Russian officials plotting against Reece, each other, and the United States is both fascinating and believable.
As always the author adroitly portrays Reece’s humanity and personal emotions, while at the same time describing action sequences that show his protagonist as lethal and violent as any other character in contemporary fiction.
