The Terminal List
The Terminal List series, Book 1
Jack Carr
Atria
Fiction, Action/Thriller
Themes: Cross-Genre, Medicine, Soldier Stories
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Description
Lieutenant Commander James Reece has proudly served his country for close to two decades, a top Navy SEAL with an unparalleled reputation and track record. When new orders come down for an urgent mission in Afghanistan, though, something feels strange about the situation, but he is nothing if not a loyal soldier, and the intel seems solid... which is how he wound up leading his men into a deadly ambush. As one of the only survivors, Reece is shocked to discover that he's being made the scapegoat - and enraged when he learns why: multiple men in his unit, including himself, apparently have rare malignant brain tumors, too many to be mere natural coincidence. Clearly, someone up the chain is covering up something. Even then, there might have been a chance he could've swallowed his anger and followed orders, taking the fall - but then his wife and young daughter are killed in a "random" home invasion. Patriot he may be, but nobody hurts his family and lives to tell the tale. James Reece is now a man with literally nothing to lose. Even if he is staring down a death sentence, he can make what's left of his life count for something by bringing down the people who betrayed him, his troops, and his family.
Review
On the one hand, this book is precisely what it claims to be: a testosterone-soaked tale of revenge, an ode to
militant masculinity, draped in Old Glory and mounds of shell casings. If you're looking for a straightforward story
of violence and vengeance and a red-blooded man sticking it to the corrupt politicians and fat cat private sector
parasites, one that never drags its heels or dithers or concerns itself with wimpy ideas like "morality" or
"legality" or "maybe pause a sec and think if turning into a one-man death machine is really the only possible
solution to this problem", this story will not disappoint, especially if you love copious specs on weapons and
tactical assaults. On that level, it certainly delivers in spades, drawing on Carr's extensive experience and
research to add a nice ring of authenticity. On the other hand, there are the other levels...
James Reece is the quintessential Navy SEAL, a self-avowed patriot who chafes at stupid things like gun laws and
environmentalism, who doesn't feel any particular qualms about killing even innocent civilians (I'm not sure he
recognizes that such people exist, especially if they don't speak English; his idea of freedom is a Navy ship
loaded to the gills with munitions and missiles sailing off to threaten or blast American dominance into other
countries) and wistfully considers America's best and boldest days to be when we tortured and brutalized
foreigners in the wake of 9/11... even as he scowls at enemies torturing and brutalizing Americans. He's a
soldier's soldier, a man's man, a patriot's patriot, and when he no longer has anything to live for or anything to
lose, he becomes the worst enemy imaginable, seeming to revel in being let off the leash to perform acts of
cold-blooded murder and utter sadistic brutality; blood and bullets are the only law and justice he recognizes as
remotely legitimate, and courts are as distasteful as any foreign word in his manly American mouth. A key part of
the plot is an experimental drug meant to reduce the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder on field soldiers...
something apparently only lesser, weaker, flawed people experience, not proper men like Reece to whom killing is
just another job a man does. It's just that sort of weak, lefty idea - that maybe constant warfare is bad for
people, or maybe violence shouldn't be the only option on the table - that threatens everything good about America,
and Carr doesn't exactly mince words driving home the theme that our country would be better off with more men like
James Reece and less of... well, anything else.
In the end, I wound up splitting the difference. I can't exactly fault it for delivering the story it promised,
after all, even if the execution often felt like being bashed over the head with a flag-wrapped rifle... and, yes, I
have read far worse stories.