The Terminal List

A Thriller

By: Jack Carr

Narrated by: Ray Porter

Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's Summary

New York Times and USA Today Best-Selling Author

A Navy SEAL has nothing left to live for and everything to kill for after he discovers that the American government is behind the deaths of his team in this ripped-from-the-headlines political thriller. 

On his last combat deployment, Lieutenant Commander James Reece's entire team was killed in a catastrophic ambush that also claimed the lives of the aircrew sent in to rescue them. But when those dearest to him are murdered on the day of his homecoming, 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. 

Now, with no family and free from the military's command structure, Reece applies the lessons that he's learned in over a decade of constant warfare toward avenging the deaths of his family and teammates. With breathless pacing and relentless suspense, Reece ruthlessly targets his enemies in the upper echelons of power without regard for the laws of combat or the rule of law. 

An intoxicating thriller that cautions against the seduction of absolute power and those who would do anything to achieve it, The Terminal List is perfect for fans of Vince Flynn, Brad Thor, Stephen Hunter, and Nelson DeMille. 

©2018 Jack Carr (P)2018 Simon & Schuster

Critic Reviews

"Double the trouble, twice the action, and quadruple the enjoyment. Careful while reading this one, it could leave a mark." (Steve Berry, New York Times best-selling author of The Last Order)

Interesting if you can get past the obvious anti-Dem pedantry

Love Ray Peter’s narration regardless of the content. The story was entertaining but I always have a bit of a hard time as a Canadian, swallowing the Rah Rah America overtones. That and the very heavy handed and thinly veiled dig at Hilary Clinton in his patently obvious characterization of the villain made it less than stellar. Felt like he was using this story just to take potshots at the Dems.

the terminal list is terminally bad

Mr. Carr clearly knows his military tactics and his weapons. Unfortunately, he doesn't know how to construct a believable story or creat believable characters. The villains are less than one-dimensional; there only function is to be set up as clay pigeon targets for the hero to knock down and kill. Even by the standards of military thrillers, the plot is completely unbelievable. To say more would give away spoilers. I'm going to return this book and I urge you not to buy it. I hope Carr's second book is better; I'll wait for a trusted friend to recommend it. The performance was excellent.

Yeah, I've bought the next James Reece Book!

Totally improbable? Would have been if the 2019 mess of revelations in Washington weren't pouring out all over us from 24/7 cable news. So? So it wasn't hard to suspend disbelief and understand the meaning of distilled revenge that Reece havoc's upon the no-gre-zone baddies who've done him totally wrong. This is a sort of catharsis book... The chance for readers to fantasize a tad of purgation (if that's a word?).

With the presently unending spew of hatred we're getting sprayed into our ears and eyes, well there's solace in these moments that Carr's filled which at least have periods at the end of the final paragraphs. Or realize that in fiction as opposed to reality there can be final paragraphs with an entirely new day to follow.

So... I'm off to read 'True Believer' and escape from the reality of our politically poisoned moment. Yay! Oh, and Ray Porter does his normally terrific job of bringing the ensemble cast to life.

Violent and Politically Biased

Mr. Carr spins a great story. I just found the whole premise of the story unfathomable. He wants us to believe that a wide spread conspiracy to kill the best fighting soldiers on the planet could be developed and carried out by high ranking officials in our country. I know this is a work of fiction, but I have a problem with the premise of the story. Mr. Carr also wants to add his political agenda to the book. All of the villains are "liberal democrats".

Make way for Jack Carr!!!!

I listened to the sample for this book and thought the writing sounded good. Combine that with Ray Porter's wonderful narration and I thought this could be a winner.
So, I paid my credit and took a chance. The author's forward made me think this might be something on the order of a Gentry book. Instead, this is more like the early Dewey Andreas or Pike Logan characters but the writing is better. The protagonist's (James Reese) team is ambushed in Afghanistan. While recuperating he and two other members are diagnosed with brain tumors. The doctor who diagnosed gives Reese a card and tells him to contact him back in the states. When Reese arrives back in the US he finds another team member had "committed suicide" but Reese thinks it's murder. He leaves his friend's house and heads for his own home. When he arrives he finds his wife and daughter supposedly murdered by a gang who broke into their home. He calls the doctor whose card he was given and he's told the Dr was killed during an 'incident " in Afghanistan. Everyone he has involvement with is dying... prepare yourself, this is good!

Carr starts out saying that this is a novel of revenge.
The writing superb. The story is coherent and if I didn't know better I would think this was an author who's been writing for a long time.
This book has my HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION!!
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The perfect espionage thriller!

The Terminal List had an extraordinary quantity and quality of publicity by the publisher prior to release which persuaded me to pre-order it. All of the great publicity was for a new author. Nevertheless, it far exceeds my expectations. Author and former Navy SEAL Jack Carr has written an espionage thriller that is good as the first and later efforts of Vince Flynn and Ben Coes. Just get it and listen to the must-read The Terminal List! As is normal and usual for him Ray Porter narrates flawlessly.

Disappointing.

Flat characters, predictable plot, overtly political and unnecessarily divisive. Exactly what is not needed today.

Fantasic Military Thriller

This book, as many of the comments have already suggested, is well written. The language was easy to understand, even amidst the military jargon that was heavily used, which greatly added to the intricacy of the book. This is not something the book should be criticised for, because it was a perfect mix of technical and laymen terms that just about anyone could enjoy reading. The interaction between Reece and his friends throughout the story was so brilliantly written. It captured the human element of a guys-type of friendship so well, I couldn’t help but laugh as I was reminded of the joking conversation I have had with my friends before.

Carr does an excellent job of depicting the characters right down to every single article of clothing worn and does not shy away from simply mentioning the brands of certain items in order to fully describe to the reader what is pictured.

Ultimately the single word that comes to mind while reading this book is authentic. Obviously the story is fictional, and that is not what I am referring to, but the perspective of Reece in the story clearly indicates the author has had significant first hand experience that is reflective in the story. For that reason, this work stands out strongly as a respectable military/thriller book.

One minor criticism I encountered was that I would occasionally lose track of which character was saying what during some of the dialogue. It was not difficult to simply back track and continue with the conversations in the book. This admittedly may be entirely my fault for not paying close enough attention as I had thought I needed to.

The book is just as much an action intense thriller as it is a constant reminder of importance of those whom you truly hold close in life. Not just your parents, spouse and children, although that is a significant aspect, but your closest friends, and even acquaintances who quickly become friends and allies under trying circumstances. Not to mention the kinds of people you come across that you find yourself thinking, as Clint Smith so eloquently stated, “there are some people who just need to be shot.”

The end of the book, particularly the final chapter and epilogue, left me feeling deeply conflicted about the way things ended. At the same time, it was exactly what makes a story of retribution come to completion. I found myself moved by the urgency to see justice followed through with in a fantastic action-filled story.

Needless to say, this book was excellent and I greatly look forward to Mr. Carr’s next work. I also wanted to express my gratitude to Mr. Carr for his military service to the United States.

Ray Porter was outstanding with the delivery of the story

THANKS YEAGER, ya jerk.... single binge session

on the recommendation of James Yeager i downloaded this book, I'm not normally a fiction guy but being written by a former real world operator I figured that the "little details" would actually be correct and IT WAS! I HAD TO STAY UP TILL MIDNIGHT TO FINISH IT IN ONE DAY! HOW CAN CARR TOP THIS I DON'T KNOW BUT I LOOK FORWARD TO THE NEXT BOOK!

Fun but forgettable

This was a fun listen (Ray Porter is great), but everything felt too easy. There were no clever or interesting resolutions. After the brutal and exciting first act, everything goes according to plan and nothing bad happens to the good guys. I was expecting a revenge plot where the main character doesn’t care who gets hurt.... this is more like “assassin doing assassin things.”

Pretty good.

Story was ok if a little heavy on the overwrought machismo (what is it with Americans? - they can't just be highly trained soldiers they have to be 'elite warriors' - it always sounds a bit fragile ego to me - like bin men who insist on being called 'sanitary disposal engineers') .. I thought the narrator was very good though and really brought the story to life.

The NRA publishing

Reading and enjoying this book requires a solid military practice, knowledge, experience in guns.
Did not read it to the end. The idea is not new, the story is not written in way to keep the suspense. However if you like guns, support the NRA and affiliates and you are denying the man made global climate change it is your book.

Not the finished article

The author has a good core idea of what he’s trying to achieve. The main character is well flushed out and can easily be expanded upon in future books. Similarly, the personal knowledge of the author’s military background is apparent. However, sometimes he falls into a lazy streak in the text. I.e., Over-focusing on small details that doesn’t help the flow of the text, but rather acts as an stopping block; the exaggeration of the villains motives which makes them flat; and apparent personal biases in the text. A better editor would have observed these problems, adjusted them and improved the end result. Similar problems are present in both Brad Thor and Vince Flynn’s early work, so the author can improve in the future.

Brilliant!

Hope we see more of this author, great story and well narrated. Enjoyed very much

This should be made into a movie.

Best book I’ve listened to in a long time. Start to finish a thrilling ride.

good to listen

great reader and enjoyed the book... be prepared for hearing the most horrible life and nightmare situations.. simply horrible time for the chap

A fantastic use of details and descriptions to ma

I have enjoyed this book because of the well written and detailed characters along with the real world details of the places and equipment used. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

great book, full of tiny details

The story is great and straddles the line of real life, probable government dirty underbellies and the lengths a person can be pushed too

Not what I expected.

This was not the book I was expecting. It was so much more. I only had 2 issues but I can't say as they would be spoilers....

Overall a very enjoyable listen.

Mediocre

A reasonably well crafted thriller, but not for you if constant American Exceptionalism will rankle. The author too hard to show off knowledge of Military, guns etc. These details do not make the narrative richer, merely clunky.