The Terminal List by Jack Carr
#138: A guest post by Andrew Eubanks
Hello, readers! Kyle here — my friend Andrew wrote the guest post today and I love his perspective on military writing and television, being a military man himself.
I hope you enjoy his review. Here’s Andrew!
Hey everyone,
I’m so pumped to be writing for you! Kyle—my bestie—invited me to once again submit a guest post.
Because of my former career in the Marine Corps, I approach military-themed books, shows, and movies with both a mixture of excitement and skepticism. With friends who are SEALs, Army special forces, and former CIA, I have a pretty strong grasp on what’s realistic and what’s overdramatized BS in the genre.
Growing up, I read a lot of Tom Clancy, Jason Bourne, Vince Flynn, etc. About ten years ago, I stopped reading these types of books—especially when the protagonist was a Navy SEAL (mostly due to overdramatization, unrealistic scenes, or predictable plots).
But then last year, I watched the Amazon Prime hit series The Terminal List starring Chris Pratt. I loved it! Was it realistic—no way! Was it pure entertainment—oh yeah!
This led me to start reading (aka listening to) the Terminal List book series by retired Navy SEAL Jack Carr. Thus far, there are seven books in the series (with book 7 only available for pre-order right now); and I’ve digested books 1-6. Here’s my review of the book series and the TV show!
The Books
First, who shouldn’t read The Terminal List series?
These books are violently graphic. The main character, James Reece, is a Navy SEAL turned rogue-ish CIA operative who kills a lot of bad guys. The action scenes are described thoroughly in detail. If bloody action isn’t your thing, I’d avoid this book series.
With that disclaimer up front, here’s why I like the Terminal List:
Tactics and Simplicity. Does James Reece use cool guns? Yes, but they’re all real; no James Bond gadgets from Q. Jack Carr excels at incorporating real military tactics, methods, and equipment into the plot and scenes, and keeping things simple. Not that there aren’t great plot twists or intriguing plot lines, but the action is simplistic in its reality. Everything from the personas, relationships, mindsets, and emotions is realistic. Not overdramatized or exaggerated.
It’s just real*.
The plots are entertaining and informative. Are the plots 100% realistic—no, of course not. But they’re entertaining and realistic enough. Carr weaves modern geopolitical considerations into his books with sprinklings of historical context. The history is accurate, and the politics are valid viewpoints from someone like James Reece. The books all take place at the time of publishment, and some of the things that happen are sometimes creepily accurate in describing current troubles or predicting future events.
I won’t go through the plots or summarize each book in the series, but they all build on each other with many of the same core characters in each. Lots of action, some love, and plenty of political intrigue. In short, if you’re looking for entertaining and realistic action, this is a good book series to check out.
*Important point of clarification—when I say “realistic,” I’m not necessarily referring to the overall plot. I’m referring to all of the tactics, methods, and behaviors employed by all of the good and bad guys.
The TV series
Amazon’s adaptation of The Terminal List sticks to the book pretty closely. There are a few details that are different but most of the differences aren’t impactful to the plot. For example: In the book, the initial scenes take place during a SEAL mission in Afghanistan, but in the TV series it takes place in Syria. There are a few other screenplay alterations but for the most part, the TV series is a great adaptation of the first book in the series.
And I think Chris Pratt’s performance is excellent. Pratt depicts James Reece very well. There’s one scene in particular that stands out to me: Pratt (James Reece) approaches a stairwell with the rifle in his right shoulder (as a righthanded shooter), but as the stairwell turns to the right, he switches the rifle to his left shoulder (to shoot lefthanded) so that he maintains an advantageous angle and posture. As soon he’s up the stairs, he immediately shifts the rifle back to his right shoulder. The whole scene is about five seconds, but it’s just an example of the simplistic, realistic tactics that embody both the book and the show.
In short, if you don’t like violence, stay away. If you want some entertaining action, give the books a read or listen; or binge watch the show!
It was great sharing my thoughts with you! If you have any comments, or especially criticisms, just send those to Kyle, thanks!
Andrew
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I’ve read Jack Carr’s books every year they come out! Was cool to see the book turned into a TV series, and can’t wait for the future seasons (especially which actor they get to play Raif Hastings!)