User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
Jack Carr returns with another explosive military thriller that pulls on his years in the field, as well as the current geo-political situation. After a stunning cliffhanger, Carr pulls readers right back into the middle of the story and continues to spin treacherous webs. James Reece is likely the most wanted man in the entire world, especially after his actions to destroy those who had his family killed. Armed with a terminal brain tumour, he has little to lose, but hopes to stay alive long enough to ensure no one bearing responsibility is still breathing. For the meantime, Reece chooses life at sea, sailing from the East Coast of the United States to the Eastern portion of Africa. Completely off the radar, it is Reece and the open ocean, for who knows how long. While he is battling the waves, a terror cell strikes numerous locations across Europe, though there is no one who has yet claimed responsibility. Reece is completely unaware when he lands in Mozambique and takes up helping an old friend keep the local poachers at bay, at least until he is hunted down by one of the people in his former chain of command. Interesting revelations come to light and Reece is brought back into the fold, if only temporarily. Armed with amnesty and a mission to track down those in charge of the terror cell, Reece heads to a black-ops site to train before being thrust into the middle of a deadly firefight that could have international ramifications and leave an indelible mark on how terrorism is portrayed. With little to lose, Reece finds himself being stealthy and cut throat all at the same time, though it may not be enough. Carr does a masterful job at balancing truth and fiction here, taking the reader deep into covert operatives and leaving them just on this side of what can be revealed publicly. Recommended to those who enjoy military thrillers that leave a realistic film on the brain.
I had the debut novel recommended to me by a friend on Goodreads and I could not read it fast enough. While I struggled to get into the mindset of this piece, when I was able to shake off my inner issues, I was fast enveloped into the wonders of this novel. Carr offers a wonderful way of exploring covert operations without getting too hokey. It would seem apparently that Carr uses James Reece as his alter-ego, telling his own story through the protagonist. While Reece has nothing to live for, he pushes on and finds a new lease on life, starting with some work in rural Africa. However, you cannot expect a man with such a passion for covert missions to disappear from the lifestyle with ease, which is easy to see when Reece is asked to come back and fight another day. Still emotionally fragile, Reece has a lot more left inside him before he is ready to give up. Other characters enrich the story in numerous ways, throughout the various turns the narrative takes. Carr encapsulates the story with effective characters and puts them into a variety of situations, all of which are sure to complement whatever James Reece might be doing at that time. The story was quite strong and developed at a decent pace. Carr’s ability to take the reader on a journey is like few others, which is further enriched by the obvious limitations put on him by the Department of Defence in the United States, who redacted portions of the manuscript (and which Carr has shown were removed in the final product). This injection of additional realism does not go unnoticed throughout, balancing nicely between the long and short chapters to keep the breakneck pace of the story as things progress. Carr has earned the right to be called an author in the know and I can only hope that his future writing projects are just as strong.
Kudos, Mr. Carr, for a stellar piece. Mitch Rapp and Scot Harvath do not hold a candle to James Reece, though he might let them carry his gear into battle.
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Rating: really liked it
”The explosion was deafening. The market’s snowy cobblestone streets held thousands of shoppers and those closest to the van were simply vaporized by the detonation. They were the lucky ones. The steel shrapnel that had been embedded directionally into the explosive device raked into the crowd like a thousand claymore mines--killing, maiming, shredding, and amputating everything in its path, taking future generations before they ever existed. A joyful Christmas gathering was now a twisted war zone. Scattered among the wreckage of charred wooden shopping booths, broken glass, tangles of hanging lights, and broken tables were scores of the dead and dying.”Acts of terror are something we’ve all become very familiar with. Even if we have been fortunate enough not to be directly impacted by an act of terror or have been spared knowing someone we care about who has been victimized by terror, we all see on the news cycle the carnage, the tears, and the helplessness of officials to stop it. Our security people have to be right every time; a terrorist only has to be lucky once. We have a generation now who has grown up in the age of terror. The genie isn’t going back in the bottle.
Mohammed Farooq, a former Iraqi commando, is the prime suspect in the recent series of terrorist attacks and a man quite capable of disappearing into the European underground. The CIA would like to talk to him, and there is only one man whom Farooq would trust enough to meet with...ex-SEAL James Reece.
There is one little problem with this...Reece is America’s most wanted domestic terrorist. In the first book in the series,
The Terminal List, Reece, after losing his team in Afghanistan and his family back in the States to a hail of bullets, went on a vendetta that sliced out a “terminal” cancer in American politics.
He cut it deep. He cut it wide. Meanwhile, James Reece is hiding, deep in the wilds of Mozambique with some friends who don’t care what he has done, but only care about the why. They run a hunting safari outfit that concentrates on culling the old animals and protecting the young animals from the ivory and trophy poachers who have a ready market in China for their wild game kills. Reece soon puts his tactical knowledge to work, using drones and other technologies to help catch the poachers before they can further devastate the wildlife. Jack Carr’s writing in this section makes me want to see a sunrise in Mozambique. He also brings up the fact that the Chinese have become very interested in “helping” African countries build infrastructure. I’ve talked to friends in Africa who are excited about this relationship with China, pushed more than a bit by their understandable anti-colonial feelings, but I will caution them that the Chinese are ultimately interested in appropriating as much of Africa’s natural resources as they can get their hands on. Old song, new record player.
I won’t get into big game trophy hunting, but people who follow my reviews will already know my feelings about that.
Jack Carr also takes a few swipes at President Carter because of some policy decision he made during the Rhodesian War. I don’t know what Carr’s feelings are about the current Republican administration because I don’t read his blog, but I do know that his fellow writer and good friend Brad Thor has left the Republican party and become an Independent. I know I have several Democrat friends who refuse to read Carr’s work, and a lot of that is due to the political polarization cursing this country, but they are missing out on some great thrillers. Carr is definitely more likely to point out, in his opinion, missteps by Democratic politicians than he is those made by Republicans, but if one can ignore those brief moments of political bias, the reader will be treated to plots ripped from the headlines and the actions taken behind the scenes that the press are not privy to.
Speaking of the authenticity of the Jack Carr books:
”Though this is a work of fiction, my past profession and its association security clearances require that True Believer go through a government approval process with the Department of Defense Office of Prepublication and Security Review. Their redactions are included as amended and remain blacked out in the novel.” Despite his misgivings about his own country, Reece decides to help find the people behind the attacks. His friend Farooq can’t be the mastermind. As Reece starts to unpack the intel from the terrorist attacks, it becomes clear that the mover and shaker behind these events is a Russian mogul named Vasili Andrenov, who wants to benefit from the destabilized financial markets and use this fear to usher the hardliners in Russia back into power. The collateral damage of holiday shoppers doesn’t bother him. They are simply a bloody means to an end. To help, he has recruited an American named Oliver Grey, who has a government position that might prove useful. It soon becomes evident that Andrenov is willing to do the unthinkable, something that hasn’t happened since John F. Kennedy.
Reece still has the headaches that plague him in
The Terminal List.
”They felt like a million small shards of glass grinding together inside his brain.” Just an added point of stress for the reader. Can Reece live long enough to pull the pieces together to stop this insanity? Situational awareness, something he learned in the SEALS, will be a key element in staying one step ahead of the diabolical plans of these insidious villains.
I really appreciate the fact that Reece is a reader. I laughed, joyfully, out loud at this.
”I remember the stacks of books in your room in Baghdad. No one has brought that much reading material to war since Churchill.” Jack Carr has also been bitten by the book collecting bug. In the acknowledgments in the back of the book, he thanks Mystery Mike for helping him put together his first edition collection. I’ve certainly ordered several books from MM over the years.
So what do you say? Do you want to be in on taking down some bad guys? Remember and this is very important, always let James Reece go through the door first, but be right on his six.
I want to thank David Brown and Simon & Schuster press for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
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Rating: really liked it
After an awesome cliffhanger James Recees is most wanted man in the world after his action taking revenge on those who killed his family, This time with a terminal brain tumor he has little to lose as he battles the terrorist cells.
Rating: really liked it
3.5 StarsThis sequel to The Terminal List tells the tale of James Reece and how he goes about living the rest of his perceived life span as his brain tumor slowly takes him down. He’s on the lam but finds a way to ultimately survive and eke out a rewarding life with the time he has left. What he doesn’t know is that a complex terrorist plot is in the works and of course, only he can possibly make things right.
Beware a very very detailed look at all the players involved, their history, their connection to Reece - from bad guys to past allies and how it all ties together - CIA betrayals, government disruptions, economic manulputions - so one greedy power hungry man can bring to fruition a decades in the making takeover.
Interesting with spots of intense action and violence with escalating higher and higher stakes that endanger hundreds of thousands of lives, this did drag in some spots for me and wasn’t as enjoyable as the first book. This was long (at times, too long) and basically, served as a set up for the next installment. Despite that, I won’t miss what’s in store for our undefeatable antihero and how he gets one of his enemies that got away.
Rating: really liked it
After being held up by the Department of Defense’s Office of Prepublication and Security Review for over six months, former Navy SEAL turned top-notch thriller author Jack Carr’s highly-anticipated second thriller, True Believer, is finally set to storm its way into bookstores.
Following the explosive events of The Terminal List (2018), James Reece is the most wanted domestic terrorist on the United States’ watch list. Once a Navy SEAL commander, Reece previously uncovered a conspiracy that reached the highest levels of the American government, one that he set about exposing—which cost him everything he loved and cared about: his wife, their daughter, his teammates, and his career.
With nothing more to lose, Reece set out for revenge. After compiling a lengthy list of everyone and anyone who had a hand in the death of his family and his team, the highly trained, highly lethal commando went to work—crossing off every name on his list in the process.
Now, Reece is a broken man. Still dealing with a tumor that’s spidered its way into his brain, James finds himself alone on Bitter Harvest, a forty-eight-foot Beneteau Oceanis, bobbing his way across the Atlantic Ocean. Struggling to cope with everything that’s happened over the past several months, Reece stays off the grid, makes peace with his medical diagnosis, and spends the next four months slowly making his way to Mozambique, Africa, where he’s taken in by Rich Hastings, the uncle of James’ estranged best friend and former SEAL teammate, who runs a Safaris camp near Niassa.
Eventually, though he was careful and doing his best to lay low, Reece and some other members of Hastings’ crew have a run-in with some armed poachers, forcing Reece to flip the switch he’d spent the better part of a year trying to turn off. And when word travels that a badass nobody in the middle of the jungle threw down with some poachers, it doesn’t take long for Uncle Sam to track Reece down—only, instead of handcuffs, they’ve come knocking with an offer.
Unbeknownst to Reece, who hasn’t paid any attention to the news, a series of devasting terrorist attacks have rocked the Western world. It’s believed that the man behind the attacks is Mohammed “Mo” Farooq, an Iraqi commander who was once trained by American forces in the region. As it turns out, everyone who had a hand in dealing with Mo back in Iraq is now dead, except for Reece, who is offered a presidential pardon and a new job with the CIA in exchange for tracking him down and putting an end to the attacks.
Though he’s initially reluctant, Reece accepts the offer and heads out to complete his mission, which seems straightforward enough. Instead, all hell breaks loose, as he quickly discovers that things aren’t what they first seemed. Unsure whom he can trust, Reece travels around the globe chasing terrorists and, in the process, unearths another conspiracy that could set the world on fire . . . unless he can stop it.
Few authors over the last few decades have taken the genre by storm the way Jack Carr has. After releasing one of the best debut political thrillers in recent memory, Carr follows that up with another winner, though it’s a very different book than The Terminal List. Whereas his first book started fast—taking readers behind the scope as Reece fired his first shot of revenge—True Believer opens slower, following Reece as he learns to live again. Carr gives readers time to bond with his hero, in what ultimately proves to be the calm before the storm. And once the bullets start flying, you better hold on tight, because the action never lets up for a second—with Carr delivering the kind of adrenaline-inducing action sequences you’d expect from someone who knows that life intimately.
Beyond that . . .
Continue reading this review here: https://therealbookspy.com/2019/04/21...
Rating: really liked it
Jack Carr takes great pains to establish his bona fides as a former Navy SEAL sniper and operator. He is to be commended and thanked for his sacrifice and service; however, like many series, this second book in the James Reece saga is not nearly as well crafted as the first.
Taken as a whole this is a worthy story with well developed plot. BUT - it takes 200 pages out of 450+ to get to the actual story. I honesty contemplated relegating this to the "could not finish" category, but persevered and finally was rewarded with an interesting read.
Yet there are a number of irritating and smug conventions that Carr uses - several times throughout the book he casts "shade" on other authors and characters, movies etc. for portraying the work of "warriors" in ways he seems to feel are disingenuous. Calling out Mitch Rapp and Scott Harvath specifically in one case - but then he falls back on the ridiculous "blacked out"/censored text trope when it is not necessary and adds little or nothing to the story - you could have left the "missing" words or even paragraphs out and not detracted from what was communicated - so what's the point? To make sure you know he's the "real deal"? Ha
Also Reece - the hero of the story - fluctuates from a stone cold killer to an almost puerile adolescent wondering about how to talk to a woman - and in the midst of an operation reflecting on people he's lost in his life. It seems a ham-fisted attempt to probe "real" Navy SEAL snipers are human.
I get it. As he states in the preface, he writes in part to deal with his own demons - but where were his editors? So much of the irritating stuff is unnecessary to the story and should have been caught by anyone reading for style and content.
Finally - the book does not stand alone - you HAVE to have read the first novel to understand this one AND there is a cheap set up for the next one sort of "tacked on" as an epilogue involving a character and plot line that was for all intents an purposes wrapped up.
So - Mr. Carr, thank you for your service, but I'm afraid I'm done reading about James Reece. There are many others in this genre - including Rapp and Harvath that are part of better crafted and more enjoyable reads.
Rating: really liked it
This is one good thriller. I love the second part of this book which was full of action, when James Reece was back in the game.
The first half you get to know James Reece as person as he set sail across the Atlantic escaping the US as the most wanted domestic terrorist where he spent a significant of alone time recollecting his past.
It's not bad, but I only finished the first book, The Terminal List, a month before so it was still all fresh to me.
The story and detail were excellent so much so there were parts, even paragraphs that were blacked out by DoD. I'm so curious as to where the black site may be among other things.
Rating: really liked it
True Believer, number 2 in the James Reece series.
Firstly may I say, not as explosive as the first in the series. Started the series with such a powerful fast paced and action packed book, very hard to keep to those high standards, but still a good four star book.
Following his brutal quest for revenge, former Navy SEAL James Reece has fled the United States, emerging deep in the wilds of Mozambique. But he can’t stay hidden for long – when a string of horrific terrorist attacks plagues the Western world, the CIA tracks him down and recruits him.
The strength in this book is the last 60% of the book, starts of slow, yes I understand why, but the pace is heavy to start with in the wilds of Mozambique.
Now a reluctant tool of the United States government, Reece must travel the globe, targeting terrorist leaders and unravelling a geopolitical conspiracy that will have worldwide repercussions . This is where the story really takes off.
A great character, powerful story, second half of the book is action packed. Maybe a little overlong.
Again, very cleverly the author pins you down, you just have to read the next one...
James Reece is another character I will happily follow among my huge list of great action authors.
Looking forward to the television series.
Rating: really liked it
This book was [REDACTED]. And we get it, Reece loves honey in his coffee.
Rating: really liked it
This is one of the best novels I’ve ever read. When people talk about the best thriller authors ever, typically you hear Clancy, Flynn, and Thor. However, there are very few books that have ever captivated me in so many ways as TRUE BELIEVER. There is a certain emotion that Carr is able to drive into this book that I haven’t felt in a long time. The only time I can recall feeling so emotionally invested in a story is when I read Flynn’s Transfer of Power when Rapp is in the WH and has to help Anna Reilly and then in his book Consent to Kill. I don’t know how Carr managed this, but this novel is incredible. I found that Carr’s amazing debut novel, THE TERMINAL LIST, was a pedal to the metal novel that was a sprint from the first word; however, he slowly ramps up the action in TRUE BELIEVER. I often dislike thrillers with slow starts, but this one kept me fully engaged the entire time. The book is so good, interesting, and obviously written by someone who not only knows what they’re writing about but also understands the human condition. I loved this book and the writing from start to finish. This jumps easily and quickly to one of my favorite thrillers of all time. Carr will go down in history for (t)his novel(s), and when talking about the best thriller authors ever, he should be in the discussion. I am amazed at what he’s done in only two novels and I can’t wait to see what he has in store for the thriller community in the future. This novel proved that, although there will never be another Vince Flynn, there are novels and authors that, to me, are on the same level as his and him. Great thriller Jack!
Rating: really liked it
I read the first one in this series, too, and I'm really bothered by this author's notion that one well-trained, well-armed American man can kill his way to justice, first for himself, second for his friends, and then in the next book for his nation. It's the nation of laws versus the nation of men argument, or in this case, man. It's vengeance porn. The style is also pretty pedestrian, as in cardboard characters and wooden dialogue. I read these books because a friend of mine raved about them, but I'm done now.
Rating: really liked it
The continuing story of James Reece. Opens with him on the stolen sailboat crossing the Atlantic, solo. Other portions of the beginning involve a Russian oligarch and his greed. Lots of backstory here. The meat of this story gets started about a third into the novel. And even at that point there is a whole lot of weapons porn for those who are into that kind of thing. Written for Carr’s fellow ex or current SEAL team members. The average thriller reader could care less if a weapon uses 5.56 or 4.60 rounds.
Gets to be rather bogged down at times, but eventually Carr gets back on track.
Being a big fan of Wilbur Smith’s tales of Africa and hunting, Reece’s adventures against the poachers in Mozambique were worth the price of admission to this.
Rating: really liked it
TRUE BELIEVER was a meaty book with parallel storylines for the first half that upped the tension and separates Jack Carr from other in his genre. It's a great story that is wholly satisfying even though there was some dense information that had me rewinding a couple of times to make sure I understood. I think this book is actually better than the first even though it started a bit slower (but no less interesting.) My full review of this and TTL is on my Substack page here: https://murdershewrites.substack.com/...
Rating: really liked it
I am a huge fan of The Terminal List, jack Carr's debut novel. I ranked it as #3 book I read in 2018 out of the 94 books I read that year. It was simply fantastic. A balls to the wall thriller that doesn't let up from start to finish.
So when I was fortunate enough to receive an Advanced Reader Copy of Jack's second novel, True Believer, I was thrilled and couldn't wait to dive in. I had very high expectations that this would be one of the better books I picked up in 2019. Let me tell you, True Believer delivered to those expectations and then some. It's simply fantastic.
In this review, I won't write about True Believer's plot or specific characters in order to avoid spoilers. But here are my observations on why I loved this book:
1. Jack Carr shows his evolution and range as a writer. As mentioned above, The Terminal List was a full-on action packed thriller from cover to cover. True Believer is different. It has more depth and purpose. It has more deliberate character and plot development. It has more operational details. And it has more complex emotions.
2. Whether intentional or not, I see influences from other great writers in the genre come through in True Believer. Weapons detail, slow and steady building of the plot towards a big action sequence, operations precision and character development all have elements of Tom Clancy, Daniel Silva, Vince Flynn and Brad Thor. The Mount Rushmore of spy thrillers. Anytime you can compare a book to the works of other great writers, you know you're reading something special.
3. This felt like the true origin story for James Reece. The Terminal List is a critical part of James' backstory, but his development in True Believer and how this book ends feels like this is the beginning of a long and illustrious franchise that will be talked about as one of the best in the genre.
I could go on and on, but I'll end it with saying that if you're a spy/military/thriller genre fan then you must pick up this book. You'll want to say you were on the Jack Carr bandwagon from early on, before he blows up further and becomes huge. It's going to happen. This guy has the goods.
Rating: really liked it
Reece is excellent. The hunt he is on has been a great ride, looking forward to book 3. There was a little slow spot at the beginning that kept it from getting 5 stars but it really took off. This series is so real that there are redactions made because they are too real. It feels as real as Clancy. That’s high praise from me.
