I'm reading Jack Carr's Terminal List and, while not a horrible book, it's another in a long line of media about pissing off the wrong guy (FAFO), and while not horrible, it seems to be just a retread of the trope I mentioned in the title.

I enjoyed it when I first read comics about the Punisher or Tom Clancy's Without Remorse. John Wick too was enjoyable action gore. I got tired after a while with the Jack Reacher stories.

This just seems to be a clone with a lot of updated buzz words. He drinks Black Rifle coffee, drives a fixed up SUV, loves Waylon, Haggard, and Cash, and knows Navy & SEAL jargon.

Does the series get any better? Are there better similar books to recommend?

Thanks.

That's pretty much the genre, isn't it? I've read 3 of them. I like them well enough. I find I have to take breaks and have to be in the right mindset. I believe Carr was a SEAL, hence the SEAL jargon. To me the 3 I have read are all about the same quality. Better than some, not the best. If anything the character become less realistic to me after the first one, more superhero. I think you have to like the story within the idea of the "super stud warrior" that will always win in the end.

Have noticed the product placement stuff is very prominent. Have wondered if that is a paid thing or an attempt to create character quirks. Sometimes I find it cool to be able to look up specific things.

Early Vince Flynn Mitch Rapp stuff is good. I have enjoyed the Orphan X series, more of an Equalizer knock off, but the main is very flawed personalitywise, while he is unbeatable. I also like John Sanford - Lucas Davenport and Virgil Flowers series, though they are more detective novels than international thrillers, I think Sanford is a great storyteller with interesting characters and scenarios.

MosesHallEnforcer said:

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All his product placement stuff isn't paid. That's what Jack Carr said on the Rogan podcast. He plugs his Seal buddies companies for free and also all the stuff that he likes. I'm looking forward to the series.

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That makes sense. Didn't really think it was. I honestly don't mind it. Definitely looked up the Winkler Tomahawk and tried to think of a way I could explain and justify that to the wife. Couldn't come up with one though....

Same on the tomahawk. I need to go ahead and pull the trigger before the series debuts next week and they sell out or are back ordered a decade. For self defense purposes of course!

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ItsPersonal

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ItsPersonal/LiveActionFilms

Just in case you wanted to see more of it's kind....go down the rabbit hole...

maverick2076 said:

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Gotta go with the father of the genre: Mack Bolan.

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that's a blast from the past

when I was a teenager I had hundreds of Mack Bolan the Executioner, Able Team and Phoenix Force

Magyars!

maverick2076 said:

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Gotta go with the father of the genre: Mack Bolan.

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The Death Merchant: Richard Camellion

I've been thinking more about series in the genre that are a little bit more unique and these are a few that I have enjoyed.

Mark Dawson has a series about John Milton, a former English SAS operator who is fighting alcoholism and basically roams and helps people who are in trouble, like Reacher or the Equalizer type stories. A lot of focus on AA and fighting his inner demons. I've read the first 13 out of around 20 novels. You can find them on Kindle in groups of 3 or 4 packaged together and most are on the unlimited program if you use that, so you can read as many as you want for the subscription cost. (First novel is The Cleaner)

Stephen England has his Shadow Warriors series which begins with Pandora's Grave, as well as a prequel trilogy called Lion of God Episodes 1-3. It's been a while since I read them but these stood out a bit due to the antagonist, an Iranian terrorist who is believed to be the second coming of a Islamic prophet that will trigger the battle at Armageddon. The prequel series is about a group if Israeli operators.

John Gilstrap has his Jonathan Grave series which is excellent. His protagonists are former operators who now are basically hostage rescuers. First book is called No Mercy.

Rafael Amadeus Hines (what a name!) has a new series about a character named John Bishop who is an operator but has ties to drug cartel and walks the line/crosses it but it does have some of the same revenge trope you mentioned originally. Only two books so far but they definitely have a different style of prose and structure that I found interesting. First book is called Bishop's War.

I just began a new series by Brian Andrews and Jeffrey Wilson called the Shepherds series. I'm about halfway through the first book called Dark Intercept. It is about a retired Seal operator who is trying to rescue a childhood friend's kidnapped daughter. The thing that makes it different is there is a spiritual/supernatural element to it. Prayer warriors and demon controlled antagonists. It's like a Stephen King story (think Firestarter or Carrie) crossed with a military thriller. It's interesting so far. These authors have another more traditional series called the Tier One series that I have read which is also good.


I'm guessing you're already familiar with the big boys in the genre who are all excellent. Flynn, Thor, Greaney, Cameron so won't list those but those are always first day purchases for me. Same with Daniel Silva's series about Gabriel Allon, Israeli Mossad although his books are all starting to be repetitive in their structure and plot lines. The first dozen or so books were excellent but I'm a little weary of them now.

Anyway, hope some of those are helpful.

Wow. Awesome list. Thanks for the time spent putting it together. I actually have not read those authors you assumed I knew since I stick mostly to sci-fi and fantasy. But I always did enjoy a good Tom Clancy book.

Now I'm bookmarking this thread to track suggestions.

What are the full names of Cameron and Flynn?

Marc Cameron
Vince Flynn
Brad Thor
Mark Greaney

All have excellent series.

It's probably close to 30 years old now but Point of Impact by Stephen Hunter is probably my favorite of the genre.

If you want a fantasy revenge tale you could check out Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie.

It's a stand alone in a built out world and you don't need the previous trilogy to enjoy it, but there are some subtle nods to characters and events (similar to Kill Bill).

If you aren't aware of his other works, you should definitely check out his other stuff as well, his first series is called The First Law.

The First Law series was awesome. A lot of dark humor.

Interesting thread

bearamedic99 said:

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I'm reading Jack Carr's Terminal List and, while not a horrible book, it's another in a long line of media about pissing off the wrong guy (FAFO), and while not horrible, it seems to be just a retread of the trope I mentioned in the title.

I enjoyed it when I first read comics about the Punisher or Tom Clancy's Without Remorse. John Wick too was enjoyable action gore. I got tired after a while with the Jack Reacher stories.

This just seems to be a clone with a lot of updated buzz words. He drinks Black Rifle coffee, drives a fixed up SUV, loves Waylon, Haggard, and Cash, and knows Navy & SEAL jargon.

Does the series get any better? Are there better similar books to recommend?

Thanks.

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I've read the entire series and they are enjoyable but they aren't great books by any measure. They lack the sophistication of the early Clancy novels and the characters are fairly flat but again, I'll continue to read them because they are good enough. And I'll probably watch the series as well.

I also do enjoy his conservative "rants" that he inserts into the text. He's usually spot on and I like to envision what more liberal readers take from it.

I just hate that this was turned into a series so quickly and we still can't get anything for Red Rising.

Series came out tonight. I don't know if this is the official Terminal List thread.

Some good psychological thriller themes but the Militart parts were a bit wooden

Pratt did fine (and I admit my biases in rooting for him) but I just kept hearing Bert Macklin for him with his serious voice.

Red Storm Rising would be such a great movie, assuming they stuck to the source material.

Just finished the first episode and while it sticks to the trope of the OP, was not expecting that.

Originally I saw people talking about this being a torture porn type movie and I didn't get that from the previews but I now welcome it.

As an aside, I took my family to Park City, UT for a vacation a few weeks ago and that is where Jack Carr resides. Went to a local bookstore on the main street area in town and asked if they had any signed copies of his new book.

They did have a copy in the back and when I checked the signature page, it had a bullet hole near the signature. Lol. Not sure if all of the signed copies are like that or not.

I'm 3 eps in and it's really good. Pratt and Kitsch are great together. Need sleep but can't stop watching.

Roll the Bones said:

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As an aside, I took my family to Park City, UT for a vacation a few weeks ago and that is where Jack Carr resides. Went to a local bookstore on the main street area in town and asked if they had any signed copies of his new book.

They did have a copy in the back and when I checked the signature page, it had a bullet hole near the signature. Lol. Not sure if all of the signed copies are like that or not.

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Bet that was Dolly's. I'll have to go in there and ask the same.

You are correct sir!

I'm glad to see the reviews of the series are positive so far. Hope to start it this weekend.

Roll the Bones said:

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As an aside, I took my family to Park City, UT for a vacation a few weeks ago and that is where Jack Carr resides. Went to a local bookstore on the main street area in town and asked if they had any signed copies of his new book.

They did have a copy in the back and when I checked the signature page, it had a bullet hole near the signature. Lol. Not sure if all of the signed copies are like that or not.

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Quoting myself to add - apparently the limited signed copies with the bullet hole were made especially for independent book stores. Pretty cool idea.

https://www.officialjackcarr.com/signed-edition-of-in-the-blood/

Roll the Bones said:

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The First Law series was awesome. A lot of dark humor.

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Yep, great humor and great characters (for all of the wrong reasons). And as amazing of a read it is, if anyone enjoys audio books at all, it is an even better listen.

JCA1 said:

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It's probably close to 30 years old now but Point of Impact by Stephen Hunter is probably my favorite of the genre.

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I love Stephen Hunter's books. I have several signed copies.

A couple of them went a little off the rails but overall the Bob Lee Swagger and Earl Swagger books are fantastic. I wish they had done better with the film and tv adaptations. Marky Mark and Ryan Philippe are not Bob Lee.

snowdog90 said:

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I'm 3 eps in and it's really good. Pratt and Kitsch are great together. Need sleep but can't stop watching.

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Same! Got through the first three and had to call it a night. Catch Carr's cinematic debut in one of the scenes?

Won't spoil where, but go back and you can see he's in a couple of scenes.

The books are a great read and I do enjoy how so many guys that are transitioning to civilian careers are plugging each others stuff and supporting one another.

Roll the Bones said:

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Red Storm Rising would be such a great movie, assuming they stuck to the source material.

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Agreed but I'm talking about Red Rising by Pierce Brown. Completely different genre but amazing three book series.

snowdog90 said:

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I'm 3 eps in and it's really good. Pratt and Kitsch are great together. Need sleep but can't stop watching.

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Just an update... I'm on ep 6 now and this is freaking great. If only the real world had this much justice happening to the people that deserve it most, we'd all live in a better place.