January 15, 2018
When Lt. Cmdr. James Reece of SEAL Team Seven, the hero of Carr’s thrilling if uneven first novel, leads his men into an ambush in Khost Province, Afghanistan, 36 SEALs, 28 Rangers, and four aircrew members in his unit are killed. After Reece figures out that it was a trap perpetrated by high-level American government officials, he vows to kill everyone involved. He doubles his resolve after the murder of his wife and three-year-old daughter at their home in Coronado, Calif. Reece has a list of 12 who must die, and he checks the names off one by one. Carr, a retired U.S. Navy SEAL, knows his weaponry, and each kill is an interesting set-up. On the other hand, the avenging SEAL is an overly familiar scenario, and the few plot twists add nothing new. Patches of overheated prose don’t help: “He would die avenging his troop and his family. It would be a good death: a warrior’s death.” Still, Carr shows a lot of promise, and fans of military action fiction will look forward to his next book. Agent: Alexandra Machinist, ICM.