Wild Life With NYT Bestselling Author Jack Carr
Jack Carr On The Navy, Life, Writing & His Future
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If badass Navy veteran James Reece isn’t one of your favorite fictional heroes, it’s likely that you haven’t read any of New York Times best-selling author Jack Carr’s The Terminal List series. From his debut novel The Terminal List to his latest James Reece thriller Red Sky Mourning, Carr has spun seven exciting tales of intrigue, with The Terminal List even becoming a #1 Amazon Prime Video series starring Chris Pratt.
That’s no small task for a former Navy SEAL who spent 20 years in Naval Special Warfare Command—and who also just released his first nonfiction book. Between writing, extensive travel for research, and being an avid hunter and father to three children, the Park City, Utah resident puts in some long days. Fortunately, Carr was gracious enough to carve out time for H&B readers.
SEAL Teams & Beyond
Jack Carr is a former Navy SEAL who led special operations teams as a Team Leader, Platoon Commander, Troop Commander, and Task Unit Commander. During his special ops journey, he transitioned from an enlisted SEAL sniper to a junior officer leading assault and sniper teams in Iraq and Afghanistan, to a platoon commander practicing counterinsurgency in the southern Philippines.
He later commanded a Special Operations Task Unit in the most Iranian-influenced section of southern Iraq throughout the tumultuous drawdown of U.S. Forces. After 20 years, Carr retired from active duty in 2016.
Having grown up with a mom who was a librarian, Carr already had a good basis for what would come next in life.
“It was just very clear to me that it was time to get out,” he said. “I also knew exactly what I wanted to do next. I grew up around books and this love of reading. So, in a sense, I had built the foundation for what I was going to do next very early in life.”
The Terminal List Intel
In Carr’s first book, The Terminal List, retired Navy SEAL James Reece has nothing left to live for and everything to kill for after he discovers that the American government was behind the death of his Team on his last combat deployment. Subsequent books in order also follow Reece’s exploits and include True Believer, Savage Son, The Devil’s Hand, In The Blood, Only The Dead, and Red Sky Mourning.
Carr said he believes one of the reasons his books are so popular is because the hero is on a journey.
“People ask, ‘Hey, can I jump in at the latest book?’ And you're supposed to say yes,” Carr said. “But for me, I think it's a much richer reading experience if you start the first one and work your way to the latest one because then you're on that journey with this character.
“The protagonist, James Reece, is learning from past experiences and he's applying those lessons going forward. That's something that we all have in common. Everyone on the planet is on a journey.”
Throughout Carr’s seven-novel (so far) adventure, he’s spent a lot of time on the road doing book signings and other events. But don’t think that’s a burden to him.
“I love it because it's really the only chance I have to shake hands with someone and thank them for really allowing me to do what I'm doing,” he said.
Of course, some of Carr’s books are now on video. The Terminal List was adapted into a #1 Amazon Prime Video series starring Chris Pratt and has been greenlit for a second season based on True Believer. And filming of a prequel origin story, The Terminal List: Dark Wolf starring Taylor Kitsch, will be completed soon.
On Writing & Life
With three young children, Carr’s life would already be busy. Add in more books in the works, extensive research for those books, filming taking place for the Amazon Prime series, and two podcasts, and he’s burning the candle at both ends.
“Right now, I'm shot out of a cannon every morning,” he said. “I have three kids, a dog, and a wife. So, life entails getting kids to school, getting them to different practices or whatever else after school, and all those sorts of things that every family deals with and juggles. So, it's complete chaos, but I'm trying to get more regimented.
“Up to now, the books have really been written between about 10 at night and 3 or 4 in the morning. On the last one I did way too many all-nighters.”
What would Carr’s perfect day look like if he wasn’t limited by his busy schedule?
“Oh, my goodness, that’s a great question,” Carr said. “I think it's with family at a cabin in the mountains, and it's finally putting my feet up in a hammock and reading a book that's not for research or my podcast.”
Getting It Right
One might think that being a former SEAL would give Carr enough insight to simply start writing. But things are often different than they might seem.
“I just thought at the outset, you know what, I'm going to get stuff right in these books,” he said. “I'm going to get the sniper weapon systems right. I was a sniper. And I'm not going to make basic mistakes on clip versus magazine, that kind of stuff.
“I knew that if I needed to find out what it's like to fly an F-16 I could find somebody who did that or if I need to find somebody who spent time on submarines or if I need to find a captain of a ship, I have access to them through my network of people that I know.”
In fact, Carr’s research for his books is very extensive. For his latest book, Red Sky Mourning, which was all about AI and quantum computing, he had to dig deep to ensure his details were correct.
“The last one also had a big section on submarines,” he said. “I knew nothing about submarines and had to get up to speed on them. So, a sub guy who spent 20 years, 30 years in the military on submarines, I want him to read that section of the book and know that I at least tried to get it right.
“And The Devil's Hand, that was all about bioweapons. Once again, I had no touch point with that in the military. So, in these different books, I need to go down the rabbit hole on some of these things.”
Jack Carr’s Nonfiction Debut—Targeted: Beirut
At the time of this writing, Carr’s first nonfiction book was set to be released in just a few weeks. For those readers on your Christmas list, Targeted: Beirut – The 1983 Marine Barracks Bombing and the Untold Origin Story of the War on Terror, is now available and goes into great detail on a very important event.
“I knew I would write nonfiction at some point,” he said. “And for me, the different seminal terrorist events are things that have not really been explored in the depth that they should have.
“What I didn't know at the outset was that this was also one of the most remarkable rescue stories in American history. The entire barracks and headquarters building had been destroyed by a truck bomb. And the survivors were digging their buddies out of the rubble with K-Bar knives, or if they could find a shovel or a crowbar, or with their bare hands. So, it really turned from a story about this attack into a story of hope and resilience.”
Fortunately for both nonfiction and James Carr lovers, the story of the Beirut Marine barracks bombing won’t be Carr’s final foray into that genre of writing. “There will be another one,” he said.
On Hunting & The Future
Another of Carr’s passions is hunting. While he didn’t take it up until somewhat later in life, he’s fully embraced hunting and tries to make it a family activity whenever possible.
“I was always drawn to it, but in about 2000 is when I went on my first deer hunt,” Carr said. “It was part of our sniper sustainment training and we got to go up to a really cool place in Washington State.
“It was just a natural thing and I was very lucky that my daughter wanted to start hunting very early, very naturally without me having to push it or anything.”
Carr believes that deep down, every human is a hunter, whether they want to admit it or not. And whether they want to embrace that is an individual choice.
“It's just something that's natural and part of life,” he said, “but one that if our ancestors weren’t good at it, we wouldn't be here today. So, I think there's something in all of us—that hunter, that warrior.”
So, what’s next for Jack Carr? That’s something he’s hardly had time to think about right now.
“Hopefully, I’ll be getting my writing schedule a little more solidified,” he said. “Other than that, it’s trying to be a better dad today than I was yesterday, a better husband today than I was yesterday, a better author today than I was yesterday. For me, it's all about constant improvement.”
For more book trailers, great weapons intel, and more, visit officialjackcarr.com.
Quick Hits: Jack Carr’s Favorite Things
Vehicle: Toyota Land Cruiser
Hunting Rifle: Custom Westley Richards double rifle
EDC Pistol: Sig P365-FUSE
AR-Style Rifle: Bravo Company
Food: Wild game tacos
Drink: Whiskey on the rocks
Guilty Pleasure: 80s TV shows