by Jack Carr
To Tuck Beckstoffer, I hope I did your wine justice. I’m probably drinking some as you read this.
To Chip King and Christopher Ellender at Gulfstream for the jet-centric portions of the novel.
To Tim Fallon, Doug Prichard, Dave Knesek, and all the instructors at FTW Ranch. Thank you for another amazing week behind the glass.
To D’Arcy Echols for making one of the most beautiful and accurate rifles on the planet.
To Nic de Kock and “Hubert” for the practical lessons on man-tracking in South Africa. Thank you for what you are doing to defend some of the last rhino on earth.
To Larry Vickers for your time in uniform, for always taking the time to answer my texts and emails about the minutiae of firearms, and for the 1911. It is the jewel of my collection.
To James Rupley for your work on the Vickers Guide series of books and for your careful review of this manuscript. For those who do not have the collection of Vickers Guides, they are beautifully photographed coffee table books that are a treasure trove of information. Check them out at vickersguide.com.
To Jason Morton at CZ for the incredible history of the Brno .375. I could do an entire book on that single rifle.
To Susan Hastings for the two-year loan of your books on Rhodesia, for inspiring a character, and for the use of your last name.
To John Devine for answering all my dog questions and for what you are doing at Rescue 22, training service and support dogs to help stem the tide of veteran suicide.
To John Dudley at Nock On Archery for taking a look at the archery sections of this book, for your friendship, and for being such a solid ambassador for those who pick up the bow.
To John Barklow for your years in the Navy, your time on Kodiak passing on your lessons to the next generation of SEALs and for what you do now at Sitka Gear.
To Jeff Rotherham for always picking up for one of my technical questions about homemade explosives. For the NSA who may be listening—it’s for informational purposes only.
To Dylan Murphy for your knife fighting expertise. Readers may not know how much work goes into the knife fighting chapters in these novels. Dylan gears up in the clothes and equipment the characters are using and choreographs the violence in a way that never fails to blow me away. An added benefit is that I get to add to my knife fighting skills. One day I hope to publish the videos.
To Katie Pavlich for always being there. If you have not read Katie’s books Fast and Furious and Assault & Flattery, pick them up today!
To Dan Gelston at L3Harris Technologies, you may have missed your calling as an editor. Thank you for your detailed review.
To Elias Kfoury for the use of your back story and for all you have done on the battlefield to bring our warriors home.
To SIG Sauer CEO Ron Cohen, CMO Tom Taylor, Jason Wright, Samantha Piatt, Teddy Novin, Dave Farrell, Olivia Gallivan, Aisling Meechan, Max Michel, Lena Miculek, Daniel Horner, Hana Bilodeau, and Mato—my former Command Master Chief at SEAL Team TWO—and the entire team at SIG, you are crushing it! Thank you for your support.
To Craig Flynn for a lifetime of friendship. You finally made it into a novel.
To Clint and Heidi Smith at Thunder Ranch, thank you for adopting me and my family all those years ago.
To Josh Waldron for your friendship, creativity, and vision.
To James Jarrett, who inspires everything I do.
To Mike Oberhelman, CEO of Blue Tide Marine, for your service to the nation at the highest levels of special operations and for your disaster relief efforts in response to hurricane Dorian. It was an honor to start our journey in special operations together.
To Evan Hafer, Mat Best, Jared Taylor, Logan Stark, Richard Ryan, and Tom Davin at Black Rifle Coffee for the example you set for all veterans on how to transition to the private sector and crush it!
To Jonathan Hart, founder of Sitka Gear, for changing an industry.
To everyone who supported this effort through modern-day word-of-mouth, spreading the word via social channels, radio shows, TV programs, and having me on your podcasts; you are the reason people know about the book. Thank you to Jocko Willink, Andy Stumpf at Cleared Hot, Chad Prather of The Chad Prather Show, Mickey Schuch and Carry Trainer at Higher Line, Marcus Torgerson at IKMF Krav Maga, Fred Burton at Stratfor, Trevor Thompson, Cole Kramer, Jeff Reid—aka Frozen Trident, Amy Robbins at Alexo Athletica, Mike Ritland at Mike Drop, Ken Hackathorn, Rob Bianchin at Cabot Guns, Joe Hahn at Integrated Tactical Training, Pat McNamara at TMACS, Eric Frohardt, Mike Sauers and Samantha Bonilla at Forged, Jeff Houston at Tac 7, Sean Haberberger at BluCore, Sean Evangelista at 30 Seconds Out, Kurt Schlichter at Townhall, Keith Walawender at Tomahawk Strategic Solutions, Chip Beaman, John Nores—author of Hidden War, Brent Gleeson at Taking Point Leadership, Tim Clement, Bill Rapier at Amtac Shooting, Monty LeClair at Centurion Arms, Joe Collins, Johnny Primo at Courses of Action, Ryan Michler at Order of Man, Clay Hergert at ATX Precision, Eddie Penny at Contingent Group, Jason Swarr and Ben Tirpak at Skillset, Herman Achterhuis at Achter Knives, Maddie Taylor, Ross Kaminsky at The Ross Kaminsky Show, Chris Osman at Rhuged, Gerber Gear Fan, Clint Emerson of 100 Deadly Skills, Eva Shockey, Tim Brent, Sergio Lopez, Eli Crane at Bottle Breacher, Cory Zillig at ZF Technical, Christian Schauf at Uncharted Supply Company, Mark Bollman at Ball and Buck, Brian Call at the Gritty Podcast, Jared Wodgen at Triumph Systems, Gavy Friedson at Israel Rescue, Rick Stewart at American Zealot Productions, Adam Janke at the Journal of Mountain Hunting, Joe and Charlotte Betar at the Houston Safari Club, and Jeff Crane and PJ Carleton at the Congressional Sportsman’s Foundation.
To Hoby Darling, Erik Snyder, and Mike Augustine, and the early morning workout crew—I’ll be back!
To authors Eric Bishop, Sean Cameron, Mike Houtz, and C. E. Albanese of The Crew Reviews Podcast, thank you for having me on as your inaugural guest.
To Lucky Ones Coffee for all you do for the community and for the example you set for the world.
To the entire cast and crew at SEAL Team CBS for taking such efforts to bring the human side of special operations to life. And, to Justin Wren and A. J. Buckley, along with Justin’s organization Fight for the Forgotten, for spearheading the effort to support Rayden Overbay. The outpouring of support for this young man with autism was nothing short of astounding. Thank you to David Boreanaz, Max Thieriot, Neil Brown Jr, Toni Trucks, Jess Paré, Judd Lormand, Tyler Grey, Justin Melnick, Dita the Hair Missile, Garrett Golden, Scott Fox, Mark Semos, and everyone involved with SEAL Team who stepped up to stand with Rayden. #StandWithRayden
To Tom Flanagan for all you’ve done in service to this great nation and for all you continue to do through Eagles & Angels.
To Kyle Lamb for your service at the tip of the spear and all you continue to do for freedom.
To Ironclad Media for creating three of what have to be the sweetest book trailer videos ever produced.
To Damien and Jennifer Patton, I am so excited for what’s ahead at Banjo. You won’t be able to remain in the shadows for much longer.
To James Yeager at Tactical Response for all you have done to make these novels such a success. I’ll never forget it.
To Biss for everything we’ve been through and for an exciting road ahead. Thank you for your support, brother.
To Dom Raso at Dynamis Alliance for leading by example and crushing everything you do. Thank you for all you have done for my family.
To Daniel Winkler and Karen Shook of Winkler Knives, thank you for your friendship and for all you do for those who continue to go forward and answer the call.
To Jon Dubin for all you did at the FBI, for including me in Pineapple Brothers Lanai, and for our future adventures!
To Lacey Biles, for your friendship.
To Michael Davidson, Adnan Kifayat, Natalie Alvarez, Ben Bosanac, and everyone at Gen Next for everything you are doing for future generations.
To Daysha McGrath for addicting me to Kill Cliff, which supported the late-night editing sessions on this n
ovel and for all you do at Tomahawk Charitable Solutions.
To Sean Parnell, Army veteran and author of Outlaw Platoon. Best of luck with your congressional run in Pennsylvania’s district 17!
To all the authors who have been so welcoming and supportive: Lee Child, Steve Berry, Brad Taylor, A. J. Tata, Marc Cameron, Simon Gervais, L. A. Chandler, Nick Petrie, Christine Carbo, Gregg Hurwitz, Mindy Mejia, Matt Coyle, Josh Hood, Matthew Betley, Desiree Holt, Tom Abrahams, Don Bentley, Rob Olive, and Kevin Maurer. It is an honor to be part of such a talented and supportive group.
To Kevin O’Malley, Frank LeCrone, Jimmy Klein, and Andrew Kline, you guys are simply the best.
To Brendan O’Malley for my first bottle of Leadslingers Whiskey.
To Andrew Arrabito and Kelsie Bieser at Half Face Blades for always going all in. Thank you.
To Johnny Sanchez at the Team Performance Institute—without your being the amazing person you are I shudder to think where I’d be today. Thank you, my friend.
To Chris Cox, David Lehman, and Phil Hoon at Capitol 6 Advisors, I could not be more excited to see this all-star team together and can’t wait to see what’s ahead!
To Graham Hill, for always being there, even in the lingerie section of the Hill Air Force Base Exchange book signing.
To Stacey Wenger for showing up with the most amazing book cakes ever made!
To Nick Seifert at Athlon Outdoors, at some point we should meet up in Park City.
To the Yale Club of New York City for providing me with a quiet library in which to work on my more frequent forays into the Manhattan jungle.
To my friends who have supported me both in the military and out: Billy and Meaghan Birdzell, Mike Camacho, Trig and Annette French, Christian Sommer, Jimmy Spithill, Terry Flynn, Scott Grimes, Jason Salata, Shahram Moosavi, Garry and Victoria Peters, Shane Reilly, Jim and Nancy Demetriades, Larry and Rhonda Sheakley, Martin and Kelly Katz, Razor and Sylvia Dobbs, Mike Atkinson, Mac Minard, Mike Port, Alec Wolf, George Kollitides, Bob Warden, Wally McLallen, and Nick Pontikes.
As always, to Rick and Esther Rosenfield for your love and support.
And to Nick and Tina Cousoulis for your wisdom and guidance.
To Chris Pratt and Jared Shaw for the exciting road ahead!
To Brock Bosson, Joel Kurtzberg, and the team at Cahill, Gordon & Reindell for the painful task of dealing with the Department of Defense during the review process. Thank you for running interference for me.
To Norm Brownstein, Steve Demby, and Mitch Langberg at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, thank you for your patience and expertise and for always having my back.
To Garrett Bray for your creative vision and for your patience with me on all things technical. You are truly the CMO of this venture and I feel so fortunate to be working with such a dear and trusted friend.
To Dr. Robert Bray at DISC Sports and Spine Center, for making my transition to the private sector possible, for the steady hand during my spine surgery, and for always being there for me and my family. We wouldn’t be where we are today without you and Tracey by our side.
To my agent, Alexandra Machinist at ICM, thank you for your energy, honesty, and expertise.
To Josie Freedman at ICM on the Hollywood front. Thank you for navigating the territory you know so well.
To Carolyn Reidy, president and CEO of Simon & Schuster, thank you for your encouragement and vote of confidence. I am humbled to be part of such an amazing team.
To Jon Karp, president and publisher of Simon & Schuster, for your leadership and drive.
To Libby McGuire, senior vice president and publisher of Atria Books, thank you for your continued support.
None of this would be possible without the best in the business doing what they do behind the scenes each and every day. To the incredible Simon & Schuster marketing team of Liz Perl, Sue Fleming, Sienna Farris, Saimah Haque, Kristin Fassler, Dana Trocker, and Milena Brown. To everyone in accounts and sales working tirelessly to get the books out into the wild: Gary Urda, Colin Shields, Chrissy Festa, Paula Amendolara, Janice Fryer, Lesley Collins, Gregory Hruska, and Lexi Dumas. I sincerely appreciate all your efforts. And to Chris Lynch, Tom Spain, and Sarah Lieberman at Simon & Schuster Audio. Not a day goes by where I don’t hear how much someone loves the audiobook. Thank you for all the time, energy, and effort you take to ensure that listeners are blown away!
To Emily Bestler, the best publisher and editor in the industry, for your friendship, mentorship, guidance, and for taking a chance on a complete unknown. You made this dream a reality. And, thank you to the entire team at Emily Bestler Books for all the work it takes to transform an idea into the book that launches into the world.
To Lara Jones, for keeping us all in line and for keeping me on schedule.
To David Brown, publicist extraordinaire, the man behind the wheel of the Atria Mystery Bus, and my partner in crime on getting the word out about the James Reece series. Thank you for your friendship and for the excitement you bring to everything you do!
To production editor Al Madocs, for your patience and understanding. in dealing with a thirty-day government review that stretched past two hundred. As they told us at Airborne school, “this is two days of training crammed into three weeks.”
To James Iacobelli, for the stunning cover. Thank you!
To Jen Long at Pocket Books for knocking it out of the park with the paperback editions of The Terminal List and True Believer. Can’t wait to see what you do with Savage Son.
To all the booksellers who have stocked my novels on your shelves, talked with readers about a new author and protagonist, and welcomed me through your doors to discuss the art of storytelling, I humbly thank you. There are few places I feel more at home than “a clean, well-lighted place” for books.
To my mother for instilling in me a lifelong love of books and reading, and to my dad for taking me to all the action movies in the eighties when I was probably too young for them.
And finally, to my beautiful wife, Faith, for your love and support, for keeping the coffee flowing through all the late nights and early mornings and for holding down the fort while I was locked away writing in the office or half a world away in the wilds of the Russian Far East or Sub-Saharan Africa, researching this novel. Your strength inspires me daily. Thank you for marrying me. And to our three kids who are growing up too fast, you are always in my thoughts.
More from this Series
The Terminal List
Book 1
True Believer
Book 2
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
JACK CARR is a former Navy SEAL who led special operations teams as a team leader, platoon commander, troop commander, and task unit commander. Over his twenty years in Naval Special Warfare, 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, to commanding a Special Operations Task Unit in the most Iranian-influenced section of southern Iraq throughout the tumultuous drawdown of US forces. Jack retired from active duty in 2016 and lives with his wife and three children in Park City, Utah. He is the author of The Terminal List and True Believer. Visit him at OfficialJackCarr.com and follow along on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook at @JackCarrUSA.
SimonandSchuster.com
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ALSO BY JACK CARR
True Believer
The Terminal List
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2020 by Jack Carr Enterprises, LLC
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Interior design by Wendy Blum
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Author photograph by Clay Goswick
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for.
ISBN 978-1-9821-2370-3
ISBN 978-1-9821-2372-7 (ebook)