The Terminal List

The Terminal List is a political and military thriller written by Jack Carr, a former Navy SEAL. The Navy SEALs are a special operations force in the US Navy, and they often take on special missions such as capturing and killing high-value targets or gathering intelligence through high-level espionage missions.

The Terminal List follows James Reece, a well-respected Navy SEAL and team leader, as he deals with the aftermath of his entire team dying in a surprise ambush in Afghanistan. Following the violent death of his wife and daughter and his brain tumor diagnosis, Reece begins to suspect that the ambush in Afghanistan was no accident and that a greater conspiracy is at play. The novel examines the lengths to which people will go for power, revenge, and justice. While The Terminal List is not autobiographical, Carr relied on his experience as a Navy SEAL to create the characters and situations that Reece faces.

The Terminal List was published in 2018 and was a New York Times bestseller. In 2022, the novel was adapted as a television show starring Chris Pratt as James. It is the first novel in an ongoing series that currently includes seven books.

This guide refers to the 2018 paperback edition of the novel.