Jon Crunch: July 2022

By Jon Brooks

“This is Antoine Fuqua meets Alfred Hitchcock...” — Jack Carr recounting showrunner David DiGilio’s description of Amazon Prime Video’s “The Terminal List”

In early 2018, I started seeing mention on Twitter of a new thriller novel titled “The Terminal List” by an author named Jack Carr (a former Navy SEAL).

Many of the people I interact with on Twitter were looking forward to Carr’s debut novel. It sounded like something I would be interested in reading. I’ve long been a fan of the thriller genre, and the premise seemed intriguing.

So I pre-ordered a copy and set my sights on reviewing it.

When you start a blog — or any sort of creative pursuit — your main hope is that people will enjoy it. Throughout 363 posts (as of this writing), I'm primarily fueled by feedback and interest from readers.

When I reviewed Carr's “The Terminal List,” I never imagined it would become my most viewed blog post. But as the years have progressed — and as Carr has built a legion of loyal followers — the review steadily rose and has become the top performing post on my blog (read my review).

In my review, I described the novel as “a story that stings the throat and clears the sinuses — bold, brutal, and unwavering.”

Carr does a terrific job marketing his books — and his love of pop culture is evident. I am the same age as the author, and grew up with many of the same influences.

My mom and dad took me to the theater to see most of the macho military action movies of that era. I fondly remember seeing movies like “Rambo: First Blood Part II,” “Commando,” “The Delta Force,” and “Invasion U.S.A.,” with my parents at our local multiplexes.

I was also a fan of the TV series “Magnum, P.I.” as a kid, and remember watching it with my parents on Thursday nights (keen-eyed readers will find several references to the show in Carr’s work).

My love of mystery and thriller novels began at a young age. I remember loving “The Hardy Boys” series during elementary school, reading WWII-related children’s books like Bernard Glemser’s “Radar Commandos,” and later developed a passion for "grown up thrillers" when a high school literature teacher gave our class the assignment of reading a Tom Clancy or Robert Ludlum novel (I chose Clancy’s “Patriot Games”).

When news started percolating about a filmed adaptation of “The Terminal List,” I was curious to see how Hollywood would interpret Carr's well-drawn thriller.

And, when it was announced that Chris Pratt would star in a series adaptation of the novel on Amazon Prime, my initial curiosity transformed into pure excitement. A multi-episode series would allow the filmmakers to dive into the story and explore the characters in a more significant manner.

“The Terminal List” chronicles the exploits of Lieutenant Commander James Reece (Pratt) here on the home front in Coronando, California, after his SEAL team (operating out of Incirlik Air Base in Turkey) conducts an ill-fated mission in Syria (Operation Odin’s Sword) to eliminate a chemical weapons specialist known as “Chemical Kahani.”

In the aftermath, Reece questions his recollection of the particulars that transpired during the covert mission, and starts to question his own judgment as the leader of Alpha Team.

Moreover, when a surviving team member mysteriously dies stateside (of a suspected suicide), Reece believes the cause of death isn’t a cut-and-dry case.

Is Reece paranoid, or is he on the right track?

He worries that Kahani is targeting his men, but soon learns there is a greater conspiracy afoot — a conspiracy that puts our protagonist, his wife Lauren (Riley Keough), and daughter Lucy (Arlo Mertz) in extreme danger.

With the help of intrepid reporter Katie Buranek (Constance Wu), Reece starts to put the pieces together.

Things are not as they seem, and Reece soon finds himself in the center of a maelstrom that reaches the highest corridors of power.

Somewhere, somehow, someone is going to pay.

The eight-episode series manages to imbue the spirit of Carr’s novel, and Pratt (a surprisingly versatile actor) becomes the embodiment of Carr’s protagonist.

As is the case with many page-to-screen adaptations, there are a number of differences between the book and the movie — far too many to highlight in this review.

In general, I was fine with the changes made to the story and its various settings. Producer/director Antoine Fuqua (“Olympus Has Fallen,” “The Equalizer”) and showrunner David DiGilio (along with his writing team, who worked on much of the production via Zoom due to the pandemic) do a yeoman’s job navigating these intricacies, and create a compelling narrative for the screen.

One interesting stylistic choice was the show’s moody production design.

“The Terminal List” is a dark revenge tale. The production employed a dim, dreary, and desaturated color palette (and lighting scheme) to hammer that point home.

Characters are often lit in shadow, giving things a “noirish” feel. Some viewers might question the aesthetic. Taken in total, I think the effect largely worked.

There are also moments in the story where Reece questions his sanity — stylized flashback/hallucination/dream sequences are utilized and allow for additional nuggets in Reece’s backstory, giving the character more texture in the process.

For me, the highlight episode of the season was the sixth, titled “Transience.”

I won’t go into any specifics, but I found it to be an entertaining chapter. I’ll simply say that it had sequences that reminded me of the 1982 film “First Blood.”

(By the way, if you haven’t listened to Jack Carr's podcast interview with “First Blood” scribe David Morrell, it is well worth your time!)

There are also various “easter eggs” from the novels strewn throughout the eight episodes of “The Terminal List.”

For example, @Marc_Harris3 on Twitter pointed out a shot in the series where a bottle of honey and a small box of half-and-half sits in front of Reece and his coffee mug:

Small @TerminalListPV detail I haven't seen anybody talk about yet but is that Honey is see with his Coffee. 👀👀

What do you think @ThrillerPodcast pic.twitter.com/8PFyVJ3uTf
— Marc Harris (@Marc_Harris3) July 6, 2022

For those who haven’t read the books, Reece (and Jack Carr) prefers coffee with a little honey and half-and-half milk.

Another detail from this book is the inclusion of Reece’s 1988 Toyota FJ62 Land Cruiser. In this video, Carr (a Land Cruiser aficionado) gives us a tour of the actual vehicle used in the series:

Small details like that illustrate the care the filmmakers put into the series.

In addition to Pratt — who gives his most nuanced performance to date — there are a number of notable performances in “The Terminal List.”

In particular, some of the smaller roles stood out to me.

I really enjoyed Tyner Rushing as pilot and former Army Aviation Branch Warrant Officer Liz Riley. While there wasn’t much meat to the role, the filmmakers did a solid job giving the character some nice morsels as they outlined her background and friendship with Reece.

Former Navy SEAL Jared Shaw plays Special Warfare Operator First Class Ernest “Boozer” Vickers, a member of Reece’s team. Again, it wasn’t a big role, but the character is memorable.

Shaw (who also serves as a technical advisor on the show) received a pre-release copy of “The Terminal List” back in 2017, and gave it to Chris Pratt (who optioned it soon thereafter).

I also enjoyed seeing Jai Courtney in action as antagonist Steve Horn, head of Captstone Industries. He’s familiar with this territory, and I’ve enjoyed the actor’s work since his roles in “Jack Reacher” and “A Good Day to Die Hard.”

There are also some small cameos of note in the series (including an entertaining appearance by Carr himself in the third episode). I enjoyed seeing former Navy SEAL Remi Adeleke make a brief appearance in “The Terminal List” as well.

I first became familiar with Adeleke when Bridget ordered me one of his KEJO Wear t-shirts — a design we saw Neil Brown Jr. wearing on an episode of the CBS series “SEAL Team”:

Overall, I had a good time watching Amazon’s adaptation of “The Terminal List.” The episodes move at a brisk pace, and Pratt’s performance elevates the narrative.

As a longtime fan of this brand of thriller, I was heartened to see the care and craftsmanship that was put into the eight-episode season.

There are so many wonderful print properties waiting to be developed. I hope the success of “The Terminal List” paves the way for more of these stories to make it to the screen.

“The Terminal List” sets a new standard for thriller adaptations. Even if you haven't yet read Carr’s novels, I think you’ll find a lot to like in this series.

If you want to learn more about “The Terminal List” on Amazon Prime Video, visit the show’s official website here.

To learn more about author Jack Carr and his novels, visit his website at www.officialjackcarr.com.