Jon Crunch: Book Review: "Cry Havoc" By Jack Carr

By Jon Brooks

If there’s one thing Jack Carr understands, it is the pop cultural zeitgeist that defined a generation of boys born in the late 1960s and early 70s.

When I was in my preteen years, movies like Sylvester Stallone’s “Rambo: First Blood Part II,” Chuck Norris’ “Missing In Action,” and the Gene Hackman vehicle “Uncommon Valor” epitomized the type of macho, blood-and-guts cinema that stirred imaginations.

As I was reading the pages of Jack Carr’s latest novel “Cry Havoc,” I couldn’t help but see those influences at play.

Carr has become something of a phenomenon in the world of thriller novels. He has crafted eight bestselling novels (seven featuring his venerable protagonist James Reece).

But what sets Carr apart is the fact that his stories pay homage to the literary and cinematic heroes so many of us enjoyed in the 1970s and 80s.

Carr has made it no secret during his writing career that the TV show “Magnum, P.I.” is deeply influential to him.

I grew up watching “Magnum, P.I.” with my parents on Thursday nights. I own the series on DVD. And I purchased the digital version of the series in HD as I was reading Carr’s latest novel.

“Cry Havoc” takes place in 1968. Our protagonist is Gunner’s Mate First Class Tom Reece, a Navy SEAL who is working with the highly-classified MACV-SOG in Vietnam.

Tom Reece is the father of James Reece (the protagonist Carr introduced in his 2018 novel “The Terminal List” — read my review).

His full-name is Thomas Sullivan Reece (an obvious nod to Thomas Sullivan Magnum in “Magnum, P.I.”).

The MACV-SOG (which stands for “Military Assistance Command, Vietnam — Studies and Observations Group) conducted a number of “audacious operations” (as Carr puts it) during the Vietnam War (every MACV-SOG operator was wounded in 1968, and close to 50 percent were killed that year).

Reece’s work with this group provides the narrative’s focal point in “Cry Havoc.” In addition to our hero’s journey, there are a number of interesting subplots and characters that add global intrigue to the novel.

“Cry Havoc” is structured as a frame story, introducing our protagonist during a particularly thorny mission in Laos. We are left uncertain about the fate of Reece as the prologue concludes.

The narrative then shifts back in time to four months earlier. The real-life capture of the spy ship USS Pueblo by Communist forces off the coast of North Korea informs the core of the story, setting off a cloak-and-dagger game between Cold War powers.

Carr interweaves various plot threads to build tension and suspense as he lays out the events that put our hero in the Laotian “predicament” presented at the beginning of the novel — threads that lend depth to the Cold War-era intrigue that “Cry Havoc” is built on.

Overall, the structure works.

Tom Reece finds himself at the center of things, trying to stay alive as he navigates various interests jockeying for control and influence as the war between North and South Vietnam rages.

There are a number of interesting supporting characters introduced along the way.

One in particular character I want to highlight is Ella DuBois, the daughter of a wealthy rubber plantation owner named Gaston DuBois. The CIA tasks Reece with figuring out where the loyalties of father/daughter lie as it regards Vietnam — past, present, and future.

I wondered if Ella was partly inspired by the character Michelle Hue on “Magnum, P.I.” — Magnum’s former wife (and mother of his daughter Lily) who he wed during the Vietnam War. Michelle was played by actress Marta DuBois in various episodes during the show’s eight season run. If nothing else, I thought the name “Ella DuBois” might be a nod to the actress who played the character.

Regardless, Ella serves as a love interest for our protagonist. She is also a vessel representing the mixed loyalties in Indochina during the war. It is a relationship that seems right at first, but causes Reece to question the ethical boundaries of his personal and professional life.

Readers will find themselves treated to all sorts of little details that take you back to that era (and pop culture influences of the time).

For example, Carr describes a Fulton Recovery System during the course of events (a person with a harness is connected to a miniature blimp that is then grabbed by an airplane passing overhead for extraction).

It immediately took me back to the 1965 film “Thunderball” (the fourth entry in EON Productions James Bond series). The final scene in “Thunderball” employed a Fulton Recovery System. I know Carr is a connoisseur of the 007 movies, and I wonder if that might have been why the Fulton Recovery System got a nod in “Cry Havoc.”

Carr has discussed the extensive research he did for “Cry Havoc,” which delayed the book’s release date to the fall of 2025. He wanted to try and write a novel that felt authentic for the time — not a revisionist tale crafted with the benefit of hindsight. His efforts are fully on display as you turn the pages, giving readers what might be Carr’s most detailed thriller to date.

I’ve always had a soft spot for espionage novels centered around the Vietnam War. Tom Clancy’s 1993 novel “Without Remorse” is a personal favorite (I might need to revisit that novel again). I also loved Nelson DeMille’s 2002 novel “Up Country” (a novel that I have recommended to numerous readers over the years).

Likewise, “Cry Havoc” will hold a special place in this reader’s heart. I had been looking forward to its release, and pre-ordered one of Carr’s special “Shot Through” Edition autographed versions (for this one, he used a Colt clone of a Vietnam-era CAR-15 rifle — like the one Tom Reece carries in the novel).

Carr’s fascination with the Vietnam War and the cultural underpinnings of 1960s-era society is evident in “Cry Havoc.” His enthusiasm for the material helps set this novel apart from his previous thrillers.

I hope this isn’t the last time we see Tom Reece at the center of a Carr-penned novel. I’d love to see him in action again.

Highly recommended.