The brain tumor that plagued Jame Reece in both The Terminal List and True Believer is now gone, but his troubles are far from over. Now, still recovering from a successful surgery, Reece is resting high in the Montana mountains, living off the grid while trying to put his life back together.
Last time around, just as Reece was learning to live again, he was forced to return to a life of killing. Here, he just wants some balance. Still reeling from the loss of his wife and daughter, not to mention his entire unit, the former Navy SEAL turned CIA operative is hesitant to get back into bed with the agency he just ran a mission for. Instead, with the help of investigative journalist Katie Buranek, James is searching—for answers, for meaning, and for direction.
And all the while, someone is searching for him.
A traitorous CIA officer has teamed up with the Russia mafia leader, and together, they share a common enemy—Reece. But when an ambush goes sideways, they learn the hard way that Reece is still an apex predator, capable of putting down bad guys in a hurry. Unfortunately for James, things are less straightforward. CIA turncoat and Russia mob boss aside, there’s another assassin who has his sights set on Reece, but rather than run an ambush mission, he lures the former frogman into a sick and twisted game of human hunting with the goal of cutting Reece down in the wild.
Hellbent on taking the fight to the bad guys, Reece assembles a team of operators, and together, they go hunting. But with a number of deadly surprises waiting around each and every corner, Reece’s current mission proves to be one of the hardest of his life, and it will test him in more ways than he can imagine . . .
Whereas most authors in the genre stick to a type of “branded book” after tasting success, Carr tossed out the rulebook and has forged his own path. Each of his first three books are all very different. Make no mistake, they’re all very much part of a series and star Jame Reece in the leading role, but each title has its own theme. The Terminal List was all about revenge, while True Believer dealt with the idea of redemption, and what that might look for in a guy like Reece. Savage Son, though, is just that—savage—and deals with the darkness and evil man is capable of.
While Raife Hastings and other familiar faces return, Reece remains the main draw, and Carr lets his hero carry the story both in terms of screentime and how the plot is driven forward. Without giving anything away, the villain in this book is by far Carr’s best antagonist to date, and while the opening for The Terminal List remains as riveting as any opening in recent memory, the first chapter of Savage Son—visceral, primal, and emotionally super-charged—perfectly sets the tone for what is still to come: a gritty, relentless tale of hunter vs. hunter and good vs. evil.
This is one of the rare thrillers that can be read over and over again . . . Think Richard Connell’s The Most Dangerous Game meets David Morrell’s First Blood—Jack Carr’s Savage Son cements his status as one of the premier action writers on the planet and a worthy heir to the throne currently held by Brad Thor.
Book Details
Author: Jack Carr
Series: James Reece #3
Pages: 432 (Hardcover)
ISBN: 982123702
Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Release Date: April 14, 2020
Real Book Spy Rating: 9.95/10
Praised as “One of the hardest working, most thoughtful, and fairest reviewers out there” by #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline, Ryan Steck has “quickly established himself as the authority on mysteries and thrillers” (Author A.J. Tata). Steck also works full-time as a freelance editor and pens a monthly thriller column for CrimeReads. For more information, be sure to follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He currently lives in Southwest Michigan with his wife and their six children.