The Terminal List

[HaydenLane]

Didn’t read any comments so maybe I’ll be on an island here. The first book was pretty damn good, and they got progressively worse from there (but not so bad that I’ve stopped reading, I just finished the latest installment two weeks ago). Each one seems to be more of an advertisement for tactical/hunting gear companies than the last, and Carr treats the reader like an idiot, over-explaining and repeating shit constantly. He beats you over the head with his beliefs instead of crafting a story that makes you see things his way.

I had fairly high hopes for the series, thinking they would rein in some of the advertising and overt politics, and they kind of did, but the story just falls flat. That, and the dialogue just feels absurd at times.

 

[desertrat1979]

Should be a disclaimer….loosely based on the book by Jack Carr.

Overall I was disappointed. It’s entertaining but not true to the book. 8 episodes wasn’t enough to tell the story effectively.

So I watched a podcast interview that Jack Carr did with Chris Pratt. Something I noticed in nearly every advert, interview or reference to the Amazon show was that it is an "adaptation" of the book. I know this post has aged a bit, but I think its worth the perspective. One of the main reasons movies and shows are rarely like the books they're based on is there is simply just too much detail and information. Movies would be 7 or 8 hours long and a series would be 30 episodes when being based off a novel. Some changes they made were silly, but there was a reason behind it. Money probably being the chief decision maker.

The character is loosely based on the author, a SEAL sniper. He even admitted he's a "gear queer" from when he was on the teams. So it would be expected that a lot of his books are oriented in that direction. I thought the books were great and when you consider a no name author getting some decent actors to do an adaptation of his first novel on one of the largest streaming services... I mean yeah, it would have been nice if some other details were kept. But all in all, neither the books or the adaptation were disappointing. I look forward to True Believer and especially Savage Son on the screen.

 

[kellogg2185]

These are fiction novels for entertainment, not classic literature for scholars. As far as the gear goes, he promotes any bit of gear that he used and liked, or that his fellow SEALs now produce. Winkler tomahawks, HFB knives, Hooten Young whiskeys and cigars, and so on, have all had a skyrocket in sales due to him. Good on him for helping out his buddies, as well as other manufacturers of pieces of kit, vehicles, books, etc. that he promotes in his books, podcasts, annual gift guides, etc. just because he likes them. To each their own, but I have absolutely both the book series and the Amazon series.