Jack Carr has quickly become one of my favorite authors. So when I won an advanced copy of Savage Son through Goodreads, I felt extremely privileged and lucky. Both The Terminal List and True Believer were in my Top 5 books from 2018 and 2019 respectively, so Savage Son had a lot to live up to. And I'm happy to report it not only lived up to Jack's prior books, but it blew them away! It's magnificent!
As always, I don't talk about too many specifics in this review in order to avoid giving anything away. But here are several reasons why I love this book:
1. The continued development of James Reece. The Terminal List is a balls to the wall thriller from start to end. We get to meet Reece under the darkest of circumstances and cheer him on as he gets revenge. In True Believer, we learn more about what makes Reece tick as he strives for redemption and I believe this book is his true origin story. Then we get to Savage Son. Reece is trying to figure out his life and all kind of hell breaks loose...again. He's still a kick-ass former SEAL who knows his way around weapons and tactics. But you also get to see his evolving feelings towards those around him as he tries to determine what he wants to do next. He's been through great trauma in the past, so to see his emotional healing take place, even as it gets interrupted, is really great character development.
2. The bad guys. There are 2 main bad guys - Oliver Grey and Aleksandr Zharkov - who play important but different roles in the book. They're both solid bad guys for different reasons. Oliver is the cerebral one who plays a big role in Reece's past and knows he's in Reece's cross hairs so he wants to direct a preemptive strike. Aleksandr is a sick mofo SVR director/son of a mob boss who feels Reece will finally provide a worthy opponent to his "game." Why do I call him a sick mofo? You have to read to find out but you won't be disappointed. Don't think I've ever read a book with a bad guy who does what Aleksandr does for fun.
3. The action. There's plenty of action in Savage Son, but there are two main "battle" scenes - one in Montana and one on a Russian island in the Bering Sea - that are just fantastic. They're intense and memorable for different reasons. I'll leave it at that so I don't give anything away.
4. The Hastings family. We already knew that Raife is a bad ass and a good dude. But his family is equally as impressive and I love them! Not just for what they continue to do for Reece, but because they're awesome people who can handle themselves in a crisis and are always there for the ones they care about. I want to be friends with them.
5. Reece's diversity of kills. I love how Reece can kill his enemies in different ways. And the ways he eliminates his targets in Savage Son are amazing. I definitely cheered out loud and fist pumped a few times as the unsavory characters met their demise.
6. Reece's journey at the end. I won't go into details, but when you think Reece has done what needs to be done on Medny Island, there's more. He goes on an epic 6-month journey through harsh terrain to finish the job and get info that hopefully sets up the next book. It's balls-y and insane and awesome.
I can go on and on extolling the virtues of this book, but I'll sum it up with this. Jack Carr has the goods. I said it after The Terminal List. I said it again after True Believer. But it's never been more evident than after reading Savage Son. It's his best book to date and I expect we'll continue to be seeing amazing things from Jack going forward. He's the next big thing in the thriller genre and everyone needs to get on board ASAP. It's like being able to say you were there from the beginning with Tom Clancy.
Lastly, I've heard Jack mention on several occasions that this is a book he's wanted to write since the 6th grade. To have this story in your mind for all that time, get it published, and absolutely nail it within an inch of perfection must be an amazing feeling. Which is awesome because as good as this books is, Jack Carr is an even better human. It's awesome to see great things happen to great people.
Bravo Jack!
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