I started reading True Believer immediately after finishing The Terminal List, so much was the impact and enjoyment I’d had with the latter. I anticipated more of the same with True Believer. I was not disappointed. I’d heard many people say their favourite book of the series was True Believer and I, too, found myself enjoying it even more than The Terminal List.

Jack Carr’s True Believer is a relentless exploration of what happens when a man-hunting machine is stripped of his mission and left to face the silence of his own soul. Following the scorched-earth vengeance of his previous exploits, James Reece becomes a ghost.

The trip by Reece aboard the Bitter Harvest, across the Atlantic and around the Cape of Good Hope, to Mozambique, was the first of two perfect parts to this book. It enables the reader to see him alone, without external events impacting or driving his behaviour. He’s just a man carrying a terminal diagnosis and the crushing weight of a murdered family. It’s an opportunity for Reece to reconstitute himself in a way that just isn’t possible anywhere else. And the fact that he isn’t an accomplished sailor makes the whole episode relatable. This is not just a political thriller. It’s a novel of redemption that asks if a man who has become the very insurgent he once fought can ever learn to live again.

The second perfect part to this book is the time he then spends in Mozambique. Carr takes Reece from the isolating gray swells of the ocean to the vibrant, lethal wilds of Mozambique. In the Niassa Game Reserve, Reece attempts to trade the hunt for men for the protection of wildlife, working as an “appy” for his old friend’s uncle, Rich Hastings. This is the second part of his healing process, reconstituting himself further in the presence of others but still in relative isolation. The lack of contact with anything outside of the game reserve is the perfect respite for his character to heal. And, for the reader to build a deeper relationship with Reece, beyond relating to his prior quest for vengeance.

This section of the book is deeply atmospheric. The heat of the bush is a physical presence, and the descriptions of antipoaching operations are raw and unflinching. It’s good to see Reece find himself again, in the company of good men, the camp fire (Africa Channel One), and the quiet moral certainty of protecting the game from poachers. This comes to a head when we see Reece demonstrate greater depths moral character, risking his own compromise in order to save the life of one of his guys. Of course, this event delivers him back into action with the CIA.

These two parts of the book could, in all honesty, be a book all of their own. The settings and the journey for Reece just feel like coming home, a natural and needed respite from everything he has been through. I commend Jack Carr for having done all of that, because the temptation must have been strong to try to throw Reece immediately into a fifty page dash at the start of the second book. Carr has the smarts to focus on character development, which pays off in spades later in the book.

Everything that follows was awesome action, suspense, and more.

While Reece seeks peace in Africa, a new level of terror is unleashed in Europe. The “Puppet Master,” a former GRU colonel named Vasili Andrenov, orchestrates a series of devastating attacks. From the horrific VBIED and machine-gun slaughter at a Christmas market in London to the high-tech assassination of a NATO commander in Brussels, the scale of the threat is massive. The action is described with the technical authority only a former operator could provide.

Andrenov, the main antagonist, is great both in his character and plot to return Russia to historical greatness. The way Carr weaves together links to Reece’s prior work with units in Iraq, to a traitor in the CIA, and even links to Reece’s father, is masterful. While complex, I was not lost at any moment.

The authenticity of this book is top notch. There isn’t a moment where the illusion is broken and at every turn I learned something. Small details feel essential and not overcrowding. Carr has a way of writing that makes me feel I need to take notes on everything as I read. Even the smallest morsel of information feels necessary and vital.

The “True Believer” of the title refers to an unidentified U.S. Army Special Forces instructor’s quote about an enemy who knows only the cause and wins or dies. This concept haunts the book.

Read my deep dive: The Real True Believers: Inside the Shadow War of the Selous Scouts

The Agency eventually tracks Reece to Mozambique and offers him a deal he cannot refuse: a presidential pardon for him and his friends in exchange for finding an old Iraqi contact and dismantling the network responsible for the European carnage.

When it comes to action, Carr never disappoints. Carr has an ability to make every scene hit hard. He does it through detail. Details that can only come from real world, lived, experience. There are brutal scenes, which add an extra layer of psychological terror reading this book. Carr is able to put the reader in a place of true discomfort. The torture scene of Landry with the piano wire, total chef’s kiss for torture!

The final act is a global hunt that culminates in a chaotic, oxygen-depriving battle in the catacombs of Odessa. Reece must navigate a labyrinth of ancient tunnels to stop a chemical weapon attack, proving that while he may have sought peace, the world still needs his particular brand of violence. Carr avoids the usual clichés of the genre. He delivers a story that is as much about the psychological cost of hypervigilance as it is about the mechanics of a gunfight. It is a gritty, detailed, and deeply engaging journey through the heart of modern conflict.

All in all, this is a character novel. A novel about James Reece. The transition from The Terminal List to True Believer marks a significant shift toward a narrative centered on redemption and character reconstruction. While the first novel focuses on a direct path of vengeance, this sequel explores the psyche of a protagonist who must find a new identity after his original mission is complete.

But even after we see Reece through this journey and begin to reintegrate himself with the CIA, there is still more to the depth of his character. James Reece continues to demonstrate true depth of wisdom, brotherhood, compassion, and a steady moral compass. Because of this, moments like the loss of Freddy Strain, Strain’s funeral, and what Reece does for Strain’s widow, are real tear jerker moments. You can’t help but read these moments through the moral and emotional lens of Reece.

I’m glad I’ve been able to read this book ahead of watching the TV series that is due this year. And also glad that I’m late to this series, as it means I have many more books to get through before I end up waiting for the next to be published.