The Terminal List

“He looked down at his right boot and smiled as he saw the unmistakable evidence that his three-year-old daughter had decorated it with a Magic Marker. The other boot, covered with the blood of his dying teammates, quickly wiped the smile away.”

This moment shows how Reece is torn between two worlds: his happy domestic life and his bloody military life. Ultimately, the bloody boot that represents war can erase the memory of his family life. Additionally, it is his military life that permanently erases his family life, making the blood on his left shoe eventually spread metaphorically to his right shoe and family life as well.

“He did not buy in to government conspiracies, but he’d seen enough shady and unexplainable things go down overseas that he wasn’t naive enough to rule anything out, either.”

By saying that Reece does not believe in conspiracy theories, Carr lends validity to his later belief that there is a conspiracy theory. It gives his character a steadiness that portrays him as trustworthy.

“The young gate guard recognized the Land Cruiser immediately. Something about the guy driving it had always seemed special to him. In a world filled with egos, thousand-yard stares, and rank elitism, this officer gave off a different air, almost akin to a cool college professor.”

Carr constructs Reece as a conventionally “special” protagonist in this passage. Reece, much like his beloved Land Cruiser, stands out because he always goes against the expected norm. This is especially unusual in an institution as regimented and rule oriented as the navy; however, Reece is praised for his kindness and approachability while still excelling at his job. This indicates that Reece has a strong moral code.

“You couldn’t protect your men, you couldn’t protect your family, and it is high time you paid a price, not just for your failures but for the tarnished legacy your father left on the Teams.”

Admiral Pilsner wants to cause Reece to lash out, so he attacks him where he knows it will hurt. He questions his ability to be a good leader (emphasizing The Value of Loyalty, Friendship, and Brotherhood) and his ability to be a good father and son (highlighting Father-Child Bonds as a Motivational Force). Reece punches the admiral after he brings up his father, suggesting that he is most sensitive and protective over his father and his desire to make his father proud of him.

“The next world was calling, the one with his wife and daughter. He was certain he did not want to die in bed after an excruciating battle with a brain tumor. Knowing his death was imminent and assured made what he had to do all the more clear. There was nothing holding him back. In fact, death propelled him forward. He would die avenging his troop and family. It would be a good death: a warrior’s death.”

Reece accepts the appearance—that his tumor is terminal—without waiting to explore the reality—hearing what Dr. German discovers. Additionally, he describes dying avenging his troop and family as “a good death: a warrior’s death.” While his troop died a warrior’s death since they died in the middle of combat, Reece’s wording indicates that a true warrior’s death is operating for yourself instead of following incapable and corrupt leaders.

“He’d never shot a gun before but he’d seen it done a million times in movies. As a Middle Eastern-looking man, he stayed away from the local gun ranges so as not to arouse suspicion. America was a tolerant and diverse place, something that warriors of Islam could exploit. Still, it was better to be safe and keep one’s distance from flight school and gun ranges.”

Carr’s representation of Kamir underpins the novel’s right-wing political framework. The antagonists in the novel are powerful governmental figures who publicly support diversity and inclusion, such as Pilsner and Lorraine; they do it for political gain, which, as Carr suggests here, compromises domestic safety since “warriors of Islam could exploit” tolerance and diversity. The novel is ambivalent about Islamophobia, xenophobia, and racism; it both refutes them and also suggests that the stereotypes have merit.

“On the paper was a crayon drawing of three figures standing on green grass with a sun in the sky and a rainbow arcing downward. Above the heads of the three figures, in his wife’s handwriting, were ‘Daddy,’ ‘Mommy,’ and ‘Lucy.’ With the drawing in hand, Reece returned to the couch and flipped the paper over. He took a pencil from the coffee table and began carefully writing a list of names on the back.”

Lucy’s drawing is a prized possession that Reece can carry with him throughout his mission to ensure his family is always with him. He chooses to use this piece of valuable art to write his list, suggesting that the artwork inspires him to kill. The art represents what he will no longer have: a colorful and meaningful family life.

“In Judges, Gideon asks God how to choose his men for battle. The Lord told Gideon to take his men down to the river and drink. The men who flopped down on their bellies and drank like dogs were no good to him. Gideon watched as some of his men knelt down and drank with their heads watching the horizon, spear in hand. Though they were few, they were the men he needed. You’ve always been one of the few, James. Keep watching the horizon.”

Reece’s mother rarely speaks and rarely says more than a couple of sentences. However, the last time she speaks to her son, she references the Bible and reminds Reece of his warrior lineage. This suggests that Reece’s mission is divinely ordained, and his mother serves as a reminder of his purpose: to lead and avenge.

“‘Well, Josh, your wannabe jihadi asset couldn’t manage to kill him even when guided in with a drone to his exact location. That would have been perfect! It would have looked like some crazy ISIS type had been radicalized online and was trying to get laid by his seventy-five virgins.’

‘Um, seventy-two, sir,’ Saul Agnon said, speaking up from the backseat for the first time since leaving the gun club’s pro shop.

‘What was that, Saul?’ asked Horn without turning his head to look at his lieutenant.

‘I believe it’s seventy-two virgins.’

‘Whatever,’ Horn continued.”

By using racist and stereotypical language to describe Kamir and not caring about his mistakes about the Muslim religion, Horn reveals that he only cares about himself and maintaining his wealth and power. Saul tries to correct him, conveying that there is a part of Saul that wants to do the right thing but ultimately is too weak to carry through.

“Reece pondered the paradox: there was no hope for Marcus Boykin, just as there was no hope for James Reece.”

Once someone makes it onto his list, Reece is unwilling to change his mind about them. He applies this mindset to himself, accepting that he will die from cancer without ever following up with the doctor for a formal diagnosis. This shows how strong-willed and determined Reece is.

“Sometimes daddies need to fight the bad guys far away so we don’t have to do it here in our country. We do it to keep us free. You and your mom are a big part of it. The three of us are a team. We all make sacrifices to keep our country free.”

This is one of the last conversations Lucy and Reece have before she dies. Ironically, the majority of the fighting that ends up occurring in the novel happens domestically. Carr constructs Lucy and Lauren as soldiers since they pay the ultimate sacrifice—dying—to reveal a conspiracy that threatens many Americans’ freedom.

“Reece saw the bandage. It was not professionally done but Reece knew instantly what it was: the bandage of a gunshot wound. This was the man Lauren had wounded protecting their daughter.”

Reece and Lauren’s behavior parallels each other in this moment. Reece overpowers the man to kill him and avenge the deaths of Lauren and Lucy, while Lauren got a jolt of strength when she needed to protect Lucy.

“To Reece, killing was one of the most natural things one could do; it was hardwired into his DNA. If he were to think about it, Reece would conclude that the only reason he was alive today was that, throughout history, people in his lineage had been good at fighting to defend the tribe and at providing sustenance for their families. Killing was not so much about taking a life, it was about sustaining life: the lives of your countrymen, your unit, your family, yourself. That Reece did it exceptionally well did not bother him. Killing was what he did better than anything else.”

Describing killing as being in his DNA suggests that Reece was born a killer instead of made a killer by the events that happened in his life. This construction of Reece as a naturally exceptional fighter and defender further underscores his function as the “special” protagonist.

“It was not lost on Reece, or on Liz, that he was transforming into an insurgent. His methods of killing blending his skills as an operator with the lessons he had learned over his years in special operations studying terrorists, guerillas, subversives, and assassins. If he had spent time thinking about it, he would have realized that his physical transformation matched the psychological one taking place within. He had raided the armory of his enemy and adopted clothes to blend into the populace, his long hair and beard making him look more like a logger from Oregon than a military man.”

Reece is undergoing a spiritual and moral transformation: from a clean-cut warrior defending his country to a borderline homeland terrorist attacking parts of his country. This transformation is physically manifested in a new physical appearance that resembles the men he hunted for decades.

“She flew like a man but drank like a girl. Reece always thought her to be an odd paradox of tomboy and girly-girl and he was constantly surprised by things that she said or did that made her seem too much of either one or the other.”

Liz is one of Reece’s closest friends, and he struggles to see her as a complex person. She is an incredible fighter, but he cannot understand how she can also have feminine traits. Ultimately, Liz’s ability to navigate various spaces and use her feminine wiles to her advantage allows her to help Reece succeed in his mission.

“While the indigenous tribes and the modern terrorist group did it to strike fear into the souls of those that opposed them, Reece did it as the visceral act of a man overcome by rage.

Let those whom he hunted lose sleep wondering if they were to meet a similar fate.”

After killing Howard, Reece considers why he killed him in such a brutal way. Reece does not kill him to send a message; he kills him out of pure rage. This shows that the war scholar is beginning to move away from studied practice and into instinctive rage killing.

“None of the commuters seem to notice or care that a man had climbed onto the Metrorail platform from the rails below. They were all too engrossed in their smartphones. A young boy did notice, but when he tried to tell his mother that a man had fallen from the sky and landed on the tracks, she nodded at him while continuing her online shopping spree.”

Reece often is critical of the role that smartphones and technology play in everyday life and surveillance. Additionally, only a child who doesn’t have a phone notices, indicating that escaping technology allows one to see the world fully.

“Fuck the constitution!”

Lorraine yells this when trying to convince the navy to send SEALs after Reece on American soil. While she screams this in anger, it sums up her political belief; she is going to do what she wants, regardless of the rules or historical precedents. Ironically, this aligns her with Reece, suggesting that his protagonism clashes with her antagonism due to their shared willingness to step out of line.

“Mental health and PTSD are serious issues that we as a nation must address. I call on our scientific community to dedicate their resources to addressing these problems. We need to declare war, not on members of our community who are of a certain religion, but on post-traumatic stress disorder.”

Most of what Lorraine says in public can be viewed as ironic, and her press conference with the American people is no exception. The whole reason all of these murders have occurred is because of a test drug on PTSD; however, she uses this opportunity to create public sympathy for the cause, allowing her to make the drug more palatable and marketable to people later. This emphasizes The Deceptive Nature of Appearances.

“It dawned on her that from elements that usually brought happiness and joy, Christmas and swimming pools, Reece was brewing up a mixture of death.”

Reece is a juxtaposition: a ruthless killer and strong moral advocate. As he makes his bomb to kill Hartley, he creates a scene that represents the juxtaposition he feels: joy and death.

“She had enough trouble tracking down her husband. That Reece was able to do it with apparent ease made her even angrier. She noted the calm, composed demeanor of the man next to her. He was beginning to annoy her with how, even in their current predicament, he still maintained an element of style and poise.”

This quote highlights both Lorraine’s and Horn’s true characters. Despite her political power, Lorraine is completely undone by her husband’s infidelity and Reece’s ability to exploit that. Additionally, Horn can be completely focused and calm in the midst of a dangerous situation, indicating that he is more focused on being in power than on being alive.

“I still can’t believe you had those guys in a textbook ambush and let them live. Getting soft, buddy.”

Ben accuses Reece of being soft or weak by not killing the entire SEAL team sent to kill him in New Hampshire. However, not killing the men shows that Reece still has a moral code—unlike his foil, Ben—and is not just a ruthless killer.

“He looked at the list without a hint of remorse. It was done.”

As Reece marks off the last name on his list, he realizes that the list is terminal. This killing spree was just a temporary thing, and he can return to living a more normal life. Additionally, because he was following his moral compass, he feels no remorse for what he’s done.