True Believer: Meeting a Warrior Who Writes
Last week I had the pleasure of meeting Jack Carr at a local book signing for his new book, True Believer. Vero Beach Book Center brings in several authors every month, and I have had the fortune of attending several of those events, but this one was a particular treat. Jack Carr is a former Navy SEAL, but one would be hard pressed to guess this history from his personality and demeanor. I think many folks have this notion that SEALS are a bunch of cold masters of the RBF, scarred from their time overseas and unable to relate to the rest of us lowly humans. While I have only met a few men who have spent time in Special Forces, most of them have been quite different from this stereotype. Mr. Carr was warm, personable , relatable and even self-deprecating at times. His mastery of storytelling obviously started with the spoken word because as he addressed the audience, he gracefully shared the stories behind the story and the man who wrote it. Then he signed books and spoke with every single person who stayed for the signing. When I say he spoke with each person, I mean he had a conversation. He smiled. He asked questions. He thanked us for coming. I’ve never seen an author go to the lengths he did to show his appreciation to his readers. We writers can be an introverted lot, and that often shows during signings. If Mr. Carr is an introvert, he doesn’t show it. Should you have a chance to hear him speak or meet him, I highly recommend it.
As for his new book True Believer, it is a peek into the minds and hearts of the men who lay it all on the line for their country and its people. Mr. Carr has created a completely fictional main character built on the foundation of his own personal experiences and those of his comrades, and the result is a person with whom we empathize and a story that carries us along. Not only does the tale give us a hero we can root for, but it also prompts the thinking reader to ask questions with which he or she might not necessarily be comfortable. Revenge and redemption are never straight forward topics with easy answers.
Should you find yourself enjoying his latest book as I have, you might also want to read Mr. Carr’s first novel The Terminal List which tells us how James Reece ended up alone on a “procured” sailboat in the middle of the Atlantic as True Believer starts. It will be next on my own list, for sure.
You’re in luck, too, because I just so happened to ask Mr. Carr when I met him to sign a copy of not only his new book but also his first, and as a special treat for my birthday, I’m giving them away! To be in the running for these signed copies as well as a few surprise goodies, follow these instructions:
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