WOW. SPOILER ALERT: If you haven't yet, be sure to listen to Ray Porter read the Prologue + Chapters 1 & 2 from Only the Dead! This sneak preview is available on Jack Carr's Danger Close podcast - click here to listen - then come back here to tune in to Chris & Mike break it down!
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00:00:15
Hey guys. I'm Chris and Mike and welcome
00:00:19
back to this week's No Limits. That's other podcast.
00:00:23
How you doing today? Mike Chris.
00:00:26
Let's cut the chitchat because I just Just want to talk about the
00:00:33
first, three. Chapters of only the dead.
00:00:36
I mean, forgive me, man. But I just, I want to jump right
00:00:38
into this. I'm ready to go.
00:00:42
Yeah, dude. It was very good when you text
00:00:45
me, that picture of the podcast that came out like a.
00:00:50
I think I think we should we need to talk about this because,
00:00:52
oh boy, is it good? And I listened to on the way to
00:00:55
work and you did not disappoint at all, actually went back.
00:00:59
And since we have the are going back and reread it just because
00:01:03
I think we're gonna get into it a little bit of comparison about
00:01:05
the differences with audio books.
00:01:07
I don't know, maybe some of our readers, don't appreciate it,
00:01:10
but a lot of times when we're doing these things, We're very
00:01:13
busy lives. So the easiest way to Crunch the
00:01:15
tape as they say, is to actually listen to them.
00:01:20
I have to recommend, you know, if you're not audiobook person,
00:01:23
try it out for this one, because it in, or just go listen to the
00:01:28
podcast because you're going to get a sneak peek of the other
00:01:30
you bucket. It hits, so differently.
00:01:35
Yeah, when we got the ark, I was over the moon and it took me a
00:01:39
couple of days. I really didn't have time to sit
00:01:41
down, open it and luckily in that window right before I
00:01:44
cracked, it open the danger-close podcast comes up on
00:01:48
my feed. And so guys, what Chris is
00:01:50
referring to is Jack cars, killer podcast, you already know
00:01:54
about it. I'm sure but one of his recent
00:01:57
episodes is about an hour, the first hour of only the dead and
00:02:03
you're spot on. Chris, my jaw hit the floor.
00:02:08
I was walking listening to this thing and the prologue starts
00:02:12
out like this is really cool. I'm interested and we'll get
00:02:15
into what it's about. But again, like most audio
00:02:18
previews, it's a, it's a Side Story, it's new characters.
00:02:24
Obviously, they're going to be brought into the fold somehow,
00:02:27
and I really, really love how this is set in 1980.
00:02:32
I believe and Tom Reiss, makes an appearance.
00:02:34
Ernst. And dude, there's so much in
00:02:37
that prologue that I love, but I'm walking along listening to
00:02:40
this thing and like, oh, really cool.
00:02:42
I'll listen to this hour, I'll go home.
00:02:44
I'll read the book. I read those chapters in the
00:02:46
book and then chapter 1 happens. I literally was in a trance
00:02:54
listening to Ray Porter, recite this dialogue.
00:02:59
If you can call it that because it's basically just Reese and
00:03:03
he's in his own head in prison or in a holding cell, we know
00:03:08
it's in Colorado, and this comes off the heels of in the blood,
00:03:12
like a major, major Cliffhanger, he's arrested at the cabin with
00:03:18
Katie. He gives her the Aki.
00:03:20
They were going to have a 2 bottle of wine night.
00:03:23
We all know what that was going to be like and then boom, the
00:03:26
cops come Bustin down his door on the Hastings.
00:03:29
Ranch take him into custody. And chapter 1.
00:03:33
We get to see that the consequences of that the
00:03:37
outcomes of that and not only to see it but to live.
00:03:41
It were in rhesus head this entire time and Ray Porter
00:03:44
reading that dialogue of, I guess the devil.
00:03:47
Or there's this voice that's in his head is just thrilling.
00:03:52
An absolute thrill listening to this audio book.
00:03:55
Excerpt Yeah I think that's his inner demons or you know the
00:04:03
what's the id ego super-ego? You know like the the side of
00:04:08
your brain that wants to give up versus the other side of his
00:04:11
brain that is forcing him to stay in the fight you know win
00:04:14
the battle win the fight. Yeah and like it's different
00:04:18
reading it you know it this is going to continue to that's the
00:04:22
only spell I give but it like the I had I continued on and
00:04:26
we're obviously we're To stay with, with Reese for a little
00:04:28
bit. And it's when you hear it in
00:04:31
audiobook form and a great Porter, so good at doing these
00:04:35
different voices and really get inside your head.
00:04:38
And he just goes a little bit darker.
00:04:40
Like you said, you want to feel like it's, you know, your inner
00:04:42
devil when it's like the bad, The Bad Cop, the bad Angel,
00:04:46
right? You have the bad angel in the
00:04:47
good? Angel on your shoulder?
00:04:48
Yep. Yeah.
00:04:50
And it's, it's super interesting.
00:04:52
What, what happens you know, like we were left on a big, big
00:04:55
cliffhanger And the last book and 21, obviously we know, most
00:05:02
prologues are not going to be our main cast but we get a
00:05:06
pretty big name drop in the fact that this is Reese's father and
00:05:10
it has something to do with, you know, what was going on.
00:05:14
Obviously we go in the past, we meet up with this other
00:05:18
politician who was part of You know, some sort of clandestine
00:05:22
operation with Reese's father. We don't know yet and if that,
00:05:25
that prologue culminates with an assassination and not only just
00:05:28
to get that that like, you know, big chunk like I text you like
00:05:34
there are a lot of meat on these bones to chew But Then followed
00:05:37
up with both a Russia chapter and inside Reese's head chapter,
00:05:43
you know, very good. I ha my God.
00:05:47
I don't even know where to begin.
00:05:50
Everything you just said. I mean for the people we have
00:05:53
not finished the entire book yet.
00:05:54
We are not going to discuss anything except for the prologue
00:05:59
chapter 1 and chapter 2. And that's what's been released
00:06:03
on the danger-close podcast about an hour of Ray Porter.
00:06:06
So, keep listening, we're going to dig into what Chris just went
00:06:09
over. We're going to tease that out
00:06:11
and take it apart, but we're not going to spoil anything later in
00:06:14
the book. I haven't even gotten Gone any
00:06:16
further than that. So yeah, let's let's just stick
00:06:19
with that. But, oh my God, you're entirely
00:06:22
right? You know how some of the other
00:06:24
previews in the series we've been reading, which the
00:06:27
marketing team does a great job, you know, we just got The
00:06:31
Deadfall preview and that was just the prologue and same thing
00:06:35
with Brad Thor's, previous books, Rising tiger.
00:06:38
We just got the prologue. And again, they do not have
00:06:42
Scott Horvath, they in no way even really reference got
00:06:45
Harvest, all they do is set the stage for where the conflict
00:06:49
will be, you know, in India with Rising tiger Ukraine, with
00:06:53
Deadfall and kind of the same with the Metro app series.
00:06:56
You know, the last few we've gotten these excerpts and
00:07:00
thankfully, we have gotten George Goodell for those.
00:07:02
So that's always a fun part, hearing George gadelle with the
00:07:05
Mitch rap previews. But again I feel like we don't
00:07:09
get the scene. Scenes, where it's Mitch, it's
00:07:11
Irene, you know, Scott Coleman. They're kind of holding back a
00:07:16
little, their reserving, those chapters for when the book comes
00:07:21
out, you know, they're really wedding your whistle.
00:07:24
Well, this is wetting, my whistle, Ennis different way,
00:07:26
because you're right, we're hitting Tom Reiss.
00:07:29
We're being reminded of the key in the lock box.
00:07:32
Then boom. We're heading James Reese were
00:07:34
being reminded of his arrest and there's even a hint about Alice.
00:07:38
Is she Friend or Foe because Right?
00:07:41
In the blood Alice was huge and all the social media buzz.
00:07:45
After that book was good day. Alice, you know, Alice is
00:07:49
watching. Alice is listening, and now you
00:07:52
got James Reese wondering what role did she play in.
00:07:56
All this, I did say in my Limerick back when we covered in
00:08:00
the blood is Alice, Friend or Foe and right here we get the
00:08:04
voice saying to Reese, did Alice betray, you know, she warned me,
00:08:08
maybe she did both. Is she Friend or Foe?
00:08:11
Like the voice in rhesus head is toying with him the same way.
00:08:15
We, the reader were tied with wondering who Alice is and what
00:08:20
side will she take? And is this a good technology
00:08:23
and you're right? That's not even the, that's not
00:08:26
even the whole story because a huge part of James Reese is
00:08:30
Russia is, you know, the FSB, the svr and all these people.
00:08:35
He's basically hunted down and the ones responsible for
00:08:39
Everything he's been through essentially.
00:08:41
And so we get this really neat seen on the Black Sea, with this
00:08:45
Fortress Castle, which is built for the president and the head
00:08:50
of, I think it's the main character whose head were in
00:08:53
dash cough. I think is the FSB head and now
00:08:57
with gromyko, who was killed in Gorky Park.
00:09:02
Was that just last book or was that, that was a little bit
00:09:04
earlier, was it not know that was last book?
00:09:06
That was last book? And so now we're wondering The
00:09:08
Fallout of That in the Russian intelligence Services because
00:09:13
the deputy of and I believe he was the head of not the KGB, the
00:09:18
svr. And so now you got the deputy
00:09:21
for the svr. Their kind of meeting this back
00:09:23
room deal and there's already a power dynamic between the two of
00:09:26
them, man. We're getting Tom Reiss in the
00:09:29
1980s James Reese. At the end of, in the blood.
00:09:33
And the Russian perspective at the end of in the blood, that's
00:09:36
a bold move to release all of that but it's so genius and it
00:09:41
paid off. I mean, I came back from that
00:09:44
walk, I read the scene. Ray Porter, blew me away and
00:09:47
like does this hit as hard? If I go sit down and read it on
00:09:52
the page, and it did it did, but it was something special about
00:09:56
listening to that audio book read by Ray Porter.
00:09:59
I can't describe it. It was Haunting Chris.
00:10:02
It was just haunting and like, reading it on the page was
00:10:04
exciting and thrilling, but it wasn't that level of Haunting
00:10:08
with how Ray Porter delivered it right?
00:10:11
He's perfect. No, yeah, II completely agree.
00:10:14
You know, this had me wondering, obviously they just wanted to
00:10:19
they could be cut it in an hour and maybe that's why they picked
00:10:22
these these three excerpts to release.
00:10:24
But, all right, gives you like a sense of one where all three of
00:10:28
the threads that were at the end of the book, like going, Like
00:10:31
what? You know, to entice you and they
00:10:34
only dropped it a week before the book came out.
00:10:36
It's not like they dropped like the, the Dead Fall preview was
00:10:39
dropped, you know, last month and it comes out in July.
00:10:43
So got some time through this is a little bit closer to the
00:10:47
release but it might think you were the one saying that you've
00:10:51
actually looked into the beginnings of other books and
00:10:54
how like they start out? Is this one compare?
00:10:58
So yes, I didn't. I want to be a prisoner of the
00:11:02
moment because I texted you the second, I read this, like, yo,
00:11:06
we got a record right away and I was about to Proclaim.
00:11:10
This is my favorite start to a James Reese novel.
00:11:15
This is some of Jack's best writing.
00:11:18
This is his best opening chapter, or opening two
00:11:21
chapters. I was just ready to declare that
00:11:25
and I want to stand by it because it's so good, but I said
00:11:29
to check myself, So let me pull off the shelf, all the other
00:11:33
Jack car books and I went through them, one by one for
00:11:36
prologue and chapter one. And unfortunately it's like a
00:11:41
five way tie for my favorite opening of a book.
00:11:44
It's just II don't know what to think anymore so I'm like okay
00:11:49
nothing can be as good as this was because this was awesome.
00:11:53
And then I open Terminal list and you've got the sniper shot
00:11:57
in the prologue on Marcus Boykin and Wyoming, I'm like, oh damn
00:12:00
it, that was pretty good. And then like all right well
00:12:03
chapter 1. This has got to be a better
00:12:04
chapter one than that chapter one and then I open it.
00:12:07
It's the ambush in Afghanistan. On Reese and his troop.
00:12:11
I'm like, ha crap, right? These iconic scenes, right?
00:12:15
Like those two are iconic. Jack car scenes and boom?
00:12:20
They're the first to in terminal list.
00:12:23
I'm like, okay. Well, True Believer, it's a
00:12:25
Christmas attack. The prologue is the suicide
00:12:29
bombings in the center of London.
00:12:31
I like that one, that too. Was a really awesome scene.
00:12:34
I think. I like this one better and the
00:12:37
shot in Wyoming. I'm Marcus Boykin better but
00:12:39
like man, that's up there as a runner-up for really awesome
00:12:42
prologue scene, I will what about chapter one, and it's
00:12:45
Reese on the boat, the bitter Harvest, Right?
00:12:49
And I remember saying the exact same thing.
00:12:51
I loved the And again not really dialogue but I guess a monologue
00:12:56
we're in Risa said we are coping with what he's coping with.
00:13:01
He's lost at sea thinking, he's going to die, trying to find a
00:13:04
new lease on life. It's like men.
00:13:07
I can remember True Believer putting me in his shoes, I felt
00:13:11
every swell on that boat. I felt that, you know, cakiness
00:13:14
in his beard in the scabs on his skin and like, okay, so that
00:13:18
scene was also a really good chapter one, dude, I'm only
00:13:21
getting started. What do you remember about
00:13:24
Savage Sun opening because man it's classic it opens up with
00:13:28
the hunting rape sister, right? Yep.
00:13:31
Animated crazy. Crazy opening right crazy scene.
00:13:36
Like okay so that's a really good prologue.
00:13:38
I have that's up there and you know tied for first place.
00:13:42
And then chapter one was kind of cool as well, their own Khumba
00:13:44
Ranch and I think it's the first time we're really introduced to
00:13:49
Rafe because all True Believer. Rave Hastings is hinted at and
00:13:52
talked about right, right? But it's chapter 1 of savage Sun
00:13:57
where they're chilling there chillin on the ranch and goofing
00:14:00
off and recalling, memories. Some like men.
00:14:02
That's pretty memorable scene, right there and it just kept
00:14:06
going the devil's hand, right? I'll wrap it up, but It
00:14:09
basically was 9/11 like, boom. That's super cool.
00:14:14
That was a power. I was a powerful prologue.
00:14:16
We're not only seeing the terrorists.
00:14:18
Who is this lady? Who has basically been tricked
00:14:23
into planting the box cutters on the plane?
00:14:26
We're also with Alec Christensen though, the suit would be
00:14:29
president and his perspective losing his fiance on that day.
00:14:34
Chapter one of the devil's hand. The CIA processing plant the
00:14:39
facility where he's being interrogated and he's being
00:14:42
interviewed. I remember really liking how
00:14:46
he's answering all the questions and he's kind of perturbed and
00:14:49
he's mouthing off that's when we get like those random like lines
00:14:52
of like deception. You know?
00:14:55
Like deception indicated. Yeah.
00:14:56
Deception indicated. Yeah.
00:14:59
I mean that's almost every single time the first chapter.
00:15:05
Is something so crucial to understanding, who James Reese
00:15:10
is the ambush in Afghanistan aboard.
00:15:13
The bitter Harvest him hanging with, Rafe on Khumba Ranch, him
00:15:17
being interrogated to join the CIA like every opening chapter.
00:15:23
It's a Hallmark of Jack car. It's a car as an he opens the
00:15:27
book with Reese who Reese is what stage of his journey.
00:15:33
He's on what demons? Facing internal or external were
00:15:37
dropped right into the action in chapter one with with Reese and
00:15:43
I think that's a genius move and same thing happens in in the
00:15:46
blood the prologue is Alia. The his former colleague from
00:15:50
Assad being blown out of the sky into Ouagadougou.
00:15:53
Burkina Faso Nazar Keaton had the RPG and then re frese and
00:15:59
this time Katie as well are Chillin at the ranch, he's going
00:16:02
to train her, you know, rayful It was going to train Katie but
00:16:06
they get the news about the plane and Africa.
00:16:08
Andre Andre spacely has to leave so every single time so we see
00:16:12
Reese with a family, right? With Katie knowing that, that's
00:16:15
going to be a huge part of in the blood, it opens with him
00:16:18
having to leave Katie. So how cool is that?
00:16:22
That this is a Hallmark of Jack car that he opens his books with
00:16:27
such memorable delectable moments.
00:16:30
On the journey with James Reese. No, I mean, it's a sign of a,
00:16:33
you know, good other. I think it's one of the things
00:16:36
we like and respect about about Jack as an author, as a thriller
00:16:40
writer. You know, some books, take time
00:16:44
to sort of get find their way. And I think by sort of
00:16:48
establishing this routine going somewhere off plot and then
00:16:55
immediately chapter 1, we get a scene with our main character.
00:16:58
That's nice because I remember sometimes In.
00:17:01
I want to savor them a trap. It's like three or four chapters
00:17:05
before we meet match. Yes.
00:17:06
You know it's like setting up all three of your plot lines.
00:17:11
You know. The best part about this series
00:17:13
really is the main character James race.
00:17:15
Yeah. Absolutely.
00:17:16
You can't you can't deny that like that is the best part of
00:17:20
the series. So yeah, I mean give us more of
00:17:23
it and the timeline right? Like it's his life I was so
00:17:28
happy. We opened up Up right there with
00:17:31
the Fallout, from the conclusion of in the blood it.
00:17:35
You could say this about a lot of series it reads, as if it's
00:17:37
the protagonist and main character's life story, it just
00:17:41
got, you know, every book in the series is just another chapter
00:17:44
of their story. But this one by far, I think is
00:17:48
the best I've seen where we are res.
00:17:52
We are living right? As the audience, we are living
00:17:55
Reese's life. We are seeing every twist and
00:17:57
turn And I'm so glad there hasn't been this opportunity.
00:18:01
Maybe a little bit within the blood, adding Alia this
00:18:04
character from Assad and they have some backstory, but we
00:18:07
never heard of her before, but it worked out, you know, that
00:18:10
was smooth over when we heard about that bar scene, right
00:18:12
where they were in that bar together and then the explosion
00:18:16
went off. We filled in the gaps enough but
00:18:19
other than that I feel like everything just flows
00:18:21
seamlessly. If you put all these books
00:18:24
together into a what a Tome, I think it would just read so
00:18:27
smoothly it would all be One giant story.
00:18:30
And speaking of that, this is the longest one.
00:18:33
I definitely check that I looked up the page count.
00:18:36
This one is longer than devil's hand and in the blood.
00:18:39
So we got a lot to look forward to here.
00:18:42
Yeah, I saw that the audiobook I was looking at the pre-release
00:18:47
you could buy. It is like almost 16 hours.
00:18:50
Like that is a, it was a long book.
00:18:53
We're reaching consent to kill. You know, this is is interesting
00:18:58
because we've I've seen on track a lot of these authors, authors
00:19:02
are cutting down their novels, both of event, Kyle's, and
00:19:06
Brad's latest have been shorter, you know, but I think we noted
00:19:13
with Devil's hands that it was sort of bucking the trend.
00:19:15
It was, it was not on the shorter, you know, not not
00:19:19
necessarily being cut and I feel like Jack doesn't try to play
00:19:25
the What do you want to call it? Rhythm game that I've been
00:19:31
feeling with some of these other authors.
00:19:33
Even with you know, some like Don like Don's first novel which
00:19:36
came out in 2020. I can sense the need of like
00:19:41
this propulsion, you know, like we're going to start out slow
00:19:44
and then I mean I guess most books ultimately try to do that
00:19:47
especially in the genre but I've been feeling it more, maybe it's
00:19:51
because I'm looking for it and when you know, some of the other
00:19:54
series we've read even with like Chris howdy and like that's I
00:19:58
guess it's Quintessential screenwriting, right?
00:20:02
You know you're going to get your third act has to be this,
00:20:06
you know you're like an engine chug chug chug chug chug and
00:20:08
then we get the full steam going ahead and and then culminates
00:20:12
with the climax. But I just feel like this is
00:20:16
this one's way. More way.
00:20:17
More natural, you know? Yes, we could sit with it, you
00:20:21
know, it's It's taking its time. so, there's normally like a Kind
00:20:29
of a long author's note. Yes.
00:20:31
Before we kind of got a short one this time, right?
00:20:35
It was shorter. I think it was and they also
00:20:38
didn't release it on the podcast.
00:20:41
That was not part of the danger, close preview that we got. and I
00:20:47
wonder about that, I I feel like maybe they wanted it to be the
00:20:52
story where the author knows you're definitely Jack's kind of
00:20:56
exposition or explanation as the author.
00:20:58
I think they wanted this preview to just be the story but it was
00:21:02
still really, really good. I like I think we could take all
00:21:06
of Jack's authors notes from each of these compile them into
00:21:10
some sort of handbook. Give each one A different title
00:21:14
and you know, there's your table of contents.
00:21:15
You know, the one word title that Has driven each of these
00:21:19
books like terminal list being Vengeance.
00:21:22
You know, True Believer, being Redemption, Savage Sun being
00:21:27
hunted. In the hunter.
00:21:29
I feel like you can compile these authors notes together.
00:21:31
Each one just have, it has a different theme and a different
00:21:35
message, which is so pertinent so relevant to what we need to
00:21:38
hear. And this one didn't disappoint,
00:21:42
so can from the first three chapters.
00:21:44
Can you gather? What his one word or one
00:21:46
sentence theme is so has. He said it or has?
00:21:50
He said it, I don't know, but I think this part of the author's
00:21:55
note is very telling, so the preface, by the way guys, you
00:21:58
haven't gotten the book yet so we're not going to give away the
00:22:01
author's note because it has not yet been published or released.
00:22:05
But just this one quote I think really sums up where Jack's
00:22:09
headed Or at least what? What?
00:22:11
Mental space season? Quote the novel you hold in your
00:22:16
hands is one of Truth and Consequences how much of what
00:22:20
follows is fiction and how much is truth?
00:22:23
You will know when you turn the final page, enjoy the journey
00:22:27
time is ticking. Truth, boom, consequences time.
00:22:35
I think there's a lot of a lot of different themes that you
00:22:39
could pull from just that short little explanation.
00:22:45
Yeah. This idea of time he that was
00:22:48
that came up a lot in the last novel, right?
00:22:50
Or the past two with his father's watch and as for like
00:22:53
his father, like in his head saying saying the word time time
00:22:56
over again. Yeah.
00:22:58
And then this this truth and consequences, you know what, we
00:23:03
get since we have really broken down the chapters besides the
00:23:06
sub like what the plot, what the overarching plot is.
00:23:09
But in the third chapter, with the Russia, we kind of got a
00:23:12
whole Exposition about whether or not It's what Brad or what
00:23:18
Jack ultimately thinks of our current state of affairs.
00:23:20
But, you know, is just giving a breakdown in the eyes of, you
00:23:25
know, let's say a Russian operative about, what sort of
00:23:28
Miss information with sort of campaign, they're they're using
00:23:32
with the Ukrainian war, with social media, with whatever, you
00:23:39
know. It's interesting.
00:23:41
I think a blends the line of faction you know Brad's Everett
00:23:44
word, putting in facts with some fiction.
00:23:49
You know, obviously, being told from the perspective of the head
00:23:51
of the svms, be right? I always get those is f of his.
00:23:55
If it's the head of the CI, like the Russian CIA versus the other
00:23:59
guy who died was the head of the Russian internal versus
00:24:04
external. Yeah, I think our do.
00:24:06
I have that wrong? I think it might have been
00:24:08
reversed. I think FSB is internal and svr
00:24:13
is Farhan and till I got that right here because in chapter 3
00:24:19
where that's all going down, Yeah you're right your it svr is
00:24:25
a svr is internationally International so that's like FSB
00:24:29
would be closer to our FBI and svr because you are CIA probably
00:24:36
you know, probably nowhere near close but that's how we can as
00:24:41
ends in the Lehman's in layman's terms.
00:24:43
Yes term. Yeah.
00:24:46
I guess I think about faction, though. breath, or obviously, is
00:24:53
The king of that and he invented the term but he definitely blurs
00:24:58
the lines a little bit more. He definitely played in that
00:25:03
Fantastical zone of that sandbox a bit more where I think Jack
00:25:09
and again, just based on his experiences background and
00:25:12
actually his whole platform, right?
00:25:14
Like the celebrity that he has become I think is very much due
00:25:19
to his being a student of War, an observer of the present, a
00:25:24
commenter, a commentator, right, whether he's on Joe Rogan or
00:25:29
he's making the news circuit or he's on Fox, or he's publishing
00:25:33
an article, I think he Leans a little bit, the other way, with
00:25:38
his faction, where his faction is a bit more grounded, in
00:25:42
reality. And at the same time, you're
00:25:47
right, you said we've seen Thor and others kind of condensed
00:25:51
that part of their works. For example, Rising tiger.
00:25:54
You could have given me a ton more on China and India all the
00:26:00
political maneuvering because, you know, Brad's a master of
00:26:03
that. But something in the final draft
00:26:05
of that book, limited that talk that Exposition and I would have
00:26:10
loved to see it, you know, I wanted more of that.
00:26:14
Same thing, I would say even with black ice black, ice was
00:26:17
definitely hitting on some awesome stuff with arctic
00:26:20
navigation and see the routes, and oil and pipelines and
00:26:24
whatnot. But it kind of held back or I
00:26:28
shouldn't say hello back maybe was trimmed down, you know, trim
00:26:31
some of the fat beefing up and going a little too heavy into
00:26:35
that geopolitics detail and Nuance, but I want that and I
00:26:41
think Jack gives us that and that's why his books are getting
00:26:46
so long. And that's why I think, you
00:26:48
know, Simon and Schuster is okay with his books.
00:26:50
Getting that long. It's let Jackie Jack.
00:26:53
Let him go. Read the landscape of where As
00:26:56
at and its place in the world and inform the readers of it.
00:26:59
Unless I'm going to make a story that's fictional and try to make
00:27:04
some connections to America today.
00:27:06
He's like, no, I'm gonna imagine James Reese having to deal with
00:27:09
the problems of America today and how he read the landscape
00:27:13
and responds as our operators. Really would not in a
00:27:16
hypothetical. There's some you know made up
00:27:19
virus that Hannibal had three thousand years or 2 years
00:27:23
ago or whatever and uncovered it and and it's just too much or
00:27:27
there are these hieroglyphs and let's read these hieroglyphs or
00:27:30
we found some magical box that Thomas Jefferson made and this
00:27:32
magical box. Doesn't write those books did
00:27:35
come out like, 15 and 19 years ago.
00:27:37
So, let's give let's give Brad a little bit of a little bit of a
00:27:40
break. I'll put this way.
00:27:41
I don't think Jack car has got bit by the Nicolas Cage.
00:27:46
National Treasure bug, as much as Brad, it was bit by the
00:27:50
National Treasure bug. Well, I think like, you know,
00:27:54
he's trying to you could tell like this is maybe I least.
00:27:57
What, what I'm gauging, this is kind of like his culmination.
00:28:00
Not definitely not his last book but the culmination of maybe
00:28:04
what he's trying to tell with, you know, his father, Nazar
00:28:09
Catan, Freddy strain, you know, I feel like we're going to get
00:28:13
answers here and ultimately if I don't get answers in this 560
00:28:17
page book, I'm probably going to be upset You know, unless you
00:28:22
really take me on a nice ride, like, you know, I I feel I just
00:28:26
feel like we're heading towards something and then maybe, you
00:28:29
know, whatever he resets, whatever the next story is, who
00:28:34
knows he's got, plenty of time to explore, dude, take James
00:28:37
Reese, down different channels, whatever.
00:28:40
I think, once you get up to the 2122 book level, you're given,
00:28:45
you have to sort of get creative, right?
00:28:47
Yeah and there are the arcs right there.
00:28:49
There is an arc of Storytelling within that 20 plus book
00:28:54
framework that kind of stands alone.
00:28:56
You know, we've called it early, Brad early, Vince, and the late,
00:28:59
Brad late, Vince, you know, I think we're going to end up
00:29:03
seeing that with Jack car, eventually, right?
00:29:05
It's going to take a few more books, but then we'll be able to
00:29:08
group them, you know, like clearly terminal list to Savage
00:29:11
sun is one thing. Devil's Hand kind of turns the
00:29:15
page a little bit. And now it seems like Only The
00:29:19
Dead is kind of connecting all of it.
00:29:20
But yeah, I think we're going to see these clusters of these
00:29:23
books emerge, eventually. And I feel like you're right.
00:29:27
We need a little conclusion at some point on a couple of those
00:29:30
particularly the lockbox the key Tom Reiss is list, right?
00:29:36
We know he had a list of people in the Russian government and
00:29:41
and may be wider than that. That Reese has been trying to
00:29:44
find that James. Has been trying to find.
00:29:46
I think you're right. Conclusion to some of that
00:29:50
putting a bow on a couple of things like that.
00:29:53
Might be really good. So I have a question for you.
00:29:57
Who is this Walt? And this Martha character?
00:30:02
Yeah, well, they're dead. I'll put it that way there.
00:30:04
Yeah. You know, but they're very dead.
00:30:08
But obviously, there's some sort of indication about what was
00:30:10
going on. What was happening.
00:30:12
Hello ma'am. But I like that Speakeasy where
00:30:14
the wife follows him to the Speakeasy.
00:30:17
Really cool. It's called Chumley's in New
00:30:21
York City. I think it's on the upper west
00:30:23
side after wall takes a couple of different taxis and some
00:30:28
surveillance detection routes. He knows, he's clean goes into
00:30:32
the Speakeasy meeting with Tom Reiss and is when his wife busts
00:30:36
in, It's just the way she describes and reacts to this,
00:30:40
man. As hardened, man, with this
00:30:42
penetrating stare Jack writes quote, she took stock of the man
00:30:47
across the table. He wasn't smiling.
00:30:50
The eyes weren't so much cold as they were perceptive and alert
00:30:54
penetrating. She had not seen eyes like that
00:30:57
before. Tom Reiss, like we're doing it.
00:31:01
We are doing this. Love that description of Tom
00:31:05
Reiss. That was cool.
00:31:07
And so, they brought up this whole idea of the pike report,
00:31:10
right? Which is like a secret backdoor
00:31:14
investigation into our own same time as the church committee and
00:31:18
the church hearing, right? So I want to know, what, you
00:31:21
know what's going on? Obviously these guys met in
00:31:24
Vietnam, both soldiers, You know, one's a politician one's a
00:31:30
spook, you know, what are they talking about?
00:31:32
And in, who killed him, did did Time resort order their disaster
00:31:37
Nation? Or is it the Russians?
00:31:39
Yeah, right. Is it the same people who went
00:31:41
after Tom Reiss are going after his Network?
00:31:44
Did they make a list, right? Like we're gonna get Tom Reiss
00:31:46
and all these other people we know he's collaborating with I
00:31:50
really love that when they think it's the Harbormaster and they
00:31:52
just docked in Newport and I think he's going to give a
00:31:55
speech at some Society. Probably.
00:31:57
Out of a campaign because he they were looking for running,
00:32:01
you know, for the White House he and his wife were really trying
00:32:04
to build an Empire. And almost, I love the language
00:32:07
around. Camelot there were all these,
00:32:11
all these hints that they were going to usher in the next era
00:32:14
of a Kennedy. You know, which rightfully or
00:32:17
wrongfully. There is this Nostalgia around
00:32:20
those those early days of Kennedy's presidency of that
00:32:23
this High Society, right and This Arthurian legend that was
00:32:28
were Kamala comes from, you know, of his perfect society and
00:32:31
the way that was referenced so many times, I'm like, they
00:32:34
really think they're gonna get us out of this mess, you know,
00:32:38
the 1980s, the, the Communist, the Pinko, the Red Scare.
00:32:42
You know, we're kind of tearing each other apart all this
00:32:46
division in the social Fabric and this guy could have been the
00:32:48
one as a politician, a working-class guy, a lobsterman
00:32:52
write a fisherman but he marries into money so he's got Dusit
00:32:57
sold money you know backing him but he's also got the
00:32:59
working-class veteran Persona that he can campaign on.
00:33:04
It's almost like a match made in heaven.
00:33:06
A you know it's a it's a Jack and Jackie you know, kind of
00:33:10
pairing and then boom, they're dead.
00:33:12
Simply for one reason. They knew Tom Reiss.
00:33:17
Exactly is death. Follow Reese.
00:33:19
As the voice says, in chapter one, you know you have become
00:33:22
death. I think I think the voice says
00:33:24
to James. Let's see.
00:33:25
Where is it? He literally stopped him says
00:33:29
Death. Becomes you Reese War it's in
00:33:31
your blood. You became more.
00:33:34
Yeah. And how many other people were
00:33:37
led to suffer because of Tom race and his whatever he was up
00:33:42
to, you know but how many people did he save?
00:33:45
True. True.
00:33:47
We know that Katie Katie's family was involved with Tom
00:33:51
race, riot and Sandra save them got her father, the .ya father
00:33:55
out. But that's the question, right?
00:33:58
That's what the voice is telling, James you are death,
00:34:01
death follows, you death will get Katie and he says, no, I'll
00:34:03
save her. And the voice says, like you
00:34:05
saved your your wife and child like, oh damn, right.
00:34:10
I was you know, you are your own worst critic and in that moment
00:34:15
it's very harsh the way he's being on himself.
00:34:20
Yo, that that I think the reason that chapter sat with me and
00:34:25
still sits with me is I think it's almost the closest I've
00:34:29
come to being able to empathize because I can't in my regular
00:34:33
life, but through fiction that chapter almost allow me to
00:34:40
empathize with, you know, people who face whether it's
00:34:42
schizophrenia or some other disorder or even Suicidal,
00:34:47
Tendencies, or depression, or severe anxiety.
00:34:51
I felt that I literally felt it in my bones because of how close
00:34:57
I identify with James Reese and and these novels and I've never
00:35:01
had that experience. I never have been able to put
00:35:04
myself in the shoes and say, what if I was somebody had a
00:35:07
voice telling me I'm worthless and could contemplate suicide or
00:35:11
I should end it all, or I'm not worth it.
00:35:12
Like, I don't know what that be like to be haunted by those
00:35:15
demons yet reading this book. I like I said, I was on a walk
00:35:21
in the neighborhood, I was in a trance, I read that chapter, I
00:35:24
took my earbuds out, I don't even know how long I walked for
00:35:28
just not listening to not thinking about anything in my
00:35:32
mind. I'm like, is that voice?
00:35:34
What people really hear, you know, like if you are driven to
00:35:39
Madness to do something drastic? That voice was really
00:35:43
compelling, really powerful, and really making arguments based on
00:35:48
fact, Reese, you weren't there for your children.
00:35:51
Because of the things you've done, many people paid the
00:35:54
price. You got out of it, they didn't.
00:35:57
It's your fault like, holy shit. How do you even stand up to
00:36:02
that? And someone as strong as Reese
00:36:06
has the courage he comes out of it saying.
00:36:08
No, he tells that voice. No, he says, at the end of the
00:36:11
chapter, there will be a reckoning But us, we're not as
00:36:17
strong as Reese, you know, the common person going through,
00:36:20
this wouldn't have the resolve to fight back and be able to
00:36:24
fight off that voice Reese. Could we think we don't know yet
00:36:28
but but rescan what about the average Common, Man.
00:36:31
And I don't know if I've ever had fiction.
00:36:33
Touch me so much on a level that I've never experienced but kind
00:36:37
of put me in the shoes of somebody who might be going
00:36:39
through what a character is going through. yeah no it's
00:36:45
power from it and I think you know ultimately that's what
00:36:49
they're wanting to achieve right with this tactic of putting him
00:36:53
in this dark room and you kind of get the sense of You know
00:36:59
what, deprivation is and how it can lead people to go to go to
00:37:04
Madness, the way the Jag is able to put it on the page, put put
00:37:09
put pen to word, word to paper pen paper.
00:37:14
There we go. You know, is pretty special.
00:37:18
I think that that chapter is it's hard, you know.
00:37:24
And like we said it's when you listen to it even it's a little
00:37:28
Different. So I can't, I really hope.
00:37:33
I have high hopes for this book, man, as I have said, say it
00:37:36
started out really good. I'm super excited.
00:37:40
Yeah. All right, so let's let's let's
00:37:43
let's make a couple predictions. Oh, that's dangerous territory
00:37:48
right there, but okay. How long do you think raises in
00:37:53
present? I don't think long partially at
00:38:01
a necessity like we need a story. but also partially that
00:38:06
first chapter was enough for me, like, what needed to be said,
00:38:10
was said the consequences of him being in this cell were laid
00:38:15
bare and I think I'm ready for whatever gets him out and gets
00:38:20
him moving. I don't know, but I think is
00:38:23
either somebody on the outside. I don't think he likes grapes
00:38:27
his way out, or MacGyver's his way out or anything, but I do
00:38:30
think somebody unexpectedly has the means to get him out and
00:38:35
does. So whether it's with the US
00:38:37
government's permission, probably not or more likely,
00:38:40
someone who knows, he was framed and it's all fake and maybe
00:38:43
Alice and somebody or tip somebody.
00:38:45
I was going to I was going to. Ask is, do you think it's
00:38:48
Allison? Coming up, I he's the one who
00:38:50
warned him, right? She's like, they, they had
00:38:53
turned off all their phones and she was able to like, figure out
00:38:56
a way to like, you know, get get him a signal, I guess to follow
00:39:00
up on that. Do you think Alice's Friend or
00:39:03
Foe? Dude, that's the question, man.
00:39:06
I think I think she's gonna be both. but I think we're going to
00:39:14
have to play with as Jack said in that author's note
00:39:18
consequences, truth and consequences I think is going to
00:39:23
be the theme and he says we're going to find out if this is the
00:39:28
truth or not in this book. So I think Alice is going to
00:39:32
take us on a journey. I think we're not going to know,
00:39:35
I think we're going to question a lot of the way through but I
00:39:38
think we're going to be very satisfied with how she's used.
00:39:40
Although it's like any technology, it's not good or bad
00:39:43
in itself. It depends on the user and the
00:39:48
values of the people who control it.
00:39:49
So I think Alice is going to show us more about ourselves.
00:39:54
Then Alice does about herself or itself.
00:39:58
Yeah. It has me thinking like, did the
00:40:03
Russians, make their own version of Allison.
00:40:05
Did, did I was contact? You know, his there?
00:40:07
Someone nefarious, you know? Obviously, the Russians were
00:40:11
able to pull this off. Pull of an assassination frame.
00:40:15
It on James Reese. Had have a lot of people high up
00:40:20
in, in arguing, whatever, moles placed its to achieve this,
00:40:26
really intrigued to see how that that whole dynamic pans out.
00:40:30
How James gets out? How else is involved when we see
00:40:35
Katie again you know what has he Rave?
00:40:37
So what is Katie going to do? Like she's got some choices to
00:40:44
make know like does she work with the Hastings?
00:40:49
What does she do with this key? Is there anybody she reaches out
00:40:53
to try to help Reese? What's your role in all this?
00:40:58
See, I can see her play in the whole journalist card and, you
00:41:01
know, tracking down you've leads, essentially detective
00:41:05
work with the key figuring that out, and then that ultimately
00:41:08
leads them to, you know, ahead because the Russians are
00:41:11
probably like, also trying to figure that, you know, this they
00:41:14
want that list, right? They want or that like whatever.
00:41:18
Tom Rays had and so I feel like she's going to be on the Run.
00:41:23
Maybe James has to save her yet again, or maybe they're both on
00:41:26
the run. I don't know.
00:41:28
Let me ask you this. Do you think we get an enemy at
00:41:31
the gates moment? We already had Freddy strained.
00:41:34
I that was a huge one. We had terminal list, right?
00:41:37
Reese's family died. We were not expecting that.
00:41:40
You think we're going to be losing anybody here?
00:41:44
I think there's a possibility of that.
00:41:47
I mean yeah. It's never off the table, but I
00:41:49
don't get that feeling yet, you know, I don't see.
00:41:55
Happy bull moved Cup teams, reason your fifth novel but he
00:41:58
and I I don't see that at all. I think.
00:42:02
I think we're going to, we're going to get more answers than
00:42:05
jaw-dropping, you know, Bombshells.
00:42:08
But I could be wrong Rice Ready for Jonathan.
00:42:12
Yeah, that would that would be awful.
00:42:14
Dude, that be a gut punch. That would be like a Mike Nash
00:42:16
got punched, you know. Yeah, that would do something to
00:42:21
the fan base. It's just like, Mike nested
00:42:23
within the travel like Whoo, yikes, that'd be something and
00:42:29
obviously we get a little hint to the vice president.
00:42:31
You know? How is she involved?
00:42:33
You know right? Right.
00:42:35
That's what's up. What's her role going to be so
00:42:39
you know what's pretty interesting?
00:42:41
Kind of like the Mandalorian season 3, did this, to me.
00:42:45
We pretty much had everything answered right away, everything.
00:42:50
I thought this book would be about of like was retaken.
00:42:53
Is he in prison? Is he in custody of the US?
00:42:55
Government answered, who hit the president, who was behind it?
00:43:00
Who framed Reese, boom, and Russia.
00:43:03
The Russians, yeah, what happened with Tom Reiss?
00:43:06
Are we going to hear about his list?
00:43:07
Is somebody going to be doing something in his past to figure
00:43:10
out? The key and all this.
00:43:11
Yep, done answered. We know that's coming, we almost
00:43:15
in the very start got everything answered basically, that we
00:43:19
wanted to know about where this story is going, not all the
00:43:21
details were filled in, but we've got big answers to two
00:43:25
questions, right, in the very beginning.
00:43:27
So the rest of this book, I don't know where it's going to
00:43:30
go, like the Mandalorian, right spoiler?
00:43:33
Season 3, it answered some really big questions, you know,
00:43:35
are we going to the minds of Mandalore?
00:43:37
We going to bathe in Living Waters, you know?
00:43:40
Is all this going to happen. Yes, it did right away.
00:43:43
You know, couple episodes and you know took care of all that
00:43:46
and I had no idea what the rest of the season was going to hold.
00:43:49
Well, now, with this book, I've got some questions answered
00:43:51
right up front, I have no idea what's gonna happen, chapter,
00:43:55
50, chapter 60, you know what the heck is going to be
00:43:58
happening there? Yeah.
00:44:01
Now it's going to be fun. I can't wait to talk the rest of
00:44:04
this book with you Mike. It's going to be excited, dude,
00:44:07
let's do it. Programming note.
00:44:11
I guess we are waiting for publication date by the time you
00:44:14
hear this, it may be just around or just before the publication
00:44:18
of Only The Dead We will after maybe a week or so of the book
00:44:23
being out publish our part one podcast breaking down the first
00:44:27
half of the book will let you know where our pause point is.
00:44:31
So you can read to it and follow along and definitely after the
00:44:35
books been out a couple of weeks or so, we will give you our part
00:44:38
to our final In final review of Jack car, only the dead book 66
00:44:46
right in the James re Series. So six, yes, and 5 by 6 here,
00:44:50
definitely, by the end of May we will have our full coverage of
00:44:54
only the Dead. Yep.
00:44:57
Yep. All right, we have to thank our
00:45:01
patrons are special operator. Sherry a special agents Darryl.
00:45:06
Kevin George met Dawn. Dennis piggy, Catherine Dre
00:45:08
Bridget Jeff and Mark Please Subscribe rate and review using
00:45:12
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00:45:14
You can find us at through the contact comp or on Twitter and
00:45:16
Instagram after the podcast. And as always, just let Jack be
00:45:21
Jack.