Person
Every book Jack Carr recommended on podcasts
Across 6 podcasts. Every show Jack Carr appears on, in one place — not just one.
Jack Carr is a politician in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick in a byelection on November 3, 2008, as the Progressive Conservative MLA for New Maryland-Sunbury West. In his podcast appearances, he recommended several notable books exploring military history, leadership, and geopolitics. On the How I Write podcast, he recommended Anton Myrer's book Once an Eagle as a fantastic read that explores the distinct difference between treating a military assignment as a career versus a profession. During his appearances on The Joe Rogan Experience, Carr discussed Peter Zeihan's book The Accidental Superpower, highlighting its accurate geopolitical predictions, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He repeatedly brought up The Afghanistan Papers by Craig Whitlock, recommending it as a great source for examining institutional failures, accountability gaps, and senior-level interviews during the extended war in Afghanistan. Additionally, he discussed S. E. Hinton's works The Outsiders and Rumble Fish while reflecting on classic coming-of-age stories and related film adaptations from the nineteen-eighties.
Books recommended by Jack Carr
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The Afghanistan Papers
The Afghanistan Papers by Craig Whitlock is a deeply researched investigative book that exposes the institutional failures, deceptions, and lack of accountability surrounding the twenty-year war in Afghanistan through classified interviews and Freedom of Information Act lawsuits.
Recommended“and there's a great book it's called the Afghanistan papers by Craig Whitlock and after two Freedom of Information Act lawsuits by The Washington Post they got access to these classified histories of the war”
Where to get it
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The Accidental Superpower
The Accidental Superpower by Mr.
Recommended“but on their flight over there I read uh his book accidental superpower and that one very clearly predicts a Russian invasion of Ukraine by the year 20 22 and that was back in 2014 he wrote that”
Where to get it
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On War
On War by Carl von Clausewitz is a seminal nineteenth-century Prussian military treatise examining the philosophy, strategy, and political dimensions of armed conflict.
Discussed“and uh it's Carl and klauschwitz who wrote on war said the most important attribute of a battlefield leader is common sense”
Where to get it
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On Writing
Stephen King's On Writing is a celebrated hybrid of memoir and practical manual that chronicles the author's formative struggles and recovery while offering direct, invaluable advice for aspiring writers on craft, discipline, and the mechanics of prose.
Discussed“And so I did read um on writing by Stephen King.”
Where to get it
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A Time to Kill
A Time to Kill by John Grisham is a bestselling legal thriller about a racially charged murder trial in Mississippi that explores profound themes of justice, revenge, and prejudice.
Discussed“He wrote A Time to Kill first and he could not give that book away.”
Where to get it
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First Blood
First Blood by David Morrell is a classic thriller novel published in 1972 that introduced the iconic character John Rambo and significantly altered the landscape of modern action fiction.
Discussed“So, Tom Clancy and Nelson DeMille and AJ Cronin and Jack Higgins, all like a Mark Olden and David Morrell, who created Rambo in 1970 in 1972's First Blood.”
Where to get it
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The Firm
The Firm by John Grisham is a gripping legal thriller published in 1991 that follows a young lawyer who joins a prestigious firm, only to discover it is a front for the mafia.
Discussed“And then he writes The Firm, that takes off, it's the movie with Tom Cruise and we've had a John Grisham legal thriller every year since.”
Where to get it
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The Hunt for Red October
The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy is a classic techno-thriller novel centered around a rogue Soviet submarine commander and Cold War military strategy.
Discussed“That's the year that Hunt for Red October came out, and certainly by sixth grade, age 11, then I am reading all those kind of books.”
Where to get it
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Once An Eagle
Once An Eagle by Anton Myrer is a sweeping epic military novel that contrasts two contrasting archetypes of leadership and military philosophy through the lives of career soldiers across decades of service.
Recommended“There are people who think of it as a career. And if you've read Once an Eagle by Anton Myrer, that is a fantastic book that that talks about that a little bit in there.”
Where to get it
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The Hero with a Thousand Faces
The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell is a seminal study of comparative mythology that outlines the universal narrative structure known as the hero's journey.
Recommended“And then it's the heroes the heroes journey through Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell and that one right there influenced Star Wars”
Where to get it
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The Successful Novelist
David Morrell's The Successful Novelist is an instructional guide by the co-creator of Rambo that offers valuable insights into the craft of writing and the publishing industry.
Discussed“I did read The Successful Novelist by David Morrell.”
Where to get it
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A Moveable Feast
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway is a classic posthumously published memoir that captures the author's impoverished yet artistically vibrant years as a young expatriate writer in 1920s Paris.
Discussed“Yeah, I'm not there yet; I do have a really—I have one that Hemingway actually wrote A Moveable Feast on; somebody, uh, a fan sent it to me.”
Where to get it
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Point of Impact
Point of Impact by Stephen Hunter is an action thriller novel that follows a decorated sniper forced back into service after uncovering a complex assassination plot.
Discussed“and then he did tears of the sun he's done magnificent seven equalizer shooter which is based on stephen hunter's book point of impact”
Where to get it
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The Bridge of San Luis Rey
The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder is a classic Pulitzer Prize-winning novel that investigates the lives of five individuals who perish when a Peruvian rope bridge collapses, exploring the theological and existential question of why tragedy strikes specific people.
Discussed“my daddy gave me a book a long time ago when I was a kid called the bridge in s Louis Ray and it's about these people that are on this bridge collapses and uh it's in central sou South South America somewhere and all they all die”
Where to get it
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The brotherhood of the rose
The Brotherhood of the Rose by David Morrell is a landmark 1980s spy thriller that redefined the conventions of espionage fiction by blending high-stakes action with complex emotional and psychological stakes.
Discussed“His books. Brotherhood of the Rose, Fraternity of the Stone, League of Night and Fog where he takes the back in the '80s took the best of US spy fiction...”
Where to get it
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The fraternity of the stone
The Fraternity of the Stone is a gripping 1980s spy thriller novel by David Morrell that delves into the shadowy world of clandestine operations and espionage.
Discussed“His books. Brotherhood of the Rose, Fraternity of the Stone, League of Night and Fog where he takes the back in the '80s took the best of US spy fiction...”
Where to get it
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The League of Night and Fog
The League of Night and Fog is a classic 1980s thriller novel by David Morrell that weaves intricate plots of espionage, historical secrets, and high-stakes action.
Discussed“His books. Brotherhood of the Rose, Fraternity of the Stone, League of Night and Fog where he takes the back in the '80s took the best of US spy fiction...”
Where to get it
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The Terminal List
The Terminal List by Jack Carr is a gripping thriller following a Navy SEAL seeking vengeance after his team is ambushed, drawing heavily from the author's real-world combat experiences.
Discussed“So if my character like in The Terminal List he gets ambushed in in Los Angeles that I can remember what it was like to be ambushed in Baghdad and I can take those feelings and emotions and apply them directly to the narrative”
Where to get it
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The War of Art
Steven Pressfield's The War of Art serves as a profound guide for creatives, entrepreneurs, and thinkers seeking to understand and conquer the psychological barriers that hinder productivity and inspiration.
Discussed“So, I took that and then I heard Steven Pressfield and I I Gates of Fire, Hero of Gates of Fire, Legend of Bagger Vance, has a series of books on creativity that starts with The War of Art.”
Where to get it
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Best evidence
Best Evidence by David S.
Recommended“And you know the best book that I ever read about it was David Lifton's book, 'Best Evidence'?”
Where to get it
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Die with Zero
Die with Zero by Bill Perkins and William O.
Recommended“bill perkins guy who wrote die with zero it's a very short book about um how to use money to enjoy life as opposed to saving indefinitely it's fantastic it's three hours i would die with zero”
Where to get it
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Patriot Games
Tom Clancy's classic geopolitical thriller "Patriot Games" introduces readers to intelligence analyst Jack Ryan as he thwarts a terrorist attack against the royal family, launching a legendary series of suspense novels.
Discussed“Go books in the 70s books in the 80s go back reading the Tom Clancy read um other t for October Patriot Games whatever it is it's a snapshot of what's going on there geopolitically”
Where to get it
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Rumble Fish
Rumble Fish by S.
Recommended“well from the time he was a teenager a whole life you know he was in that outsiders with johnny depp those pictures are so fantastic those elements from that yeah the book is great too for people who haven't read the book outsiders and rumblefish also”
Where to get it
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The Billionaire and the Mechanic
The Billionaire and the Mechanic by Julian Guthrie is a compelling non-fiction narrative detailing the high-stakes world of competitive sailing, billionaire ambition, and technological innovation surrounding the America's Cup.
Recommended“but there's a great book called the billionaire in the mechanic about the how he got the the america's cup and it's it's so fun so fantastic to read”
Where to get it
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The Outsiders
The Outsiders by S.
Recommended“well from the time he was a teenager a whole life you know he was in that outsiders with johnny depp those pictures are so fantastic those elements from that yeah the book is great too for people who haven't read the book outsiders and rumblefish also”
Where to get it
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Turning Pro
Turning Pro by Steven Pressfield is a motivational manual that challenges individuals to overcome internal resistance, drop amateur habits, and fully commit to their creative work.
Discussed“I did that research I talked about with steven pressfield's books on creativity war of art authentic swing turning pro do the work”
Where to get it
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A Movable Feast
A Movable Feast by Ernest Hemingway is a celebrated posthumous memoir that details the author's impoverished yet romantic years as a young writer in Paris during the 1920s.
Discussed“I do have a really I have one that Hemingway actually wrote a Movable Feast on somebody uh a fan sent it to me uh when a typewriter yeah he wrote a Movable Feast on it”
Where to get it
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Brian Moore Fonds
Discussed“but some of those conversations that I've had in the books I've read have made it into the pages of the novel so there's all this this overlap to include this one uh Brian Moore has a book called The able archers and it talks about a nuclear exchange that almost happened between the United States and the Soviet Union”
Where to get it
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Cry Havoc
Discussed“they found The Terminal List or they found Cry Havoc or they found Targeted Beirut and now they fell in love with reading for the first time in their life”
Where to get it
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Cujo
Cujo by Stephen King is a suspenseful horror novel about a mother and her young son trapped in a broken-down car by a rabid, killer Saint Bernard.
Discussed“and apparently doesn't even remember writing Cujo”
Where to get it
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Do the Work!
Steven Pressfield's Do the Work! serves as a practical, hard-hitting manual for overcoming creative blocks, self-sabotage, and the internal force of resistance.
Discussed“I did that research I talked about with steven pressfield's books on creativity war of art authentic swing turning pro do the work”
Where to get it
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Gates of Fire
Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield is a historical novel detailing the heroic Spartan stand at the Battle of Thermopylae.
Discussed“So, I took that and then I heard Steven Pressfield and I I Gates of Fire, Hero of Gates of Fire, Legend of Bagger Vance, has a series of books on creativity that starts with The War of Art.”
Where to get it
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How to Be an Antiracist
How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X.
Critiqued“read ibramex candies how to be an anti-racist”
Where to get it
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No Easy Day
No Easy Day by Mark Owen and Kevin Maurer is a firsthand account of the military mission that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden, published under a pseudonym to provide an insider perspective on the historic raid.
Discussed“good buddy of mine Mark Owen he writes a book called no easy day and that's the one about the bin Laden raid and that one that was like a tipping point”
Where to get it
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Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant
Personal Memoirs of U.
Discussed“you know going back in time I read all these Vietnam books growing up and every autobiography I could about people in the military you know grant has his memoirs or whatever”
Where to get it
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Plan X
Discussed“I knew a little bit about it but not nearly as much as I did after I read those that book which led me to two other books and then multiple conversations with Brian Mora about it”
Where to get it
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Red Sky Mourning
Discussed“And my seventh novel is called Red Sky Morning. So it's my 007th novel and that is a nod to to Fleming and his creation, James Bond.”
Where to get it
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Rise and kill first
Rise and Kill First by Ronen Bergman is an exhaustive investigative history detailing the targeted assassinations and covert operations carried out by Israel's intelligence services.
Discussed“it's called rise first and kill by ronen bergman and it's really about the State of Israel”
Where to get it
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Rogue Male
Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household is a classic 1939 thriller that follows an English hunter who attempts to assassinate an unnamed dictator, only to be captured, tortured, and forced to go on the run.
Discussed“There is Rogue Male written on the eve of World War II, 1939. Another classic that moved the genre forward.”
Where to get it
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Savage Son
Savage Son is a gritty thriller novel by Jack Carr that follows former Navy SEAL James Reece as he confronts international conspiracies and personal survival trials.
Discussed“And there was one I wanted to start with and that's Savage Son, my third novel.”
Where to get it
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The Chamber
John Grisham's gripping legal thriller The Chamber tells the tense story of a young lawyer who takes on the daunting case of a former Ku Klux Klan member sitting on death row in Mississippi, uncovering painful family secrets along the way.
Discussed“I thought of that John Grisham story about he wrote A Time to Kill first and he couldn't give that book away and then he writes the firm and we've had a John Grisham novel every year in some years two John Christian novels every year since”
Where to get it
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The Devil's Hand
The Devil's Hand is a thriller novel by Jack Carr that continues the intense adventures of his recurring protagonist, James Reece.
Discussed“My fourth book, The Devil's Hand, I started doing an author's note at the end because I was getting so many questions about, hey what of out of this book that I just read, what was real, what wasn't”
Where to get it
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The Gray Man (Netflix Movie Tie-In)
The Gray Man by Mark Greaney is a high-octane thriller novel that follows a lethal CIA operative turned assassin as he navigates global danger.
Discussed“So yeah, I talked to Mark Greaney about that too, the Grey Man.”
Where to get it
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The Honourable Schoolboy
Discussed“No one's really done that since quite American Graham Greene, Tears of Autumn and Graham Greene was 1955 and Tears of Autumn was 1974 and and John le Carré was The Honourable Schoolboy in 1977.”
Where to get it
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The Most Dangerous Game
The Most Dangerous Game is a classic 1920s short story by Richard Connell that explores the dark psychological themes of hunting and human survival.
Discussed“And that's because in the sixth grade I read Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell, which is a short story from the 1920s.”
Where to get it
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The Power of Myth
The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell is a transcribed conversation between the legendary mythologist and Bill Moyers that explores the enduring relevance of world mythology, storytelling, and the hero's journey in modern life.
Discussed“so he did a series of interviews with Bill Moyers on PBS called the power of myth and he wrote a book called hero with a thousand faces so back in 1988 so I'm I don't know 11 years old or whatever 12 I get introduced to him and I read that book and I watched all those interviews and”
Where to get it
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The Shining
The Shining by Stephen King is a classic horror novel about a struggling writer and recovering alcoholic who takes a winter caretaking job at an isolated Colorado hotel with a dark past, where supernatural forces drive him toward madness.
Discussed“I mean with his incredible results I mean ya know it's Holly also earlier [ __ ] like The Shining”
Where to get it
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The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carré is a renowned espionage novel that explores the gritty, bleak, and morally ambiguous realities of Cold War intelligence work.
Discussed“The Spy Who Came in from the Cold moves the genre forward.”
Where to get it
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The Stand
The Stand by Stephen King is a post-apocalyptic horror epic that follows the remnants of humanity struggling to rebuild society after a lethal influenza strain wipes out most of the global population.
Discussed“I certainly have an amazing book What a great book an autobiographical nature of it is even crazier like getting hit by that van and then waking up and looking up and seeing this person I think sitting on a rock that just hit him with his van and thinking I just got killed by somebody in one of my”
Where to get it
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The tears of autumn
Discussed“No one's really done that since quite American Graham Greene, Tears of Autumn and Graham Greene was 1955 and Tears of Autumn was 1974 and and John le Carré was The Honourable Schoolboy in 1977.”
Where to get it
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True Believer
True Believer by Jack Carr is a military thriller novel that follows protagonist James Reece as he navigates high-stakes global conspiracies and geopolitical threats.
Discussed“So I was in Morocco filming True Believer just a couple weeks ago.”
Where to get it
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Works (Carrie / Night Shift / 'Salem's Lot / Shining)
Works (Carrie / Night Shift / 'Salem's Lot / Shining) by Stephen King is a legendary collection of chilling novels and short stories by one of the world's most famous horror authors.
Discussed“I think in carrie he was ready to throw it out right”
Where to get it
Books Jack Carr wrote
- The Terminal List
- True Believer
- In the Blood
- The Devil's Hand
- Red Sky Mourning
- Bible
- Jack Carr Boxed Set
- Only the Dead
- Savage Son
- Untitled James Reece 8
- Cry Havoc
- Jack Carr James Reece Series 3 books Collection Set
- The Fourth Option
Appearances
Other mentions (28: passing, ad reads, own books)
“and I put them in the show in the terminal list so on Chris Pratt's uh they're drinking with Boozer in that first episode”
“I wrote about it in the second novel in uh in um in True Believer”
“so this is the fourth book this is book number five number five book number five right here the one that you're listening to semi naked in the sauna”
“I'm writing about it I wrote about it in the second novel in uh in um in True Believer”
“John Grisham he wrote his first book A Time to Kill and couldn't give that book away and then he writes the firm and that one takes off”
“John Grisham he wrote his first book A Time to Kill and couldn't give that book away and then he writes the firm and that one takes off Tom Cruise is in the movie”
“so I'd like to look at things through the enemy's eyes which I did in the devil's hand my fourth book”
“like I did in the devil's hand my fourth book”
“that last book in the uh the devil's hand i put myself in the enemy's shoes and i thought hey what did they learn from us on the field of battle over the last 20 years at war”
“usually uh well for the other ones i've been to iraq and afghanistan for the first book for the second i went to mozambique put boots on the ground for that third one i went to south africa helped train up an anti-poaching unit out there protecting some of the last rhino on earth”
“ton for red october came out when i was in fifth grade started reading that”
“all the james reese series and uh the move what is the the movie series”
“basically a book a year yeah plus you're also working on the terminal list TV series yeah that is a lot of work my friend it is my first non-fiction comes out in the fall on the 1983 Bay Barracks bombing”
“That's this one, Red Sky Morning.”
“that's this one red sky morning yeah that's this one right here so it took a little longer than I than I anticipated”
“that's this one red sky morning yeah that's this one right here”
“So I have my newest one, the seventh book in the series, Red Sky Morning, comes out in June.”
“So those ones another one's called The Successful Novelist by David Morrell who created Rambo with First Blood back in 1972.”
“um uh in the first book so all those little things really ended up making it very personal as did the uh the more dramatic”
“And I talked about my first book and about a paragraph maybe two in that first novel and I've had a lot of people reach out and tell me that that paragraph in particular meant so much to them because they hadn't really been able to conceptualize or articulate uh some of how they felt by doing the job downrange”
“and that's what I'm in my last in in the blood that's what I wanted to write a sniper-centric novel last time without that uh scene of two snipers on opposite hillsides or buildings that are looking for each other and then they're looking and then they find each other at the last second and one guy shoots and it”
“Found a little cabin not too far away and I thought I was going to do it for this last book for only the dead and then I got up there and it's about a mile from our house I can actually see the house from this little cabin”
“and then I pulled some some really late nights uh and pulled a couple all-nighters which are getting harder to do the older I get uh for Savage son a few books back no no problem”
“Have a non-fiction book come coming out on Beirut the 1983 Beirut Barracks bombing there's the pot there's all those things”
“and because of that they've made it in here made it into this last wow so uh that's that's Brian Moore”
“so I submitted the second one True Believer and they took out they took well I had to push the publication date”
“and then, on this one, on "In the Blood," deep down the rabbit hole on quantum computing, artificial intelligence and mass data surveillance and data storage of U.S. citizens”
“In my second novel, "True Believer," I actually use a false flag operation that came out in 2019, but I use a false flag operation to instigate a Russian invasion of Ukraine”