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Jack Carr books: every book Jack Carr wrote and recommended
Across 6 podcasts. Every show Jack Carr appears on, in one place — not just one.
Books by Jack Carr
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The Terminal List
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The Devil's Hand
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Savage Son
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Only the Dead
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True Believer
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In the Blood
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Red Sky Mourning
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Targeted
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Cry Havoc
Jack Carr’s most recommended books
- The Afghanistan Papers by Craig Whitlock
- The Accidental Superpower by Mr. Peter Zeihan
- On War by Carl von Clausewitz
- On Writing by Stephen King
- First Blood by David Morrell
- A Time to Kill by John Grisham
- The Firm by John Grisham
- The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy
- The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell
- The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
Jack Carr is the pen name of George Petersen, an American novelist, screenwriter, producer and podcaster, and a former Navy SEAL sniper. He is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the James Reece thrillers, which began with The Terminal List, later an Amazon series starring Chris Pratt. He has also written the non-fiction Targeted: Beirut. He is not the Canadian politician of the same name.
Carr reads military history and geopolitics closely, and his recommendations show it. On the How I Write podcast he recommended Anton Myrer's Once an Eagle, a novel about the difference between treating soldiering as a career and as a profession. On The Joe Rogan Experience he discussed Peter Zeihan's The Accidental Superpower and how well its geopolitical predictions held up. He has repeatedly brought up Craig Whitlock's The Afghanistan Papers as a record of institutional failure and missing accountability in the war. He has also talked about S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders and Rumble Fish and their 1980s film adaptations. This page collects every book he recommended or discussed, with his own words and the episode.
Books recommended by Jack Carr
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The Afghanistan Papers
The Afghanistan Papers by Craig Whitlock is a critical non-fiction investigation that exposes classified military histories and internal institutional failures during the twenty-year war in Afghanistan.
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.
Discussed“and The Accidental Superpower was one that I read on the way to Mozambique back then in the summer fall of 2016 when I got out of the military and really informed my second novel True Believer”
Where to get it
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On War
On War by Carl von Clausewitz is a foundational treatise on military strategy, political theory, and the nature of armed conflict, written by the Prussian general following the Napoleonic Wars.
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
On Writing by Stephen King is a celebrated memoir and masterclass that blends the author's personal experiences with practical, no-nonsense advice for aspiring writers.
Discussed“And so I did read um on writing by Stephen King.”
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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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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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 technothriller novel about a Soviet submarine captain attempting to defect to the United States.
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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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 of the hero's journey, detailing stages such as departure, initiation, and return.
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 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 Terminal List
The Terminal List by Jack Carr is a hard-hitting military thriller that follows a Navy SEAL seeking vengeance after his team is ambushed, drawing heavily on the author's own 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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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 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 celebrated memoir detailing the author's impoverished yet creatively vibrant years as a young expatriate writer and journalist 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 a gripping thriller novel that follows a decorated Marine sniper drawn into a complex political conspiracy, a story that subsequently inspired the popular film adaptation Shooter.
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 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 War of Art
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield is a well-regarded guide on creativity, professionalism, and overcoming self-imposed creative blocks known as resistance.
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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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
- Turning Pro by Steven Pressfield
- Cry Havoc by Jack Carr
- Savage Son by Jack Carr
- The Devil's Hand by Jack Carr
- The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell
- Best evidence by David S. Lifton
- Die with Zero by Bill Perkins
- Rumble Fish by S. E. Hinton
- The Billionaire and the Mechanic by Julian Guthrie
- The Outsiders by S. E Hinton
- A Movable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
- Brian Moore Fonds by Brian Moore
- Carrie by Stephen King
- Cujo by Stephen King
- Do the Work! by Steven Pressfield
- Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield
- How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
- No Easy Day by Mark Owen, Kevin Maurer
- Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant by Ulysses S. Grant
- Plan X by Brian Mora
- Red Sky Mourning by Jack Carr
- Rise and kill first by Ronen Bergman
- Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household
- Term Limits by Vince Flynn
- The Chamber by John Grisham
- The Gray Man (Netflix Movie Tie-In) by Mark Greaney
- The Honourable Schoolboy by John le Carré
- The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell
- The Shining by Stephen King
- The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carré
Questions about Jack Carr’s book recommendations
What book does Jack Carr recommend most?
The Afghanistan Papers by Craig Whitlock. Jack Carr recommended it in 3 episodes, with 4 explicit recommendations.
How many books has Jack Carr recommended on podcasts?
We have found 53 books Jack Carr recommended or discussed, across 11 episodes of 6 podcasts. Ad reads and passing mentions are not counted.
What books are on Jack Carr's reading list?
The books Jack Carr has recommended most on podcasts are The Afghanistan Papers by Craig Whitlock, The Accidental Superpower by Mr. Peter Zeihan, On War by Carl von Clausewitz, On Writing by Stephen King and First Blood by David Morrell. The year-by-year lists below have all 53.
What books has Jack Carr written?
The Terminal List (2018), True Believer (2019), Savage Son (2020), The Devil's Hand (2021), In the Blood (2022), Only the Dead (2023), Red Sky Mourning (2024), Targeted (2024) and Cry Havoc (2025).
What did Jack Carr recommend on The Joe Rogan Experience?
The Afghanistan Papers, The Accidental Superpower and On War, among 38 books in all.
What is the latest book Jack Carr recommended?
The Hunt for Red October, discussed on How I Write (2026-07-29).
People who recommend the same books
Jack Carr’s latest episodes with books
Jack Carr: Bestselling Author Shares His Entire Writing Process | How I Write
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The Hunt for Red October
at 1:20 -
First Blood
at 1:28 - The Terminal List
at 3:16 - Savage Son
at 6:45 -
The Most Dangerous Game
at 6:49 -
Gates of Fire
at 7:15 -
The War of Art
at 7:15 - The Devil's Hand
at 10:26 -
Once An Eagle
at 24:33 -
On Writing
at 25:19 -
The Successful Novelist
at 25:22 -
The brotherhood of the rose
at 25:47 -
The fraternity of the stone
at 25:47 -
The League of Night and Fog
at 25:47 -
Rogue Male
at 26:21 -
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
at 26:31 -
Term Limits
at 26:38 - Cry Havoc
at 41:47 - Red Sky Mourning
at 49:27
Jack Carr’s book recommendations by year
All 53 books Jack Carr recommended or discussed across 11 episodes, filed by the year each episode came out. Each year goes episode by episode, with the minute every book came up.