Into the Fire

Red Sky Mourning by Jack Carr is Book 7 in The James Reece Thriller Series.

James Reece is done with all the assignments from Vic Rodriguez and the CIA. He wants a life with his fiancée, journalist Katie Buranek, and the comfort that comes from the Hastings family at their Kumba Ranch on their Montana estate. When that desire for stability is dramatically bludgeoned, Vic comes calling again to, first of all, assure him that the CIA was not responsible for the incident.

The situation is desperate, and while Reese doesn't want to hear any of it, his inner dialogue is cursed with repeated threats of what happens to those around him. When Katie tells him with certainty that he needs to go do what he does best, he knows if he wants the deathly assaults to stop, he's the one who must stop them.

There's a former Silicone Valley billionaire who blames American powers-that-be for his parents' death. His Elba Industries has designed the best quantum computer on the planet – or at least he thinks it is. That is, if he can find and disable the American's design named "Alice." He wants "her" out of the picture so there can be no opposition to his "Napoleon," but apparently she's gone dark and will only speak to former Navy SEAL James Reece. And since the billionaire is an arrogant sociopath, he's made deals with the Chinese communist party leaders in their quest to take over Taiwan, while the CCP has promised a member of Congress running for president that they will help her get elected so she can keep the secret information she's provided coming. Their cooperative lust-for-power triangle is ready for action, but first James Reece needs to be out of the picture. Their cunning plan involves a meeting with him in Beijing where they intend to dazzle him with their offer. 

With the many versions of thrillers that adhere to real-life possibilities and advancements, there is considerable backstory and information that must be written. How that's done varies per author, but it's usually set up before the action begins because once the hero is involved with thwarting a threat, the no-holds-barred extreme action proceeds with intensity. For me, the story "began" at Chapter 14. 

Jack Carr uses a lot of inner dialogue from James Reece, and he does it superbly. There's a part of the character James Reece who's damaged and broken from the huge losses in his life. His inner thoughts bring him to fatalistic conclusions about what he considers to be the inevitable. He has visions at critical moments in his present-day life of his murdered wife and daughter that often console him and other times leave him empty and lost. (Some might remember a similar tactic used in the TV Series "NCIS" with "Gibbs.") 

Raife Hastings (Reece's best friend) and his father make sure there's some final justice. 

This assignment brings Reece to a final conclusion after thanking Alice and telling her goodbye.

The preface of Red Sky Mourning is a must-read because of the horrific information Jack has compiled. Truth always gets the jump on fiction. 

Prepare yourself. No-holds-barred thriller. 

Father, please continue to bless Jack in his writing endeavors. Help him to keep mixing truth and fiction determinedly. Encourage him as only you can do and keep him and his family safe from all harm. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.