Book Review: Targeted: Beirut
If the name Jack Carr sounds familiar, that's because the former Navy SEAL and podcaster is also the author of "The Terminal List," a New York Times bestseller. The paperback thriller has been adapted into a hit television show on Amazon Prime Video, starring Chris Pratt as the main character, Navy SEAL Lt. Cmdr. James Reece. There is even a prequel series in the works at Amazon Studios starring Taylor Kitsch.
Earlier in 2024, Carr released "Red Sky Mourning," the seventh book in the thrilling "Terminal List" series, but in September, he will offer fans something entirely different. His first nonfiction novel, "Targeted: Beirut: The 1983 Marine Barracks Bombing and the Untold Origin Story of the War on Terror."
On Oct. 23, 1983, a 19-ton stake-bed truck laden with high explosives drove through the security perimeter of a building that served as the barracks for the 1st Battalion 8th Marines, deployed to Beirut as part of the Multinational Force, a UN peacekeeping mission. It drove right through the concertina wire, chain-link fence, and guard shacks, and ground to a halt in the building's lobby. The driver then detonated the equivalent of 12,000 pounds of TNT the vehicle carried.
The explosion was powerful enough to lift the building from its concrete supports and slam the entire structure back down on itself, turning much of the structure to rubble. Inside the demolished remains, 241 U.S. service members were killed either by the blast or were buried under the weight of what was left of the building. A similar attack occurred just minutes later, this time targeting the barracks of the French 1st Parachute Chasseur Regiment some six kilometers away, with similar results, killing 58 French paratroopers.
In "Targeted: Beirut," Carr and historian James. M. Scott delves into what led to the attack and why the Marines were in Lebanon and revisits the immediate aftermath. The book is more than a simple retelling of the story, as the authors weave survivor interviews, official military records, and political documents into a compelling narrative that provides a fresh view of the bombing. Readers get the entire story of this pivotal moment in U.S. military history, from the boots on the ground in Lebanon to the Oval Office of President Ronald Reagan himself.
"Targeted: Beirut: The 1983 Marine Barracks Bombing and the Untold Origin Story of the War on Terror" will be released in bookstores and online on Sept. 24, 2024. It is available for preorder in hardcover, e-readers, and audiobooks now, starting at $16.99.