Seals #1 [Paperback]

Jack Terral (Author)

Book Description

Series: Seals | Publication Date: November 29, 2005

In Afghanistan, a native CIA contact wants to defect with detailed knowledge of anti-American insurgent operations. But time is short, and the risk is high. William "Wild Bill" Brannigan and his SEAL platoon are called in for the difficult and dangerous mission. According to plan, they night-jump into the lawless Afghan desert and make their way to the rendezvous point.

Then things stop going according to plan.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Jove (November 29, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0515140414
• ISBN-13: 978-0515140415
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,294,421 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars An entertaining military adventure that gets bogged down by bad writing, March 19, 2006

By 

Michael J. Mazza - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Seals #1 (Paperback)

"SEALS," by Jack Terral, is a novel about the exploits of a platoon of U.S. Navy SEALs. Known as "Brannigan's Brigands," the platoon is led by Lieutenant William "Wild Bill" Brannigan. The novel has a post-9/11 setting, and the Brigands' mission takes them to wartime Afghanistan, where they face conflict with a local warlord. The backdrop for the story includes opium poppy cultivation, the effort to bring democracy to Afghanistan, and the aftermath of the Soviet occupation; the hunt for Osama bin Laden gets mentioned.

"SEALS" is a fast-moving, entertaining adventure story that is full of violent action. There is plenty of killing. However, the book is hurt by painfully cliched characters and dialogue. For example, a SEAL named Bruno Puglisi is described as coming "from a mob family," and his dialogue further reinforces the unimaginative stereotype. The overall structure of the book is awkward; informational passages are clumsily incorporated into the story. There is also a ridiculous romantic subplot that seems absurdly out of place and includes such unforgivable lines as "'He's so handsome! So Brad Pitt!'" At times it almost feels like Terral is purposely trying to write an over-the-top parody of military fiction.

Readers may be offended by the author's frequent use of the slur "raghead" to describe Afghan characters. It's one thing for a character to use it, but the third person narrative voice also uses the slur a number of times. The overall portrayal of the Afghan people is very negative--in this story they basically are either corrupt, greedy exploiters, foolish religious fanatics, or pathetic, passive victims of abuse. Still, Terral's Afghan villains and their henchmen are much more interesting and entertaining than his ridiculous cardboard SEALs. Although Terral's "SEALS" can be fun at times, the book left a foul aftertaste. The book's back cover promises that it is just the first in an "explosive new military action series."

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The 1st SEALS Review, February 9, 2006

By 

Apollo Reader (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Seals #1 (Paperback)

Jack Terral's 1st SEALS novel held much promise.

I was hoping for more, however. Mr. Terral's storytelling and characterization wasn't as compelling as other writers such as John Harriman's Delta Force series or James V. Smith Jr's Force Recon series.

Unlike the former writers series mentioned, Terral's characters seemed one-dimentional, and the story seemed mired down in stagnation.

I really wanted to find and read a new series such as this. I am this type of writer's target audience. But with lack of characterizations, along with lack of character's physical details - and there is a lot of them! - the story seems too bogged and clogged up.

This would've read better if the writer would have slimmed down the number of main characters. Just writing and concentrating on a small group of SEALS would have worked out better, I think.

What a shame. Jack Terral's writing itself isn't bad, just its execution. Perhaps after a shakey start of this 1st novel in a series, the next one will be better.

I won't purchase the next one unless some reviewers give it some high marks.

1.0 out of 5 stars JACK TERRAL, May 5, 2010

By 

K. Preston (Milwaukee, WI) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Seals #1 (Paperback)

There have only been a couple books which I have not finished reading. This would be one of them... absolutely horrific writing. Poor story line and unbelievably terrible dialog !! Jack Terral could not possibly have any military experience and I'd be even more surprised if he had anything more than a grade school education. He could not have researched the US Navy Seals if this 'book' is any proof of his abilities.