Jack Carr's THE FOURTH OPTION
A Five Star Book Review
Wow! Jack Carr and M.P. Woodward’s new book THE FOURTH OPTION, is not what I saw coming.
Full disclosure - I received an advanced copy of the final version of this book from the publisher, but I was under no obligation to review it. I have also pre-ordered a signed copy with a special bookplate with my own money to add to my collection of autographed books.
I read in other reviews and what the publisher said that this might be a variation on the western lone gunman who comes to town to fix a problem. It’s a good analogy, but not what I thought as I tore through the pages. Instead I found our hero, Chris Walker, to be what we now know about many of our Global War on Terror (GWOT) special operators - highly trained killers who must deal with what comes next in life. For Walker, (no spoilers,) his choices are dark, and darker.
When Chris Walker and his Belgian Malinois, Paladin, (who maybe the unsung hero of the book,) arrive in New Orleans, a city with as many demons as has Walker has, he’s not seeking retribution. Yet. He just wants to do what a former Navy SEAL is trained to do, work the problem. But big Pharma, the cartels, and especially the police consider Walker to be the problem. And their plan to deal with him is not complicated.
Walker’s plan is not initially complex either - help the widow of a former teammate find out what happened to her son Conner, who was investigating a new drug as an indie journalist. After teaming up with Conner’s former girlfriend, the bodies add up fast.
If you are a fan of military thrillers, the first third or so of the book follows an alternate timeline from Walker’s travails in New Orleans, back to his time in Afghanistan as a CIA Ground Branch operator after his time on the SEAL teams. There is plenty of action and the requisite data on gadgets one expects in a Jack Carr novel.
The final two-thirds are a race to find the new drug that is killing people, and track down the corruption behind the distribution and profits.
THE FOURTH OPTION is an obvious set up for more Chris Walker as he is highly likely to ride into another town down the road with a new problem to solve.
I could go on, but there would be too many spoilers. Here is one potential nugget you might learn if you get this book soon enough; Jack drops two huge announcements in his Author’s Note that I’m not sure were ready to be released by now, but boom - there they are.
The Fourth Option is a Five Star effort worthy of a Jack Carr thriller with the obvious hand of M.P. Woodward, a terrific writer himself visible throughout. (Red Tide, The Handler, and numerous Jack Ryan, Jr. thrillers.)
You still have time to pre-order for delivery on May 12 here.
WHAT I’M WORKING ON
In a word, tons!
I just announced the release of a new book in a new series, GRAY GHOST, An Air America - CIA Thriller coming on September 1st. This one plows new ground in the thriller genre where there are very few novels about the super secret CIA airline, Air America. Here we find case officer Chase Black deployed into Laos in 1968 to search for and rescue downed Air America pilot Sam McLean. He’s on his own in this spy vs. spy Cold War thriller in supposedly neutral Laos. If all you know about Air America is from the 1990 semi-comedy of the same name, it’s time to fix that. Pre-order from Amazon here.
And just announced this week is a special project I’ve been a part of for going on two years. An anthology of horror and crime-horror by twelve talented writers called THE WRITER’S BLOCK. My contribution is a crime fiction short story titled SOUTHEAST HEAT featuring Washington, D.C. homicide detective Ted Sage. Trust me when I tell you this project is hot! Pre-order from Amazon for delivery on July 7th here .