Into the Fire

Jack Carr’s latest: The Fourth Option partnering with M. P. Woodward.

Chris Walker, former Navy SEAL and CIA ground branch operative, finds himself in a philosopher’s nightmare. A cerebral character with a minimalist existence in the Pacific Northwest near the ocean, his only companion is his military dog Paladin. During a raging thunderstorm with his dog shut outside of his ancient camper and barking furiously, Chris contemplates the very worst of ideas until his cell phone interrupts his hesitation.

That phone call is the only possible deterrent to his tortured plan and results in what he hopes will allow him to fulfill a promise made a long time ago in Afghanistan. Making one stop first, he and Paladin are on their way to New Orleans of all places.

Arriving at the home of his SEAL Team best friend’s widow, he finds he needs to figure out what she’s presented to him. It’s full of potential danger and massive corruption at many levels, but its purpose is critical. He agrees to help her and she supplies him with a deeply coded notebook. His best friend’s and his wife’s son (Connor) is dead because of the information gathered in that notebook, and the given reason for his death is falsified.

Sadly, New Orleans has had the much-deserved reputation for corruption since its existence and this story takes it to the limit. Led by the corrupt narcissist Lieutenant Bates and his select accomplices in the NOPD and in other law enforcement positions, there’s a drug collaboration circulating new variations of killer drugs with well-hidden connections making all of them boatloads of money.  

There’s only one person who might have some insight into Connor, his tattoo-artist girlfriend (Belle) who lives with her grandmother (Gloria). When tragedy again strikes, Belle and Chris are left to figure out what – and who – exactly is responsible for the elimination of this family.

Chris does his best to keep Belle uninvolved, but she’s tough and determined to see this through, and, surprisingly, Gloria is just as eager to help.

The irony of Chris’s extreme vigilantism, considering his contemplations before he got that phone call, isn’t lost on the reader. He’s executing the “fourth option” once he learns most of what’s going on. Without his intervention, Belle’s and Gloria’s assistance, and one doubtful FBI agent, the keen efforts of a corrupted multi-institutional organization would’ve continued untouched.

It’s an intricate (as are all of Jack’s stories) storyline with detailed accounts of actions and weaponry, innumerable intense thriller moments, a terrific dog, and a satisfying conclusion. Jack is a terrific writer, and it always shows that he has experienced much of what he writes about.

I personally want to thank the authors for their Pacific Northwest references and especially the shout-out to the Seahawks! (I’m a die-hard Seahawks fan since their inception, and I assume those references might be a part of M. P. Woodward’s collaboration.)

(Plenty of profanity present.)

Father, you know all of our hearts and minds. Apart from you, we can do nothing. I ask that you would bless Jack and M. P. with many more stories you have just for them to tell. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.