The Fourth Option: A Novel (Fourth Option Series, The Book 1)

When law enforcement, the courts, and the prison system fail, there is a fourth and final option. #1 New York Times bestselling author Jack Carr launches a new thriller series.

Disillusioned by the government and institutions he dedicated his life to serving, former Navy SEAL and CIA ground branch operative Chris Walker is about to end his life when he receives a call that saves it. The wife of a teammate he lost in Afghanistan has now lost her son to the opioid crisis and needs Walker’s help. Thrust into a conspiracy that goes deeper than he ever imagined, Walker must go up against the system and the very Constitution he once swore an oath to support and defend in order to find justice for his friend’s widow.

With ambitious FBI agent Jarrett Stanton on his tail, Walker—accompanied by his loyal Belgian Malinois and using his off-the-grid VW pop-up camper filled with a hidden cache of weapons—takes the law into his own hands, exposing corruption and issuing a long-forgotten brand of lethal outlaw justice.

In the tradition of the great “stranger comes to town” Westerns of the past comes a modern interpretation of the mysterious vigilante gunslinger legend from “the hottest author on the thriller scene today” (The Real Book Spy). Get ready for a new kind of hero. Justice is coming.

Jack Carr is a former Navy SEAL sniper and #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Terminal List series: The Terminal List, True Believer, Savage Son, The Devil’s Hand, In the Blood, Only the Dead, Red Sky Mourning, and Cry Havoc.

His debut novel was adapted into the hit #1 Prime Video series The Terminal List starring Chris Pratt. He co-created the #1 Prime Video series Dark Wolf, a Terminal List prequel origin story starring Taylor Kitsch.

Jack is also the co-author of the New York Times bestselling nonfiction work Targeted: Beirut, host of the top-rated Danger Close podcast, and co-author of The Fourth Option.

He lives with his wife and three children in Park City, Utah. Follow along on Instagram, X, Facebook, and YouTube @JackCarrUSA.

“Moving from slow-burn ignition into a full-blown inferno, The Fourth Option wastes no time exploring corruption, betrayal, and the kind of evil that doesn’t just slip through the cracks but hides behind the system itself. It’s familiar enough that Carr’s legion of fans will feel right at home, but different enough to keep them off balance and guessing, even when they think they’ve got it all figured out.” — The Real Book Spy

“One of Carr’s strongest and tightest books to date. Everything is woven together nicely. It’s an homage to the gunslingers of old dropped into the issues of the current day, and it’s done really well. It’s a hell of a lot of fun.” — Clarion Ledger

"THE FOURTH OPTION walks a tense line between justice and vengeance, between purpose and self-destruction. It lurks beneath every action Walker takes, and it is this tension, more than the action itself, that gives the book its highly enjoyable depth." — The Epoch Times

"The Fourth Option is a storytelling masterpiece."

— Jon Land, BookTrib

"Carr is not just writing thrillers. He’s elevating the genre—pushing it toward something more layered, more literary, and ultimately more enduring." — John Nantz, First Draft podcast

“A riveting mix of a cerebral investigative story and a brutal ‘stranger comes to town’ thriller.”

— Terminal Vengeance