Suicidal Empathy: Dying to Be Kind, by Gad Saad | Free Audiobook
11 May 2026
The Score (Off-Campus, Book 3), by Elle Kennedy | Free Audiobook
17 May 2026
Audiobook details
When the system fails, one man refuses to look away
Chris Walker spent years putting his life on the line, first as a Navy SEAL, then as a CIA operative. He came home with nothing left to believe in. When we first meet him, he is close to ending things, until a phone call from the widow of a fallen teammate pulls him back. Her son is dead, killed by the opioid crisis, and she wants someone to answer for it.
What Walker uncovers is bigger than one family's grief. The trail leads through layers of institutional rot, reaching institutions he once swore to protect. With FBI agent Jarrett Stanton closing in, Walker goes off the grid, traveling in a modified VW camper with a Belgian Malinois and a hidden arsenal, and takes a path the courts and the law are not designed to take.
Jack Carr and M.P. Woodward build their new series on a familiar American archetype, the lone outsider who delivers justice where the system won't, but the execution is sharp, the stakes are real, and Chris Walker is a character with enough damage to make it feel earned. This is the first book in what promises to be a relentless series.
I'll admit I came in with modest expectations. The vigilante-hero premise is well-worn territory, and co-authored thrillers can sometimes feel like they were written by committee. Neither concern held up past the first chapter.
What Carr and Woodward do well is ground the action in something genuine. Chris Walker is not a superhero who thrives on chaos. He's a man who lost his faith in the institutions he spent his career protecting, and that disillusionment is the engine of the whole book. The widow's request gives him a reason to act, but the conspiracy he walks into gives the story its weight. The Louisiana setting adds texture without becoming a gimmick, and the pacing never lets up long enough for you to question the logic.
The FBI thread with agent Jarrett Stanton is a smart counterbalance. Stanton is not a villain. He's doing his job, and watching him close in on Walker while Walker is clearly doing the right thing creates a tension that a straight cat-and-mouse plot would miss. By the midpoint, I found myself genuinely unsure how Carr and Woodward would resolve it without betraying either character.
The Belgian Malinois, Kona, is not a prop. He has a real presence in the story, and the scenes involving him carry an emotional weight that surprised me. It's a small detail, but it says something about the authors' control of tone.
On the narration: Ray Porter has been doing this long enough to know when to get out of the story's way. At 13 hours and 36 minutes, there is not a moment where the listening feels like work. His voice suits Walker, flat where the character is guarded, raw where he isn't. The performance does not try to dramatize what is already dramatic. That restraint is exactly what the book needs.
Some links on this page are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.
The Fourth Option by Jack Carr and M.P. Woodward drops you into the life of Chris Walker, a former Navy SEAL and CIA operative who has reached the end of his rope. A call from a grieving widow pulls him back, setting off a hunt through a conspiracy rooted in the opioid crisis and reaching into the institutions Walker once defended. He goes off the grid, accompanied by his Belgian Malinois and a cache of weapons hidden in a VW camper, and takes justice into his own hands.
Take advantage of the free trial, cancellable at any time, and let Ray Porter walk you through 13 hours and 36 minutes of tightly controlled, relentless storytelling. Porter has narrated several of Carr's previous books and knows exactly how to carry this kind of material, building pressure without overstating it.
The audiobook is yours to keep even after the trial ends. The free trial also opens access to thousands of other titles, with no obligation to continue. Start listening now.
More Thriller Audiobooks
US-based editor & staff writer focused on audiobooks. Honest reviews, curated “best of” lists, and practical guides with an accessibility lens.
