Sheepdogs - Elliot Ackerman

''Skwerl, Cheese, Dickhead Mike, the White Russian—these characters are totally addictive. I couldn’t put Sheepdogs down. A thriller and comedy in one, it’s a wild ride'' HARLAN COBEN

A sly, funny, action-packed thriller introducing an instantly iconic spy duo, from the author of New York Times bestseller 2034

Skwerl and Cheese are down on their luck. Skwerl, who is resourceful like a squirrel (Marines win battles, not spelling bees), used to work for the CIA’s elite paramilitary wing. He was unceremoniously fired after a raid went bad in Afghanistan. ‘Big Cheese’ Aziz, a legendary pilot – his nation’s Maverick – is equally hard up. So Skwerl recruits Cheese into an anonymous network of so-called sheepdogs, who operate in the shadowy moral grey zone between predator and prey.

Their first mission? To repossess a private jet stranded on a remote Ugandan airfield. Their fee: a commission on the jet’s $5 million value. But nothing about the job seems to add up. Their contact goes missing. Their handler is as mysterious as the real source of the money. And when the women in their lives get involved – one pregnant wife and one dominatrix – the stakes skyrocket overnight.

From the jungles of Kampala to a glamorous hotel in Marseille, from a veteran-run pizzeria in Kyiv to a Panera in northern Virginia, Skwerl and Cheese must navigate an increasingly tangled set of loyalties where no one and nothing is what it seems. Globe-trotting and page-turning, full of heart and humour, Sheepdogs is a wild ride through the underbelly of modern war and intelligence.

TWO MISFITS.
ONE MISSION.
ZERO BACK-UP.
WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?

You know Slow Horses now meet the Sheepdogs . . . glorious . . . hilarious' SUNDAY TIMES

'A rollicking military-adjacent adventure . . . replete with jet-setting paramilitary types, secret meetings at the highest level of government and firefights, with some rough sex and women in peril added for good measure' WASHINGTON POST

Skwerl and Cheese are down on their luck after being screwed over by the US military. Skwerl used to work for the CIA s elite paramilitary wing until he was unceremoniously fired after a raid went bad in Afghanistan. Big Cheese Aziz, a legendary Afghan pilot also formerly employed by the CIA, is stuck working the graveyard shift at the local gas station.

Armed with a ton of unique and not obviously useful skills for peacetime living, both are recruited into a shadowy network of so-called sheepdogs working jobs for an anonymous dispatcher.

Their first mission? To repossess a luxury private jet stranded on a remote Ugandan airfield. Their fee: a cut of the jet s $5 million value. But nothing about the job adds up. Their contact vanishes. Their handler s motives are suspect. And when the women in their lives get involved one pregnant wife and one dominatrix the stakes skyrocket overnight.

From the jungles of Kampala to the glitz of Marseille, Sheepdogs is a sly, hilarious, action-packed thriller introducing an instantly iconic spy duo. Operating in the moral grey zone between predator and prey, this is a wild ride through the absurd underworld of war and intelligence.

Skwerl, Cheese, Dickhead Mike, the White Russian these characters are totally addictive. I couldn t put Sheepdogs down. A thriller and comedy in one, it s a wild ride HARLAN COBEN

Sheepdogs is the best thriller I ve read in a long, long time. With a perfect blend of action and humor, I was hooked from the first page and couldn t put it down until I d finished . . . an absolute gem of a novel KEVIN POWERS