This was a great back story on Dox! I enjoyed it immensely! I did cry. This was very exciting, hard to put down, leaves one mad and sad and more understanding of where Dox came from and much more forgiving of what he is now. Love all of Barry Eisler's books, and this one ranks way up there on the scale! Loved it, highly recommend it.

Barry Eisler? Yes!
The backstory of Dox - my favorite character? - Yes!

But...

I really really wanted to love it, but I didn't.. I tried really hard to love it. But it felt too technical and jumbled. I also didn't get all the feels for the characters like I usually do in a Barry Eisler novel. I felt like Barry was telling the story, but not immersing us.

It was a good, solid enjoyable book. Should you read it? yes, if you like this series. But maybe get it from the library?

i want to thank the author, the publisher and #netgallery for the ARC which did not impact my review. A solid 3 stars.

This was only the second book by Barry Eisler that I've read and it was a blast. Cade Williams, nickname Dox, returns home to Texas after spending years in the military and on special missions for the CIA as a sniper. His abusive father is about to be released from prison and he has difficulties figuring out what to do. Then the CIA offers him a job in East Timor, spying on a doctor, Isobel Amaral, who i supposed to be working with the rebels there. When he arrives there and is met by his handler, Joko, nothing is as he was told. He finally gets the doctor to trust him and because of that, he realizes that he has been lied to. And Dox helps Isobel and takes on the oppressors. Lots of action in the second half of the novel culminating in a scene on a cemetery during which I first cheered and then cried.
What an awesome character driven novel that was. I'm glad Netgalley provided me with a copy and I for sure will try to catch up on Barry Eisler's books.

Amok is a prequel origin story about Carl Williams, known as Dox, who until now has been a supporting character in both the John Rain and Livia Lone series, and featured more prominently in the most recent books, The Killer Collective and The Chaos Kind. He’s my favourite character in the Eislerverse (I adore Livia, but she is scary, while Dox is an irresistible combination of charming, cheeky, resolute and loyal) so the prospect of exploring his backstory was very appealing. This is set in 1991 when he’s only 26, and takes us through the events which will shape the rest of his life and career.

Dox - short for unorthodox, because of his unconventional military escapades in Afghanistan, is a former US Marine who has returned home to Abilene, Texas, to face his father Roy, who was imprisoned fifteen years earlier for domestic abuse, but is now up for parole. Dox’s mother and sister are terrified that Roy will get out and seek revenge, but Carl still hopes his father has changed. The offer of a short-term contract with a big payday for the CIA in East Timor seems like a chance to solve his dilemma, but when he learns that the target is a beautiful young doctor intent on saving lives in a Dili clinic, Dox starts to wonder if he’s joined the wrong side…

I have only read the first two Rain books - although intend to catch up with the rest eventually, so don’t know how much of Dox’s history has already been revealed, but this book would work perfectly as a stand-alone or introduction to the later series. This was a fantastic recent-historical thriller that focuses on Timor-Leste’s struggle for independence after the Indonesian invasion - not something I knew very much about. Both Dox and Isobel are highly likeable characters, and I loved the way their relationship developed, even if it was all very fast. Bad guy Joko was a scarily sinister antagonist and while obviously you know Dox is going to survive, this still had plenty of tension. At the end the author lists all his references including some interesting web links which indicate which aspects of the story are based on fact - much more of it than I had realised, as it turns out. I thoroughly enjoyed this and hope we’ll get more Dox adventures. 4.5 rounded up.

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC. I am posting this honest review voluntarily.
Amok is published on December 6th.

This novel by Barry Eisler is an excellent example of what a great writer can do with excellent characters, Dox has been a favorite of mine since his introduction in Rain Storm and it's great to fill in the back story on our Marine sniper, for a guy that won't shut up he's pretty tight lipped about the past that makes him the man we've come to know and love. Finding out about his childhood and his relationships with his parents and sisters gives him a humanity that shows when he's dealing with Livia Lone and even John Rain. I'm a sucker for those authors who have been in the shit and it shows in the stories they tell, and Eisler is one of the best. When an author can keep you on the edge of your seat and bring you to both roaring laughter and tremendous grief culminating in crying over fictional characters, that author is the real deal and I can't wait to find out what he has in store for our merry band of misfit killers. I'm all in until Dox gives up his sniper rifle to become a Broadway dancer.

In AMOK, by Barry Eisler, a young man with the nickname Dox has just returned home to Texas from serving in the Marines along with a few years doing special missions for the CIA. His home life is complicated, to say the least, and when a job offer comes that takes him to Southeast Asia, Dox figures the large payout and the chance to escape his new reality of living in Texas, at least for a little while, is enticing. As the job and the reality of the political landscape unfolds, Dox realizes not only is this job not what it was presented to be, but the world he has been dropped into is dangerous and unpredictable in a way he wasn't expecting. Can Dox figure out who to believe and what is really going on before he is found expendable?
Eisler has created a fascinatingly unique character in Dox. He is compassionate yet cold and serious yet amicable. The underlying layers of Dox are slowly and pleasantly revealed throughout the book. Once the operation begins, the reader is only given the slightest of hints as to what is going on ahead of Dox finding out. Measuring out the discovery leaves the reader yearning for more and knowing info just ahead of Dox naturally forces the reader to predict the outcome and then is wonderfully surprised at what ends up transpiring. As the plot progresses, Dox is constantly weighing his choices and who he should trust. In the action-packed ending, the reader is rewarded with justice in Southeast Asia and Dox finds peace back in Texas.
AMOK leaves the reader to think about how does love, loyalty, and the morally correct choices intertwine in our lives and what is the best way to navigate all of the that. AMOK also has some thought-provoking political ideas that the reader has to consider. A book I'm still thinking about and won't soon forget.

I'm always appreciative of a publisher's willingness to offer me an ARC of an upcoming book, and it pains me not to be more positive about this one. I found the alternating story lines at the beginning to be both confusing and off-putting. They turned the first third of the book into a hard and unpleasant slog and left me in a poor frame of mind for the rest.

I guess I'm really just saying the book didn't appeal to me. That's not really the author's fault, and certainly not the publisher's, It just mostly boils down to that most banal of cliches: 'It's not you, it's me.'

Brilliant, I loved it. I’m so glad Barry Eisler has taken us back to the very early days of Dox, and what he dealt with growing up. Now a 26-year-old he’s become an elite sniper, with so many different experiences under his belt. He’s going to need everyone of these experiences, with not only his dad due to get out of prison, but the latest operation he is being asked to complete in East Timor.
So many wonderful hours of entertainment in this fabulous book. Barry Eisler is one of the Authors that I keep an eye out for, as every book I’ve read of his is amazing. He knows how to build the intensity and take the reader on an incredible journey. Hands down this is a book worth reading. 5/5 Star Rating.

This is actually the first book I have ever read by Barry Eisler! It will not be the last, now I need to figure out the order of the adventures containing Dox. Then I have to get them. Maybe I should try some of his other series as well since I saw that his characters meet up in various books? I really liked AMOK and the story in Timor a place and conflict not many write about. I also enjoyed the character Dox and will focus on him in my continued reading. I instantly got the feeling that the author had done his research and was familiar with the conflict and the various agencies involved also that he knows something about what it means working for the CIA.. The book was fast paced and easy to read. You got connected to the characters and the events and it was really hard to put down for sleep. I highly recommend this for others out there that likes suspense. I also need to thank Thomas & Mercer and Netgalley for providing me this advance copy.

I enjoyed this book for many reasons. First, I have started following this author and this book did not disappoint. I appreciated its shorter length. I had at least one laugh aloud moment, a quote to write down, and some facts to look up. It was good to get some backstory on one of the characters in John Rain's crew.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Mercer publishing for providing a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Finally we get a full novel on Dox's backstory seeing how his youth shaped him into the man all of Eisler's readers have loved since he was introduced in 2004. This book was everything that I expected and more and it was great to read about a 26yo Dox tackling both family issues and a crazy overseas contract that is not what it seems. The action was great, plot moved quickly and the characters were all well developed as usual.

For fans of Eisler this is a welcome addition and for new fans, I think this would be a pretty good intro to Dox and would leave craving more to dive into this literary world.

Dox takes a job in Asia, partly for the money and partly because he is conflicted by a family situation. The book is fast paced with lots of action. The book was well researched. Some of the characters were sympathetic and others were just plain unlikable, as they were supposed to be for the story. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

Thank you to the author and publisher for the free read. This rarely happens, but sad to say I can't continue reading after the scene at the prison. I can't connect with a hero who overlooks domestic abuse just because his father is the perpetrator. Deal breaker for me.

I've read books by Barry Eisler previously and have found them well written and interesting stories. This was not exception.
The story takes place in Southeast Asia and was clearly well researched, to the point of having references in the back of the book for those interested in following up on a topic of interest. I appreciate that, it gave more gravity to some of the items noted in the story knowing the factual basis of the story elements.

The book was fast paced, well written, and interesting. I cared about most of the characters and the ones I didn't were characters that were not intended to be likeable.

Recommended for fans of Barry Eisler's earlier work and those who like action/adventure stories like those from Lee Child and Vince Flynn.

A bit of a new kind of read for me for Barry Eisler, as I’m more familiar with his Rain series. This book worked well as an action thriller — shades of David Morrell. I’d recommend Eisler for anyone seeking a bracing read.

It was exciting to see a new Barry Eisler novel so I went right to it. Young Dox is featured both in his Texas hometown and in East Timor, where he helps a young doctor deal with bad soldiers. Central to the novel is how Dox relates to his incarcerated father. It was interesting to see the Doc character more fleshed out, and I enjoyed the tease of mentioning John Rain. Would love to see him with Dox in a future novel. Finally, Frank Sinatra's song A Summer Wind, mentioned in the novel, is a favorite of mine!
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

Unlike many of the books by this author, character development take giant steps forward. The protagonist, who has appeared in previous novels, jumps to the forefront as his personality is fleshed out for the reader. Add in the usual high octane thrills and you get an entertaining read.

I've read most of Barry Eisler's titles, going way back to Rain Fall (now called A Clean Kill in Tokyo) and truly believe the first 5 or 6 books in the John Rain series are some of the best thrillers ever written. The last few releases are a little like Stallone's Expendables film series, a fun blast with all the cast but not really anything wonderful. Hi new title, Amok, is if not back to Eisler's finest certainly very close to it. No sign of Rain in this book, Amok is about Dox's first adventures, Dox being a supporting character in the earlier books that has been portrayed as a bit of a cliche, but not here the author gives Dox to be fully fleshed out.
This title has made me excited again to to see the next book from Barry Eisler

Although not quite a Dox origin story, Barry Eisler does take us back to 1991 for an early look at one highly formative adventure in the unorthodox sniper's life. Torn over how to best protect his mother and sister as his abusive father's release hearing date approaches, Dox is approached with an offer that could make all their lives much easier. He's tasked with handling a doctor, Isobel, who is hiding potentially crucial information that could devastate American military involvement in Indonesia's occupation of East Timor, only to find himself caught between a psychopathic soldier hunting for the doctor and his burgeoning emotions for her. As is typical of Eisler, Amok is impeccably researched, well-paced, and positively kinetic thanks to its sharp characters and excellent action scenes. For long-time readers curious about what Dox may have gotten up to in between assisting Eisler's beloved assassin, John Rain, Amok helps fill in at least one of those early gaps, and gives readers hope that there's plenty more Dox prequel novels to come.

Superbly paced to give the right exposure to Dox's troubled origins with a panache that puts him in his own league, followed by an adrenaline rush of action and adventure that takes readers through crisp action and gut-wrenching emotions. Took me less than 5 hours to finish in one sitting. This is a delightful treat for thriller fans.

Full review will be posted on https://www.besthrillerbooks.com/kashif-hussain