Elliot Ackerman’s Sheepdogs is a whip-smart, darkly hilarious thriller that reads like The Bourne Identity by way of Ocean’s Eleven—if Jason Bourne had a penchant for sarcastic banter and a crew of misfit spies just as washed-up as he is. Introducing the unforgettable duo of Skwerl and Cheese, Ackerman crafts a globe-trotting caper that’s equal parts action-packed, absurdly funny, and surprisingly poignant—a love letter to the lost souls of the post-9/11 intelligence world.

Skwerl (a disgraced ex-CIA paramilitary operative with a knack for improvisation) and Cheese (a once-legendary Afghan pilot now pumping gas in exile) are the kind of antiheroes you can’t help but root for—equal parts brilliant and hapless. When they’re recruited into the shadowy "sheepdogs" network—a ragtag band of mercenaries-for-hire operating in the grey zones of geopolitics—what starts as a simple repo job (a $5 million private jet in the middle of nowhere) spirals into a labyrinthine conspiracy involving missing handlers, eccentric allies, and a dominatrix with her own agenda.
Fans of *2034* will recognize Ackerman’s knack for geopolitical intrigue, but Sheepdogs is lighter on its feet, revelling in the chaos of its characters’ lives. It’s a novel about loyalty, reinvention, and the messy humanity of people who’ve spent too long in the shadows. By the end, you’ll be desperate for Skwerl and Cheese’s next misadventure.