Sheepdogs

‘You know Slow Horses—now meet the Sheepdogs.’ —The Sunday Times (London)

Two Misfits. One Mission. Zero Back-Up. • When a high-stakes heist goes wrong, an ex-CIA operative and a special operations pilot find themselves in the middle of a game of espionage and survival as they navigate a treacherous web of deception and shifting loyalties in a globe-spanning, action-packed thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of 2034.

"Move Sheepdogs to the top of your list!’—Jack Carr, #1 New York Times bestselling author

‘A thriller and comedy in one, it’s a wild ride.’—Harlan Coben, #1 New York Times bestselling author

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 Ground Branch, the CIA’s elite paramilitary wing. He was fired after a raid went bad in Afghanistan. Big Cheese Aziz, a legendary pilot—his country’s Maverick—is equally hard up. The fall of Kabul has left him grounded, working the nightshift at a gas station.

Skwerl recruits Cheese into an anonymous network of so-called sheepdogs, a band of Robin Hoods who operate in the shadowy space between the sheep and the wolves, protecting prey from predator and earning a buck along the way.

Their mission: repossess a private jet stranded on a remote African airfield. Their fee: a commission on the jet’s $5 million value. But nothing about this job is adding up. Their contact has gone 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.

Globe-trotting and page-turning, full of heart and humor, Sheepdogs is an adventure through the under-belly of modern war and intelligence


Genre: Thriller

"The brilliant Sheepdogs by Elliot Ackerman shatters paradigms and moves the genre forward with two unique and quirky heroes named Skwerl and Cheese who will endear themselves to you from the first page to the last. Do yourself a favor and dive into the action with these post war-on-terror repo men as they take you on a thrill ride you will not soon forget. Move Sheepdogs to the top of your list!" - Jack Carr

"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

"Raw and real and beautifully told, Sheepdogs isn't just a page-turner, it's a mind-bender. Elliot Ackerman takes the reader into the CIA's most secret space - the paramilitary 'special activities' of its Ground Branch. It's a helluva read, a heist chase melded with a spy novel - think Ocean's Eleven meets James Bond. And it builds toward one of the best surprise endings I've read in a long while. Read it before it gets classified!" - David Ignatius

"Sheepdogsis 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. Here's hoping this isn't the last we'll hear of Skwerl, Cheese and the rest of Ackerman's unforgettable band of misfits. It's an absolute gem of a novel." - Kevin Powers

"This fast-paced book, at once engrossing and insightful, sweeps the reader into military and post-military life, explains how baroque operations work and what can happen when they go awry. It's a rollicking adventure story populated with compellingly real characters, a brilliantly constructed thriller that describes both physical escapades and psychological drama." - Andrew Solomon