Amok

Last seen in 2021's The Chaos Kind, former Marine sniper Dox, a supporting character in bestseller Eisler's John Rain and Livia Lone franchises, takes center stage in this exciting series launch. In 1991, Dox has just returned from an undercover mission in Afghanistan and is spinning his wheels in his hometown, Tuscola, Tex., dealing with family problems, including the imminent release of his violent, abusive father from prison. When the CIA offers him $50,000 plus $5,000 a week for what sounds like a routine job in East Timor--keeping his eye on Isobel Amaral, a doctor who may be helping the guerillas--he jumps at the chance. Shortly after he arrives, however, Dox falls in love with Isobel, and the feeling is mutual. Together, they find themselves fighting both sides in Indonesia's long-running civil war. Amid a lot of background detail, Dox comes across as a companionable, sometimes corny, motormouth trying to broaden his skill set beyond that of sniper. The overall tone can be lighter and bouncier than in the Rain and Lone series, but the speedy pace and skillful scene-setting remain Eisler trademarks. Readers will eagerly await the sequel. Agent: Laura Rennert, Andrea Brown Literary. (Dec.)

Eisler reaches back to 1991 for a warts-and-all thriller pitting an American sniper sent to Indonesia against pretty much everyone else in sight. The civil war the Falintil guerillas are waging in protest of East Timor's occupation by Indonesian forces has raged for years when Mossberg, a shadowy CIA recruiter, asks Carl Williams to travel to Indonesia to put one more thumb on the scale. In some ways, Carl's an obvious choice, an ex-Marine sniper with a long record of hot shots as an independent contractor in Afghanistan. In other ways, he's a misfit from a family of misfits--especially his hard-case father, Roy, who's up for parole after years in prison for abusing his ex-wife. Swallowing his doubts, Carl spends two days flying to Dili, where he's been asked to establish contact with heroic healer Dr. Isobel Amaral, who's just been released by the Indonesians who captured her. As luck would have it, she's also been pressed by her ex-captors to establish contact with him, including horizontal contact, so that he can be tracked and neutralized. Using the sobriquet Dox (for unorthodox), Carl instantly takes against his handler, eminently dislikable team leader Joko Sutrisno, whose slippery loyalties offer a foretaste of the series of breakdowns to come. Taking the edge off his recent contemporary thrillers, Eisler dives deep into the conflicts of this very special place and produces an equally high body count whose political ambiguities generate significantly fewer thrills. The appended endnotes and annotated bibliography and filmography will go a long way toward helping readers decide whether they want to book this particular flight. A labor of love aimed at kindred souls who see the value in resurrecting yet another humanitarian nightmare. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.