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Sheepdogs

A Novel

Author Elliot Ackerman On Tour
Hardcover
$29.00 US
| $39.00 CAN
Knopf
On sale Aug 05, 2025 | 304 Pages | 9780593803851
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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 and about to find themselves tangled in the heist of their lives. Skwerl, once an elite member of the CIA's paramilitary unit, was cast out after a raid gone wrong in Afghanistan. Big Cheese Aziz, a former Afghan pilot of legendary skill, now works the graveyard shift at a gas station.

Recruited into a shadowy network of "sheepdogs," they embark on a mission to repossess a multi-million-dollar private jet stranded on a remote African airfield. But as they wind through a labyrinth of lies and hidden agendas, they discover that nothing is as it seems. Their contact vanishes, their handler's motives are suspect, and the true source of their payday remains a mystery.

With the stakes skyrocketing and the women in their lives drawn into the fray, this unlikely spy duo find themselves deep in the underbelly of modern war and intelligence.

From the jungles of Kampala to the glitz of Marseille, they'll need to be as cunning as they are bold to survive in a game where the line between the hunters and the hunted is razor-thin.
“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, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Twice

“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, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Red Sky Mourning and Targeted Beirut

“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, columnist at The Washington Post and author of Phantom Orbit

“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, author of Far From the Tree

"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. 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, author of The Yellow Birds

"Pacy, witty, full of great characters, unexpected twists and insider insights about what it’s like to serve in the special forces, this novel has everything. Bring on the TV!" —Andrew Roberts, author of Leadership in War
© Huger Foote
ELLIOT ACKERMAN is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels 2054, 2034, Halcyon, Red Dress in Black and White, Waiting for Eden, Dark at the Crossing, and Green on Blue, as well as the memoirs The Fifth Act: America’s End in Afghanistan and Places and Names: On War, Revolution, and Returning. His books have been nominated for the National Book Award, the Andrew Carnegie Medal in both fiction and nonfiction, and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, among others. He is a contributing writer at The Atlantic, a Senior Fellow at Yale’s Jackson School of Global Affairs, and a veteran of the Marine Corps and CIA special operations, having served five tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he received the Silver Star, the Bronze Star for Valor, and the Purple Heart. He divides his time between New York City and Washington, D.C. View titles by Elliot Ackerman

About


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 and about to find themselves tangled in the heist of their lives. Skwerl, once an elite member of the CIA's paramilitary unit, was cast out after a raid gone wrong in Afghanistan. Big Cheese Aziz, a former Afghan pilot of legendary skill, now works the graveyard shift at a gas station.

Recruited into a shadowy network of "sheepdogs," they embark on a mission to repossess a multi-million-dollar private jet stranded on a remote African airfield. But as they wind through a labyrinth of lies and hidden agendas, they discover that nothing is as it seems. Their contact vanishes, their handler's motives are suspect, and the true source of their payday remains a mystery.

With the stakes skyrocketing and the women in their lives drawn into the fray, this unlikely spy duo find themselves deep in the underbelly of modern war and intelligence.

From the jungles of Kampala to the glitz of Marseille, they'll need to be as cunning as they are bold to survive in a game where the line between the hunters and the hunted is razor-thin.

Reviews

“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, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Twice

“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, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Red Sky Mourning and Targeted Beirut

“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, columnist at The Washington Post and author of Phantom Orbit

“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, author of Far From the Tree

"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. 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, author of The Yellow Birds

"Pacy, witty, full of great characters, unexpected twists and insider insights about what it’s like to serve in the special forces, this novel has everything. Bring on the TV!" —Andrew Roberts, author of Leadership in War

Author

© Huger Foote
ELLIOT ACKERMAN is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels 2054, 2034, Halcyon, Red Dress in Black and White, Waiting for Eden, Dark at the Crossing, and Green on Blue, as well as the memoirs The Fifth Act: America’s End in Afghanistan and Places and Names: On War, Revolution, and Returning. His books have been nominated for the National Book Award, the Andrew Carnegie Medal in both fiction and nonfiction, and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, among others. He is a contributing writer at The Atlantic, a Senior Fellow at Yale’s Jackson School of Global Affairs, and a veteran of the Marine Corps and CIA special operations, having served five tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he received the Silver Star, the Bronze Star for Valor, and the Purple Heart. He divides his time between New York City and Washington, D.C. View titles by Elliot Ackerman

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