Streaming companies like Netflix and Prime seem to favor producing a particular type of action story. It usually features oddball characters who typically don’t belong anywhere near one another. Yet, they somehow find themselves in some sort of dire, stuff-keeps-blowing-up-around-them situation. Some examples include “Red Notice” or “The Misfits,” both released in 2021.
The hero might easily be a woefully disaster-prone and somewhat clueless Everyman, paired with a desperate marginalized co-hero who can’t believe he has to work with such a screw-up. Mix in a collection of bizarre secondary characters to catch the audience’s attention, like, say, a dominatrix in brazen work attire standing alongside a traditionally dressed Amish man.
“Sheepdogs” by Elliot Ackerman is exactly that kind of story.
It’s Repossessing, Not Stealing
Jay Manning is a former Marine Raider with a reputation for being a resourceful guy who can scurry around and scrounge up anything you needed, much like a squirrel. Marines aren’t known for their spelling abilities, so Jay’s operational nickname becomes “Skwerl.”
Three years after Skwerl was fired for whistleblowing an operation run by a paramilitary group known simply as The Office, his rope-manufacturing business is in dire need of funds to stay afloat. Fortunately, his former operations chief Mac got Skwerl on Sheepdog’s mailing list.
“Sheepdog” is an anonymous figure who operates a private network of former military, intelligence, and security personnel, communicating with members via email to coordinate off-the-books gigs. He lets Skwerl know about a dangerous job with a big payoff that’s up for grabs: “repossessing” a private jet in Uganda on behalf of a mysterious figure bankrolling the deal.
Skwerl signs up and partners with Aziz “Cheese” lqbal, an Afghan pilot formerly employed by the U.S. intelligence community. Skwerl likes him because he’s an excellent pilot “who could fly anything” and is even more desperate for cash than Skwerl. The third member of the mission is a man who calls himself “H” and bears a striking resemblance to a henchman from “Die Hard.”
Apart from Cheese being recognized by a security guard at the Ugandan airport, and H strangely obsessing about the plane’s dinnerware, the heist—sorry, repossession—goes off without a hitch, and they fly their prize to Marseille, France.
Then hitches come aplenty: The security guard from the airport mysteriously shows up in France, the cash isn’t forthcoming, and a body is discovered. Now, Skwerl and Cheese have a stolen jet on their hands, no money, and somebody is trying to eliminate them.
Not Exactly a ‘Trad Wife’
Three years prior, through a series of typically Skwerl bumblings, Jay managed to create a stable relationship with an unorthodox psychologist named Sinéad. Sinéad’s treatment techniques involve tying up her clients and consensually abusing them in humiliating and lucrative ways—a dominatrix without the sex. Her professional insights proved invaluable to Skwerl’s rope business.
Cheese agrees to fly the jet back to an airport near Skwerl’s home in the United States. There, they can hide the plane, lie low with Sinéad for a while, repair some damage on the jet, and plan their next move. Sinéad is with a client when they show up, an Amish man named Ephraim. They explain the situation to her, and she recommends bringing Ephraim along because “he’s Amish. They can fix anything.”
Meanwhile, there’s a lot of behind-the-scenes activity that the group is unaware of. Skwerl’s former boss at The Office, “Uncle Tony,” meets with Mac to discuss troubling reports about his ex-employees’ exploits in Europe and this mysterious “Sheepdog.” Mac isn’t sure Tony has Skwerl’s best interests in mind and has been around enough to know there must be many other players involved in this situation. But who do you trust?
Zany Done Right
“Sheepdogs” surprises, mainly because it deftly avoided one of the biggest mistakes when creating a comedic thriller like this: failing to balance the “zany” with the real. Insane mishaps, and there are plenty here, are tons of fun, but there comes a breaking point when readers roll their eyes in disbelief.
When 50 policemen were chasing Buster Keaton in “Cops” (1922), he escaped via a one-handed snag of a moving streetcar. The film scene is a classic because it is completely nuts, yet it doesn’t violate viewers’ innate sense of plausibility.
Author Elliot Ackerman, a highly decorated former Marine Raider and former CIA officer, brings a remarkably detailed realism to an outwardly farcical romp. Comical as they are, everyone has an intricate background that justifies their actions, and there is an intriguing subtext about the deep entanglement of government agencies, private contractors, and the effects of post-war chaos. All told, it puts this book in a higher category.
But the bottom line: “Sheepdogs” is an absolute blast. Netflix or Amazon should probably secure the rights ASAP.
‘Sheepdogs’
By Elliot Ackerman
Knopf: Aug. 5, 2025
Hardcover, 304 pages
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