In Amok, Barry Eisler travels back more than three decades to cast a spotlight on former Marine sniper Carl Williams, also known as “Dox” (as in “Unorthodox”). A supporting character in earlier works like 2019’s The Killer Collective and 2021’s The Chaos Kind, Dox occupies center stage in Eisler’s latest, accepting a job that takes him to East Timor, circa 1991. Even though it’s not his usual gig, Dox is all too glad to take the job, as it provides a needed distraction from stressful family matters back in his hometown.

Traveling to East Timor, he makes contact with his target, Dr. Isobel Amaral, whom the CIA mistakenly suspects of working with Falintil guerillas against occupying Indonesians. Dox is quite taken with Isobel, which quickly leads him to question his mission. Just like that, he has enemies on every side, all wanting him dead. He’ll need every ounce of skill and expertise he’s amassed over his career simply to survive.

Amok is at once a typical and atypical thriller. Typical in that it features lethal heroes squaring off against loathsome villains in a plot packed with a number of very effective action scenes. It’s atypical in that it’s also a touching and tragic love story, casting Dox in a totally different light. The book also delves deeply into its hero’s backstory, giving readers valuable insight into Dox’s attitudes and behaviors. He really comes alive in this book, which effectively emphasizes both his larger-than- life qualities and his simpler, quieter, ever-so-human traits.