AMOK: A Dox Thriller Paperback – December 6, 2022

Amok, set in 1991, may not exactly be an origin story, but it gives us a younger Dox recently returned from CIA work in Afghanistan after his time in Marines.Dox is still...Dox. But not quite as seasoned as we see him when he partners up with John Rain or becomes the on again off again love interest of Livia Lone.He is still the headstrong, sarcastic, wisecracking counterpoint to John Rain's near always serious Batman/Bourne demeanor from later novels. But he's still coming into his own. A little less self-assured here. But we see all the foundation for the older Dox.The story follows two main threads--Dox's troubled past and family dynamics at home in Texas and a job offer from the CIA in Timor.Both storylines are excellent. I particularly enjoyed learning more about Dox's childhood and the downstream consequences regarding his abusive father and his mother and sister(s). This part of the book caught and kept my attention earlier than the CIA job. But the geopolitics of East Timor, and the characters, Isobel and Joko, pulled me into that story as well.Eisler does a great job of mixing fictional characters with real events(and real reporters) from the Indonesian occupation of Timor. Some of the atrocities mentioned are as horrific as they are real, and all too often, common, in these conflicts.It's difficult for me to rank Amok compared to Eisler's other novels as I have spent so much time 'living' in the Rainverse that it's like being asked to rank friends or family. But Amok is excellent. It reminds me of a bit of the Livia Lone series--probably because of a similar narrative structure to the first Livia book that spends a lot of time moving through different time periods. Amok doesn't do it as often or as frequently, but it works very well.One side note that really caught my attention is how smart Dox really is. He plays it down and, I think, plays up his 'aw, shucks' demeanor. But he's *very* smart. And his impromptu English lessons with the antagonist Joko had me laughing out loud(particularly since I was listening to this on audible with Barry Eisler narrating). It recalled to me John Rain correcting Dox's grammar once in a novel set a decade or more later when Dox went into a standup routine about Rain being an assassin, international man of mystery, grammarian, and school marm.Amok is a novel full of action, suspense, and emotional highs and lows. And, fwiw, I really recommend the audible version.

For me, Dox has always been one of the most fun and interesting of Barry Eisler's characters. "Amok" starts at the beginning with Dox after leaving the Marines and depicts his first "case," how it came about, and reveals his first steps on his freelance path. All of Barry Eisler's books -- John Rain, Livia Lone, etc -- are wonderfully engaging and fun to read or listen to. This one is no different. Highly recommended.

In the expanse of the Eisler-verse, there are so many great characters. Amongst all the awesomeness (and there is a lot of awesomeness), for me Dox stands out. I connect with him. I get him. Here's why; for good people, to know Dox is to love him, to trust him. For bad people, Dox's goodness is the scariest thing, because it motivates him to set things right. Dox is such a wonderful, artfully developed character.This story has it all, but my favorite aspect is that it has so much heart. It is set when Dox was young and still developing into the gregarious sniper my reading brain so intensely enjoys. This story helps the reader, whether new to or well-familiar with the works, understand the character better and form a deep bond. Dox is loyal, funny, clever, rebellious, brave, passionate, caring, trustworthy. Observing these traits in him as a young man is heartwarming and inspiring.For Dox, killing is not always an unkind act, at least not by true motivation. In fact, for him it can be a great act of kindness, a great act of sacrifice, passion, purpose. More so than any other fictional character, I so want Dox to be real, because if Dox were real, the world would be a better place, and goodness would exist where it is needed the most, in the heart of a difference-maker.AMOK is another fantastic book from Barry Eisler. I highly recommend it. I could not put it down.

What do you get when a person whose background combines working in a covert position with the CIA's Directorate of Operations (now called the National Clandestine Service), an attorney in an international law firm, an executive in a Silicon Valley technology startup who also is an expert in Martial Arts and speaks fluent Japanese. You get an author whose actual experiences in life help him to create get plot lines and are brought together with a solid style of writing; and an amazing style of narration. I especially enjoyed listening when there were portions of the dialogue written in Japanese! Eisler’s Texas accent is wonderful as well, and you hear quite a lot of it in the narration edition of AMOK. He even manages to make women’s dialog sound authentic!This book genre is my favorite, with political intrigue, espionage, assassinations and historical background. Of this type, Eisler is my top author. I consider myself a snob in this genre and will discard books that don’t live up to my high standards.Many of Eisler’s characters reappear throughout his books. And don’t get too attached to any because in their line of work, even the lead characters can die!Dox has become one of my favorites. It’s his combination of being a trained sniper (from his military service), his personal ethics, loyalty, and humor that somehow come together despite having a very troubled childhood. He’s no cardboard character, and you feel like you know him as a real person.I had to limit my reading (listening) to the book because I wanted to savor it and make it last as long as possible. (You can read other reviews to see more about the plot of the book.)This can be a stand-alone book without having read about the Dox character in the past. But do yourself a favor, and after you enjoy AMOK, go back to the beginning and read all of Eisler’s books. You won’t be disappointed!