Kindle. Somewhat better than the last thing I read from Ackerman and kinda fun. Clearly he's aiming for a Bourne- or Jack Reacher-like franchise, a series of books and maybe a movie deal, something that might interest Tom Cruise while economising on the creative labour.
The game is that two impoverished special ops veterans take on the task of repossessing an aircraft from parties unknown for parties unknown. Things go OK in a mildly mysterious and vaguely realistic manner until the midsection lays it all out for us and we hurtle to what seems to be a satisfying conclusion for the Western participants. The plot is overly-convoluted and determined, at least if the outcome was in fact the intended one, and not so twisty; most events just serve to move the cast around the world (Uganda, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Marseilles, Kyiv) so that further character development (an Amish man! a dominatrix!) can occur alongside much colour. There's not a lot of action but many cinematic touches and far too many coincidences.
The vibe is a lightweight heist, perhaps like an Oceans instalment complete with the luxe trimmings and class signifiers. A dash of the Atticus Lish post-war blues and some reluctant fundamentalism is served up without conviction. Ackerman's Waiting for Eden (2018) seems as distant now as this is from that timeless tale of wartime graft, Catch-22 (1961).
Goodreads. Rav Grewal-Kök at the New York Times: some parts are (sanitised) autofic. An interview with Celia McGee: "The book is being developed as a streaming series by Tom Hanks’s production company, and Ackerman is at work on a sequel."
