The Detachment

John Rain hasn't killed anyone for four years. He gets recalled from retirement to stop an attempted coup against the US Government. But this job is too big for Rain. Under the guidance of a black-ops specialist and veteran, Colonel Scott ‘Hort' Horton, he puts together a four-man team of killers.
Eisler surprised me in this story. Of course it has lots of suspense and action, including some stone-cold killing – wouldn't be a John Rain story otherwise. But, just when I thought the story had settled in and I sort of knew where it was going, it changed direction. And then it changed direction again. The story ends in a satisfactory way with dead bad guys all around and a nefarious plot foiled.
Satisfactory but somewhat unsatisfying – I think because Eisler was not just telling a good story in this book; he also was weaving in some serious concerns he has about the direction of American politics and society. And, the plot elements involving those concerns just don't have known solutions at present. I'll avoid details, but do check out the list of references at the end of the book.
Eisler decided not to use a legacy (traditional) publisher for The Detachment, opting instead to publish as a Kindle eBook and by Amazon's Thomas & Mercer mystery imprint. This let him get the book out about a year earlier than it would have via a traditional route. I thank him for doing that. (Also, I think it is a good business decision.)