Enemy at the Helm is a geopolitical techno-thriller with a strong military and law-enforcement spine. It kicks off with coordinated April 15 attacks that sink or cripple ships in major U.S. harbors and effectively jam the country’s maritime supply lines, pushing the government into crisis-mode while investigators scramble to figure out whether this was domestic, foreign, or both. From there, the story fans out into a fast-moving hunt across agencies and borders, following people like FBI agent Sam Jensen and NYPD investigator Chuck Haggard as the case keeps widening, getting uglier, and feeling less like a single plot and more like a whole machine.

I really liked how the book leans into the nuts and bolts. The meetings, the handoffs, the “here’s what we know, here’s what we don’t,” the way one small clue can become the thread everybody yanks on. Author Mark Dickson clearly likes the procedural side, and when it works, it really works. You can feel the gears turning. The downside is that sometimes the story pauses to explain the gears while they’re turning. Still, in this genre, that grounded detail is part of the appeal. It made the threat feel tangible.

I also appreciated the author’s choice to keep widening the lens. The book moves through multiple points of view, and that creates a kind of controlled overwhelm that matches the scenario. One minute you’re with people trying to solve the puzzle, the next you’re watching the fallout hit families in relatable ways. When the action tightens, it can get surprisingly vivid, like the late chase and capture where Tom ends up literally grabbing the bad guy in the mud and the dark. And then, right after, the story slows down in a hospital room with monitors beeping and a teammate on a ventilator, which hit me harder than I expected. That contrast felt earned. Not poetic. Just real.

By the end, the book lands where a good thriller should: you get payoff, but you also get the sense that this problem is bigger than one arrest. The capture leads into a clear “next phase,” with leadership pushing the main characters toward a longer fight, not a neat bow. I’d recommend Enemy at the Helm most to readers who like fast stakes, modern security fears, and procedural realism. If you enjoy military thrillers, agency-and-operations stories, and the kind of techno-thriller that makes you glance at a port and think, “Yeah… that’s a soft spot,” you’ll probably tear through this one.

Pages: 220 | ISBN : 978-1632997319