Devils in Exile — Chuck Hogan

Neal Maven returns to Boston from his tour in Iraq only to discover that the country he vowed to protect has little use for him now. Armed with a highly specialized set of skills he can't use and bitter toward the rest of his generation -- the men and women who remained stateside, and are therefore years ahead of him both personally and professionally -- Maven fears he is near his breaking point.

And then he meets Brad Royce. Royce is everything Maven wants to be: a fellow vet, charismatic and confident, principled, wealthy, and with a beautiful woman on his arm. Not just any beautiful woman, but Danielle Vetti -- the most stunning girl from Maven's high school. Literally the girl of his dreams.

Royce offers Maven a much-needed job, and Maven soon finds himself a part of Royce's team of sugar bandits, a group of fellow veterans who use their military skills to intercept major drug deals, taking the dirty money while destroying the product -- a get-rich scheme with a clear moral imperative. Though exceedingly dangerous and certainly illegal, the efforts of these modern-day Robin Hoods provide Maven with the adrenaline charge he's craved since his decommission. Besides, Maven can't resist the chance to be in Danielle's orbit once again.

Suddenly, Maven's life is better than he ever thought possible: a soldier in a civilian's world, he is once again able to do something he excels at, and rediscovers the camaraderie he's sorely lacked since his return. He can get into any club, eat at any restaurant, be with any woman he wants -- except, of course, his dream girl.

It's almost too good to be true.

Boston's drug kingpins will stop at nothing to get the sugar bandits off the streets -- including putting a bounty on their heads, and hiring the best of the best to find them: two psychotic Jamaicans with a penchant for collecting eyeballs. A drug dealer's mutilated body, discovered in the Charles River, has put a relentless veteran DEA agent on their trail, and no matter how careful they are, he keeps getting closer to the truth. And then there are the questions Maven cannot answer. How does Royce get his inside information? And how are they able to get as close to their targets as they do?

Nothing is as it seems, but Maven is in too deep, and can see no way out....