An excellent war novel set in Afghanistan. It is a sequel apparently to a previous novel featuring the likable Lieutenant Colonel Michael Parson, who is an advisor to the Afghans training their helicopter pilots and his subordinate, Sergeant Major Sophia Gold, who is both his translator and a airborne veteran with parachuting experience.

Young plunges the reader right into the thick of the Afghan conflict, where villages are threatened by Taliban fighters, and friend and foe are not easy to perceive. Parson goes to an Afghan village to help with earthquake relief and the copter comes under enemy fire. When they leave, Taliban swoop in and steal some kids. They want to use them as suicide bombers. The Taliban commander is a radical even for the Taliban. A kid is killed in grotesque ways. Parsons must fight through enemy fire. A co-pilot of his helicopter tries to take him captive. We see the war through the eyes of Parsons and his helicopter crew.

Meanwhile Gold goes to a village to talk to some local women, who seem to have Taliban leanings. They invite her to talk to one of their husbands -- a leader of the Taliban. Parson refuses to permit her to meet with the Taliban leader, but she defies his orders and ultimately her visit leads to vital intelligence as the Taliban and the Americans have a coalescing of interests. The Taliban do not want radicals to undermine their pursuit of keeping the populous leaning toward their interests, and the Americans, have an interest in killing Taliban terrorists.

Gold's intelligence coup leads to a final battle to breach an Afghan stronghold and kill the Taliban radicals.

The war action is fierce. The book may be a little slow in parts, but Young is able to expose a different war to us, a modern age war, where innocents are pawns.

Its an effective war novel.