The Mullah's Storm

by Thomas W. Young

Overview

From the author of The Hunters and Sand and Fire..."Fans of Clancy, Coonts, and Dale Brown need to add Young to their must-read lists." (Booklist)
A transport plane carrying a high-ranking Taliban prisoner is shot down in a blizzard over Afghanistan's mountainous Hindu Kush. The storm makes rescue impossible, and for two people-navigator Michael Parson and a female Army interpreter, Sergeant Gold-a battle for survival begins against not only the hazards of nature, but the treacheries of man: the Taliban stalking them, the villagers whose loyalties are unknown, and a prisoner who would very much like the three of them to be caught.
"One of the most exciting new thriller talents in years."--Vince Flynn

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101443200
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/07/2010
Series:	A Parson and Gold Novel , #1
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	288,502
File size:	324 KB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Tom Young has logged nearly 4,000 hours as a flight engineer for the Air National Guard in Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo, and elsewhere, including Latin America, the Horn of Africa, and the Far East. Military honors include two Air Medals, three Aerial Achievement Medals, and the Air Force Combat Action Medal. He continues to serve with the Air National Guard as a Senior Master Sergeant.

He holds degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and studied writing there and at the Sewanee Writers' Conference, among other places. He is also the author of the oral history The Speed of Heat: An Airlift Wing at War in Iraq and Afghanistan, and contributed to the anthology Operation Homecoming, edited by Andrew Carroll. Young lives in Alexandria, Virginia.

What People are Saying About This

Vince Flynn

“One of the most exciting new thriller talents in years!”

Editorial Reviews

At the start of Young's well-crafted first novel, a transport plane carrying a high-value prisoner, a radical mullah, is forced down in the rugged Hindu Kush of Afghanistan. Maj. Michael Parson, the plane's co-pilot, and female Master Sergeant Gold, an interpreter who speaks Pashto, must brave a ferocious winter storm and reach a nearby Special Forces team with the mullah, but they wind up in the hands of Taliban insurgents.The SF team rescues Parson, but the Taliban escape, taking the mullah and the translator in opposite directions.The team must try to recapture the mullah, but Parson can't abandon Gold because"You love your comrades more than you hate your enemies."Young (The Speed of Heat: An Airlift Wing at War in Iraq and Afghanistan) draws on his own war experiences for verisimilitude, which, along with believable characters and an exciting plot, makes this one of the better thrillers to come out of the Afghan theater. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"One of the most exciting new thriller talents in years!"
-Vince Flynn

"Gripping and impressively authentic."
-Frederick Forsyth

"Explosive! A gutsy, gritty thriller told only as one who's been there and done that could write it. You will long remember this terrifying, timely tale-and its terrific new writer."
-W. E. B. Griffin and William E. Butterworth IV

"Courage and honor in the face of the enemy have not been so brilliantly portrayed since the great novels of the Second World War. I would recommend Thomas Young's magnificent novel to anybody."
-Jack Higgins

"The Mullah's Storm tears along with the terror and immediacy of a nightmare. Thomas Young takes us on the trip every soldier dreads: alone, injured, and being chased through enemy territory. I couldn't put it down."
-Nathaniel Fick, CEO, Center for a New American Security, and author of One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer

"The Mullah's Storm is a riveting, gale-force tale, impossible to put down. Thomas Young air-drops the reader into the Hindu Kush, surrounded by razor-sharp ridges and miles of unbroken silence, always blurring the line between hunter or hunted. Combining a sniper's precision with a poet's economy of language, Young's debut makes you grateful to be reading safely indoors, but just a little nervous about who might be watching you."
-Craig Mullaney, Department of Defense, Principal Director for Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia, and author of The Unforgiving Minute: A Soldier's Education

"The Mullah's Storm digs in its hooks from the first chapter and never lets go. There are writers, and there are fighters - readers are lucky that Thomas Young is both."
-Alex Berenson, Author of The Faithful Spy and The Midnight House

"Thomas W. Young is an airman, and a natural-born novelist. If you want to know and to feel what it's like to serve in Afghanistan, this novel is for you. If you are a fan of Patrick O'Brian or C. S. Forester, this novel is for you."
-John Casey, National Book Award-winning author of Spartina

"Thomas Young has written an exciting, creative, and heart-pounding story set in the complex war zone of Afghanistan that he knows well. The polished style and surprising plot turns rivet you to each page. This is a great read for anyone who loves a great survival story superbly told."
-General Anthony C. Zinni, USMC (Ret.) Former Commander in Chief, U.S. Central Command

"I found The Mullah's Storm captivating. Like Tom Clancy, Young has an eye for detail about military equipment, operations, and thinking that will ring true with any veteran-something that is not often achieved by other authors-and his portrayal of Afghanistan is not only accurate but most relevant to current events and worth the read alone. Most of all, the story's suspense holds the reader in its grip. The extreme chase from hope to despair and back makes it impossible to put down."
-General Chuck Horner, USAF (Ret.)Former Commander, U.S. Central Command Air Forces

"At last, an Air Force action hero! A C-130 navigator struggles to survive in winter in the Hindu Kush. The plot and the action move with the speed and power of a B-1 bomber."
-Bing West, Author of No True Glory and The Strongest Tribe

"Thomas W. Young writes with the authority of a man who has lived to tell the tale, and he tells it at breakneck pace. He has written a page-turner that might've been torn from today's headlines. The prose crackles with grit and gunfire. The Mullah's Storm is an engrossing, enlightening, and extremely entertaining debut."
-Doug Stanton, Author of Horse Soldiers and In Harm's Way

"The Mullah's Storm is the most realistic and compelling novel that I have ever read. It is suspenseful and electrifying from beginning to end, and as close to reality as it could possibly be. The knowledge, experience, and insights of the author and his ability in writing this book is amazing. It is a 'must read' - and once you start, you will not want to put it down. The Mullah's Storm will surely be a best seller."

-General Carl Stiner, U.S. Army (Ret.) Former Commander in Chief, U.S. Special Operations Command

From the Publisher

In his debut novel, decorated war veteran Young gives us the view from the support side of combat but with a twist. While flying through a blizzard, a transport plane carrying a high-value Taliban captive about to be interrogated is shot down, leaving just the captive and two crew members, a navigator and a U.S. Army sergeant. As the three journey to allied forces through the Hindu Kush, the crewmen quickly realize that the blizzard is the least of their problems. Audie Award winner Scott Brick (see Behind the Mike, LJ 10/15/09) effectively narrates this exciting work; his clear, strong baritone moves at a nice clip and suits the material. Public libraries should consider. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 4/1/10.—Ed.]—Michael T. Fein, Central Virginia Community Coll. Lib., Lynchburg

Library Journal

An Air Force major and female Army translator battle for survival in Afghanistan after their transport plane is shot down during a blizzard.

In this impressive first novel by a decorated former flight engineer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan with the Air National Guard, the conflict in Afghanistan is reduced in gripping personal terms to its basics: Man against man, man against nature, hope against despair, fear against itself. Major Michael Parson is the navigator of a C-130 Hercules carrying a high-ranking Taliban mullah to an interrogation center. After the plane is downed by a shoulder-launched missile and other surviving crew members are killed by insurgents, Parson and interpreter Gold escape with their shackled prisoner. Stranded in the bone-chilling wilds of the Hindu Kush, with no chance of rescue because of low visibility, they hole up in snow caves, nurse injuries and await the enemy. In a terrifying sequence in the first part of the book that brings Parson to tears, they are captured by the Taliban and about to be beheaded. An Afghan-American squad saves Parson but can't prevent the ruthless Marwan and his men from dragging off Gold. When orders from above make saving her a secondary priority, Parson goes after her alone. Ultimately, he is influenced by the sense of morality she maintains even after she is tortured. Young is an excellent storyteller, creating memorable characters with Hemingway-like understatement and precision. His descriptions of the terrain, the sound different weapons make, the feeling of fingers and toes succumbing to frostbite, the way thinks look through night vision goggles, are superb.

A smart, unsettling, timely novel that puts a human face on the Afghanistan conflict while conveying the immense challenges the United States faces there.

Kirkus Reviews