The Warlord's Son - Tapa dura

Skelly, a burned-out war correspondent, and his Pakistani translator, Najeeb, make a harrowing journey into the war-torn world of present-day Afghanistan, where they are plunged into a deadly web of intrigue, betrayal, violence, and religious extremism and only their loyalty to each other can help them survive. By the author of Lie in the Dark.

His last novel, The Small Boat of Great Sorrows, was hailed as “a relentlessly crackling mystery and adventure tale” (The Baltimore Sun) and “a new standard for war-based thrillers” (Los Angeles Times). In this electrifying new thriller, Dan Fesperman takes us to present-day Afghanistan–the global capital of death long before it became a battleground for America–where the fates of an American journalist and a Pakistani translator become dangerously intertwined with the fortunes of warlords, spies, and dubious corporate interests.

A burned-out war correspondent hoping for a last hurrah in Afghanistan, Skelly arrives on the Afghan border just as American bombs begin falling on the ruling Taliban. Seeking the scoop of a lifetime as witness to the capture of “the biggest fish of them all,” he links up with an exiled warlord’s quixotic expedition. Guiding Skelly’s way is Najeeb, a tribal Pakistani with his own objective–U.S. visas for his girlfriend and himself, promised by Pakistani intelligence if he acts as an informant.

A harrowing crossing into Afghanistan is only the beginning of trouble for the two men. Their journey quickly escalates into a race for their lives as they are pulled into a vortex of intrigue, betrayal, and violence. Finally, only their loyalty to each other holds out the possibility of survival for either of them.

Fast-paced, timely, and galvanizing from first to last.