The Mercenary
A Story of Brotherhood and Terror in the Afghanistan War
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- £3.99
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- £3.99
Publisher Description
A thrilling and emotional story about the bonds forged in war and good intentions gone wrong.
In the early days of the Afghanistan war, Jeff Stern was scouring the streets of Kabul for a big story. He was accompanied by a driver, Aimal, who had ambitions of his own: to get rich off the sudden infusion of foreign attention and cash.
In this gripping adventure story, Stern writes of how he and Aimal navigated an environment full of guns and danger and opportunity, and how they forged a deep bond.
Then Stern got a call that changed everything. He discovered that Aimal had become an arms dealer, and was ultimately forced to flee the country to protect his family from his increasingly dangerous business partners.
Tragic, powerful, and layered, The Mercenary is more than a wartime drama. It is a Rashomon-like story about how politics and violence warp our humanity, and keep the most important truths hidden.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this ambitious yet flawed dual memoir, journalist Stern (The 15:17 to Paris) chronicles his and his driver's experiences during and after the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan. Portraying himself as a wannabe reporter who "kept failing and advancing to the next level anyway," Stern recounts how he paid his own way to Afghanistan in 2007 and fortuitously hired Aimal, who "somehow knew before everyone else when a bomb had gone off and where." The first third of narrative is told from Stern's perspective, detailing the scrapes he got into and out of with Aimal's help between 2007 and 2011. The vantage point then shifts, documenting Aimal's childhood in Kabul, his arms dealing during the U.S. occupation, and his escape to Canada in 2011. The final section, which seesaws back-and-forth between Stern and Aimal's perspectives, culminates in their separate efforts to help people escape Kabul during the U.S. withdrawal and Stern's assistance in Aimal's reconciliation with his wife. Though Stern candidly admits to "self-absorption" and "misperceptions," he still casts Aimal mainly in a sidekick role, and the differences between their versions of events are subtle, giving the narrative a somewhat repetitive feel. This aims high but falls short.
