Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Sep 2010
288 pages
Genre: Thrillers
Publication Information
An extraordinary debut novel about courage and survival in Afghanistan, written as only a man who has “been there and done that” could tell it.
"When you write fiction, your best work may come from what scares you the most," writes airman Thomas W. Young. "When I first flew to Afghanistan, what scared me the most wasn't the thought of getting shot down and killed. It was the thought of getting shot down and not killed..."
A transport plane carrying an important Taliban detainee for interrogation is shot down in a blizzard over the Hindu Kush. The storm makes rescue impossible, and for two people - navigator Michael Parson and a woman Army interpreter, Sergeant Gold - a battle for survival begins across some of the most forbidding terrain on earth against not only the hazards of nature, but the treacheries of man: the Taliban stalking them; the villagers, whose loyalty is unknown; and a prisoner who would very much like the three of them to be caught. All Parson and Gold have is each other, to stay alive.
It is a novel of relentless pace and constant surprise, not only in the turns of its plot but in the strength and fleetness of its prose. Thomas Young is a writer - and this is the beginning of a brilliant career.
"Starred Review. 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
Young 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." - Publishers Weekly
"Courage and honor in the face of the enemy have not been so brilliantly portrayed since the great novels of the Second World War. A magnificent novel." - Jack Higgins
"A gusty, 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
"A page-turner that might've been torn from today's headlines. An engrossing, enlightening, and extremely entertaining debut." - Doug Stanton, bestselling author of In Harm's Way and Horse Soldiers
"Like Tom Clancy, Young has an eye for detail about military equipment, operations, and thinking that will ring true with any veteran, and his portrayal of Afghanistan is worth the read alone." - General Chuck Horner, USAF (RET.), former Commander, U.S. Central Command Air Forces
"Gripping and impressively authentic." - Frederick Forsyth
"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 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
"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
This information about The Mullah's Storm was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Thomas W. 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.
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