A
remarkable military thriller from one of the most acclaimed new
suspense writers in years—“a triumph of the fiction of contemporary
warfare” (Alan Cheuse, The Dallas Morning News).
Khatar. It's a Somali word for
'dangerous,' and it's one that Colonel Michael Parson has heard too
often on his present mission. His friend Sophia Gold has talked him into
using his leave from the Air Force to fly relief supplies into Somalia
in an antique DC-3 cargo plane.
Somalia is infested with armed
clans, pirates, poverty, and, increasingly, terrorism. Parson and Gold
are about to face all of them firsthand. An al-Shabaab leader called The
Sheikh has declared all aid a sin against God, and he launches attacks
against planes and convoys to stop it. If that weren't bad enough, a
Hollywood actress and activist has flown into Somalia to make a
documentary, and, as far as Parson is concerned, she might as well paint
targets on their backs. The mission becomes even more complicated when
they encounter a wounded teenage al-Shabaab fighter, who might be
seeking asylum—or a chance to kill.
Not even Parson knows just how khatar his mission of mercy will become.