"An urgent and deeply moving novel" (Michiko Kakutani, The New York
Times) about a young American soldier struggling to find meaning during
the final, dark days of the War in Iraq.
The US military is preparing to withdraw from Iraq, and newly minted
lieutenant Jack Porter struggles to accept how it's happening--through
alliances with warlords who have Arab and American blood on their hands.
Day after day, Jack tries to assert his leadership in the sweltering,
dreary atmosphere of Ashuriyah. But his world is disrupted by the
arrival of veteran Sergeant Daniel Chambers, whose aggressive style
threatens to undermine the fragile peace that the troops have worked
hard to establish.
As Iraq plunges back into chaos and bloodshed and Chambers's influence
over the men grows stronger, Jack becomes obsessed with a strange,
tragic tale of reckless love between a lost American soldier and Rana, a
local sheikh's daughter. In search of the truth and buoyed by the
knowledge that what he finds may implicate Sergeant Chambers, Jack seeks
answers from the enigmatic Rana, and soon their fates become
intertwined. Determined to secure a better future for Rana and a
legitimate and lasting peace for her country, Jack will defy American
command, putting his own future in grave peril.
For fans of Phil Klay's Redeployment or Ben Fountain's Billy Lynn's
Long Halftime Walk, Youngblood provides startling new dimension to
both the moral complexity of war and its psychological toll.
