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    The Mullah's Storm
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    The Mullah's Storm
    Unavailable
    The Mullah's Storm
    Audiobook8 hours

    The Mullah's Storm

    Written by Tom Young

    Narrated by Scott Brick

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    A transport plane carrying an important Taliban detainee for interrogation is shot down in a blizzard over Afghanistan. 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-and the beginning of a brilliant career.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateSep 7, 2010
    ISBN9781101436776
    Unavailable
    The Mullah's Storm
    Author

    Tom Young

    Tom Young is Chairman of Knoco Ltd. Prior to that Tom was founding member and Principal Coach of BPs Knowledge Management Team and Virtual Teamworking project. His understanding of cultures and industries and how to successfully interact with them, allows him to be equally at home in the Asia Pacific as in Wall Street.

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    Reviews for The Mullah's Storm

    4/5

    68 ratings31 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Tom Young has described what all military aviators fear--getting shot down. He's done it with excitement and truth. Action and adventure abounds. There was some jargon, always explained as he used it the first time--for example, I don't know how you would translate a PRC-90 survival radio to civilian mode, other than to call it by it's name. Young uses several survival techniques that seem true to form for me. One wonders why the author picked the navigator as the survivor? This book is a loaner. I'll return it, then off to overdrive for #2 in the series.
    • 3/5
      Navigator pilot Major Michael Parson and Army interpreter, Captain Gold battle against all odds in the unforgiving Afganistan terrain after the transport plane they were on, ferrying a high-profile Taliban Mullah as prisoner for interrogation, crash lands during a snowstorm. With Taliban soldiers stalking them to rescue the Mullah.Parson and Gold must stay a step ahead. Fighting against not only the Taliban but deep mounds of freezing snow, biting temperatures, unrelenting snowstorms, impenetrable fog, starving wolves, and their own sense of deep despair, they are helped by a small contingent of American and Afgan military soldiers, which they meet in the nick of time along the way.This narrative is realistic and the action starts quick; the plane is already being shot at on page four! Parson's character is all too human and vulnerable, yet brave and committed despite the set-backs, hazards, and his nagging sense of guilt at neeeding to leave his crew behind to face certain death fighting a Taliban force while he escapes with Gold in order to get the Mullah back into American hands. This is a great read and one any person interested in military or action novels ought not to miss..
    • 5/5
      This book is so good. Sorry it took so long to write my review but my husband read it first. We both learned so much from this book and it was not really written to educate. It put you in the action and you were faced with the enemy. We loved it.
    • 4/5
      This is a well written book. The terminology rings true of real life military mission. This book does a great job of combining current events with a compelling story that is hard to put down. I continued to want to find out what the next turn would be as they tried to complete their mission. Definitely a great read.
    • 4/5
      Overall I enjoyed this book. I thought the characters could have been "fleshed out" a little more. The book held my interest until the last few chapters. Then it seemed to drag until the very end. I will probably read some more books by this author.
    • 4/5
      When I first opened this book, I didn't think I would like it as it was pretty technical, and I thought that it would be too hard for me to follow. But is was explained with enough detail, that it was understandable and I was able to keep up with the military vocabulary. You can definitely tell from the amount of detail that the author has had personal experience with much of the equipment and procedures that were followed by the military in this book. I thought the plot was intriguing and the main character was well developed. I thought the pacing of the book was a little slow and could have used a little more character development with the secondary characters, but overall, I enjoyed reading the story. The plot is very timely, and I did learn quite a bit about military equipment, weapons and procedures that I didn't know before.
    • 4/5
      You've heard the legend of Eskimos having 47 different words for 'snow'? While that may be a myth, it can be stated with certainty that Thomas Young has now created more than 47 different ways to describe freezing your butt off. While ferrying an important bad guy (the eponymous Mullah) from an isolated base in the back country of Afghanistan to an 'interrogation' center, Major Parson's airplane is shot down, crashing in the icily desolate Hindu Kush. The crash occurs during an unreasonably harsh blizzard; during astonishingly low temperatures; during overcasts which prevent air support or rescue; during a time when the area is crawling with really bad guys who want their Mullah back. [There's probably something pithily sociological to be said about the enemy leader, the baddest, smartest, and most sophisticated of the lot, being a product of Western education and training, but that's a minor matter of blatant culturism we need not go into.] Major Parson and his trusty sidekick, Sergeant Gold (a woman who, like many sidekicks, is the smarter and more admirable of the two and suffers the sharp end of the stick most often), drag the Mullah along, trying to survive the dual onslaughts of the environment and the enemy.This is a quite good book, growing tedious occasionally, growing intense occasionally, and keeping your interest piqued consistently. You know that the protagonist survives in some fashion (otherwise, what are all those pages you're holding in your right hand about?). But you can't be sure what deprivations and anguish he will endure, and which of the ancillary characters will lose their heads. Throughout, I kept wondering whether I could endure such circumstances. Do I have what it takes? Could I endure and be semi-effective, or at least not a hindrance to my fellows? I was taken by surprise and thoroughly impressed, reading the author's afterword, that these were the questions Mr. Young had in mind as he wrote. He succeeds not only in telling a good war story and survival epic, while conveying a God-is-NOT-on-their side message, but also in perniciously and effectively encouraging the reader to question his/her own limitations and will.The only off-note arises from so many of the protagonist's survival skills being those he gained from a childhood hunting the Colorado Rockies. While he survived sub-zero nights huddled in his snow caves, I built forts with couch cushions, dining room chairs, and a blanket. Although it may be difficult to reconcile one's own history with contributing to survival in the way that Major Parson's does, imagination is a wonderful and frightening thing.
    • 4/5
      I don't usually read books about the military but I must say I really enjoyed this story. I could not put it down- finished it in one night. I enjoyed the story of their survival- felt like I was there with him. The story is so relevant with what is going on today in the military. Enjoyed it and would recommend it!
    • 3/5
      I know pretty much nothing about the military and it isn't a subject that interests me at all. That being said, this wasn't a bad book. There is no literary genius to be found here - the writing is passable, keeps you engaged almost all the way until the end, and makes for a good quick read - but I don't think literary genius is the point here. It's an engaging thriller, even more so if you understand the military jargon and ideas on which the entire story is based (I wish that had been explained for the benefit of those not familiar with the military, particularly the American military). But it's a good quick read, the kind you might buy in an airplane bookstore. I wish the ending had been, well, existent - there is no closure to the story, and no real character development, either. But if you're reading for plot, you'll be fine.
    • 4/5
      A plane transporting a captured mullah is shot down over Afghanistan. Two surviving crewmembers and the mullah escape on foot while being pursued by various insurgents. I was intrigued by the detailed descriptions of the survival tactics used by the protagonist. Good book that would make a great movie.
    • 4/5
      The action keeps going strong. they were in snowy weather most of the time and I could see it really well expesialy because snow is on everything outside my windows. I liked the characters but dont like the violence because I know its going on right now for real. I am so greatful for are freedom espeically for my daughters. thanks to all the soldiers who are scaraficing for us and others. I thought the emotions were real. the hatered and confusion about who is a enemy who is friend. enjoyed the book easy to read and understand. thank you for giving me the book in a exchange for a review.
    • 5/5
      A tale so descriptive and real you can feel the frostbite set in, hear the sound of gunfire, smell the gunpowder, feel the anger, and understand the bravery. The characters in The Mullah's Storm are reflective of the heroes who have and are currently fighting in the middle east. A story that can bring anti-war activists to tears of thankfulness.
    • 5/5
      Have never read a book like this but will say that I did enjoy reading this. From start to finish a really interesting read. Plan to read it again.
    • 5/5
      Having read military novels from many different authors on different conflicts, The Mullah's Storm was the first I'd picked up about the war in Afghanistan. Being a former Army Sergeant, I was looking forward to reading something referencing more recent times - during the time that I had served. This novel certainly fulfilled my every expectation. The author's style is so distinct and easy to follow that it was surprising this is his first fiction piece. While some authors explain too intently to the point of losing the tactical reasoning, the military terminology in this novel was utilized just enough for either the veteran to recall or the layman to relate. There were some very shocking moments, and unexpected twists that I enjoyed seeing, rather that the usual "everybody wins" type of action novel. I definitely look forward to Thomas W. Young's future writings.
    • 4/5
      For some reason I was expecting there to be a fantasy/sci fi element to this book, so I kept waiting for it to pop up, some sort of demon in the storm. But the only demons are the ones that the people are carrying inside themselves. A plane carrying an important political prisoner is shot down in the Hindu Kush and the navigator and the translator have to get the prisoner back into US hands. A huge snow storm is blanketing the region so they have no air support and they're fighting against the cold and the opposing forces to stay alive. Having read a lot of Jack London as a girl, it was neat seeing what modern military gear can do to help you stay alive in harsh conditions. But as a Canadian military brat, the "Americanness" of the story was sometimes off-putting. The navigator is understandably furious about the atrocities that he encounters but there wasn't a real sense of character exploration, the book felt a bit flat emotionally (he would explode and then reign it in, his dealing with the landscapes and the weather felt richer). The female translator is portrayed well, it's not a romance and it didn't need to be. Some of the language is a bit stilted, but it's worth reading as a modern survival tale.
    • 5/5
      Wow, I typically dont read military books but I think that I might after reading this one. This was a fast paced book that never lost steam. Great detail and discription by the author made me really imagine what was going on. Must read!
    • 4/5
      This review is subject to change as I digest my feelings about it. The Mullah's Storm is a fascinating novel, written by a veteran. It is the story of a soldier who crashes in the Afghan country side. He's ordered by an injured officer to abandon those left alive and escort an important Mullah and interpreter to safety. The soldier faces an unforgiving country side gripped in a terrible storm, an elderly prisoner trying to get them caught, and the feelings of guilt at having abandoned his comrades.I enjoyed this novel. Young writes in a realistic style that tells you he knows what he's writing about. But there were some elements that were a bit flat. I would not put Young among the top tier of novelists. I probably wouldn't have read this novel on my own, but I'm glad I did, and anyone who wants to understand our current conflicts would learn a lot from The Mullah's Storm.
    • 5/5
      The Mullah's Storm was a very moving, high intensity book. I enjoyed the main character, even though I found some aspects of his survival to be hard to believe. I found his weaknesses however to be very believable. At various points he considers murder, and torture. And it is all very easy to get caught up in. This is a great book though, and a fun read. Hope to read more from this author. I highly recommend this book!
    • 5/5
      At the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, Mullah was to be transported to be questioned by the military. When the plane was shot down by hostiles, two of the survivors were told to walk mullah and themselves back to the base 50 miles away. The detainee was too important to the military to let him escape. Major Parson and Sargent Gold with Mullah in tow trek through enemy territory during a blizzard to try to return to the air Base. This novel was gripping and graphic. Some scenes were hard to read because I thought of our poor soldiers going through the same thing. This book can bring you to tears. I think the ending could of been better.
    • 4/5
      I don't normally read military thrillers, since, for the most part, current conflict doesn't interest me. Therefore, I am no expert of what makes a good military thriller. But, I do know what make a good read.In The Mullah' Storm, while transporting a prisoner of war, a notable mullah, to his next destination, where he will most likely be interrogated, the aircraft carrying him is shot down. The crew split up, leaving country-boy Parson and Army translator Gold to escape with the prisoner before the insurgents get to the aircraft to free them of that burden.It's a story of conflict, of wits, of loyalty, and of survival. Especially since all this happens during one of the worst snowstorms in Afghanistan.Gold and Parson drag the mullah with them, trying to outlast the storm, so that an aircraft can pick them up. All the while insurgents, led by a particularly ruthless man with extensive military training, dog them each step of the way. Along the way, they meet a team of Special Force operatives, who help them along the way in turn for them helping the SF.All in all, the book was well written. It was, as I'm sure one of the many blurbs refers to it as "a page-turner." Even with my apparent lack of interest in the subject matter, Young had me turning each and every page, trying to get to the end, just to find out if everything went all right. I'd recommend this to anybody who enjoys a good military thriller, and isn't put off by a bit of violence and language.
    • 5/5
      First I have a confession to make... I am NOT a big fan of military action novels, nor their counterpart in movies. I just don't fantasize about carrying a rugged pack and slinging an M-16 over my shoulder and traipsing through some mountainous dessert terrain or sloshing through a jungle where the enemy lies waiting for my demise at his hands!But from the very moment I read the description for The Mullah's Storm, I knew I had to read it! Thomas Young is an Air National Guard veteran and knows that of which he writes first hand.I was gripped by this novel from the word go! When Air Force navigator Michael Parsons and Army interpretor Sgt. Gold are shot down from the skies they are the only two of their mission to survive. Except for a prisoner. A very special prisoner.Young takes us through terrain we have never seen before, but which we now feel we know like the back of our hand. He leads on a mission that puts us right there in the field with him.Young's military and technical knowledge are fully apparent in his writing. Yet he doesn't overwhelm the ignorant with so much technical jargon that we become lost and unable to follow. Instead, we feel the terror that grips Parsons and Gold. We feel the mental anguish. We feel the elements as they battle for survival in a brutal land against an even more brutal enemy. We smell the gunpowder, lead, and blood.There are so few writers today who can transport you into the world of their story. It takes a special talent to do that. Young is just such a talent.I highly recommend The Mullah's Storm.I give this book......my five star rating and......my Thumbs Up award!****Disclosure: Putnam provided me with a copy of this novel through Library Thing's Early Reviewer program for review.
    • 4/5
      Thomas W. Young the author of this book has extensive flight experience in the USAF. He has flown wartime missions over Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo and other countries. This story is an aircrews worst fear...being shot down behind enemy lines in a hostile environment. Afghanistan has some of the toughest terrain in the world to traverse.The Mullah's Storm is about just this fear and the author uses the aircraft navigator as our protagonist and narrator. This C-130 aircrew takes off on a routine flight transportation a high value prisoner as a very bad storm front is moments from engulfing the area. The action starts immediately as the aircraft is shot down shot down over the Hindu Kush.The story is of survival against the enemy and the elements. The detail of the weather, landscape and technical and physical capabilities are well written. The story is compelling enough too make you not wish to put it down and continue reading. It flows well and is filled with wartime tension and suspense that is aggravated by the nature of the enemy and the cruel natural environment. Every page is filled with action or suspense and it is as if you can feel the minutes ticking by. The characters are not fleshed out in a summation but as they story unfolds we learn of their background and training. One cannot help but feel it was the protagonist childhood being raised in the mountains and a hunter that is as most use to their survival and his technical training in navigation and air operations is evident. The ending of the book is not definitive and leaves what happens to he protagonist to your imagination. Some will find this anticlimactic, yet those how know the capabilities of the aircraft sent in to support them as the book end can have hope. A final chapter though would be all that was required to complete the story arc.
    • 5/5
      The Mullah's Storm is a compelling read. The author tells the story from the point of view of a USAF navigator. Their particular mission was the transporting an important prisoner out of Afghanistan for questioning by the CIA. But the book starts with his aircraft being immediately shot down over the Hindu Kush and the book becomes a battle for survival against not only the enemy but the severe elements.The book is a page turner and keeps you wanting to continue to turn the page as the protagonist does his best to survive the brutal environment, the enemy and at the same time keeping what he felt were his charges safe. It is not a tale of a superman that can overcome all, for we see his breaking point and his reaction to various stressful situations. The author brought his knowledge he learned growing up and his training in the USAF. To my surprise I realized that I had read this book within four hours.
    • 4/5
      I received The Mullah's Storm through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program.Write what you know; know what you write. Its an old axiom for a reason - its true. The best stories are written by writers who know what they are talking about. War novels or military novels seem to especially hold this theory true. Books like Slaughterhouse-Five, The Forever War, and other war novels are good - because their written by authors who were there; who participated, who fought, and who know what they are talking about. Its one thing for an amateur to write the gore and the horror; its another for a writer who saw gore or horror and can relate it. Mullah's Storm is like this; taken in a bit of a different direction. Instead of focusing on similar events to his own life (like Vonnegut did with Slaughterhouse-Five); Young looks at what would be his worst-case-scenario and writes about it.Terrific and gripping novel that will keep you flipping the pages.
    • 4/5
      This was a quick read. You can tell the author knows what he's talking about, the amount of detail was perfect. It wasn't dry and over technical and yet you walk away having learned a lot about the tactics and skills our troops use everyday in Iraq and Afghanistan. The story itself was well done and moved right along, never giving you an opportunity to lose interest.
    • 2/5
      I received The Mullah's Storm through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program.The Mullah's Storm tells the story of a USAF navigator charged with transporting an important prisoner out of Afghanistan for questioning by the CIA. The transport is quickly shot down over the Hindu Kush and the book becomes a battle for survival against not only the enemy, but the elements as well.This book appears to be written with a movie adaptation in mind. The kind of movie where character development and exposition aren't important because you're just there to see things blow up. Where the good guys are good and the bad guys are bad, no exceptions, no nuance, no shades of gray. Where the lone hero can shoot down dozens of armed insurgents without ever taking a bullet himself. This might work in a film where we can be dazzled by special effects and heart-pounding emotions can be induced by a fast-paced combat scene and a good editor, but in a novel, we still need a reason to care about the characters; an impetus for being on their side besides being told it's the right one. In The Mullah's Storm, the only background information we are given on the characters relates to their experience with survival situations and serves only to make their abilities believable, not relatable. Their conversations are limited to tactical necessity and the emotional effects of their actions are felt only briefly, if at all. A good literary villain should have a background as well, something that tells us what drove them to their current beliefs and actions. Here only one villain is given so much as a name. The rest are only given a tenacious blind hatred for the protagonists. Without any subtlety in their characters, it is hard to feel anything when these villains are defeated. There is also a strangely-handled anti-Muslim streak running through the book. Lip-service is given to the fact that not all Muslims are bad, but there is little evidence that the main character has changed his distasteful view of the "ragheads" by the end of the book.Young has extensive flight experience in the USAF, in Afghanistan among other places, and there is no reason to think any of his detailed descriptions of combat are inaccurate. His insider point of view can sometimes lead to over-description of familiar concepts while other specialized terminology is thrown into the narrative without clarification.There is one section of the book I found truly compelling. After the novel itself, after the Acknowledgments and About the Author, for three pages, Young breaks out from behind the mask of fiction and speaks in the first person about what inspired him to write The Mullah's Storm. He speaks to his personal experiences with people similar to his characters, to fears arising from his deployments and to the landscape of the Hindu Kush. This brief section hinted at a wealth of fascinating true-life stories from Young's military experience and showed evidence that he could weave them into a simple yet touching narrative. This is the book I would love to see him write.
    • 4/5
      I was given a review copy of this book. The author, Thomas W. Young, served his country by flying fr the Air National Guard. He says that when he flew in /over Afganistan his greatest fear wasn't being shot down & killed, but being shot down and not being killed. This novel is explores that fear. I wondered if the story might be bogged down by a lot of technical details. That was not the case at all. It was detailed, but grippingly suspenseful at the same time. I was hooked by page 10 and could not put the book down.
    • 4/5
      ‘The Mullah’s Storm’ is a creditable military thriller by debut novelist and Afghan War veteran Thomas W. Young. Young ably incorporates his experience as a C-130 flight engineer flying missions into Afghanistan and his Air Force Survival School training into his story of every pilot’s worst nightmare. Shot down and wounded high in the Hindu Kush mountains, Air Force Major Michael Parsons needs to find a way to get an Army sergeant, a captured Taliban Mullah and himself back to friendly territory all the while having to contend with Taliban and Arab insurgents and an unusually fierce winter storm that has grounded all aircraft.I was initially concerned that this would be a jingoistic rah-rah war story with all the depth and character development of a back yard GI Joe battle but Young soon put my fears to rest. He ably used interaction between Parsons and Sgt. Gold, a female translator, to express differing points of view about the Afghanistan and the Afghan people. He also used the character of Sgt. Gold to stress the increasingly important role of women in the modern armed forces. I do think the story could have used a little more character development. Little is said of their lives back home which pretty much leaves us knowing nothing about them other than their military duties. I almost suspect that Sgt. Gold’s first name is ‘Sergeant’. (ARC provided by Amazon Vine program)
    • 3/5
      Mullah's Storm is an action-packed story about a military mission gone awry. Thomas Young's prose is lucid and succinct and keeps the action of the story moving at a fast and entertaining pace. Truth be told, action is not my favorite genre of fiction, and I'm a bit out of my league when it comes to rating the accuracy of Young's jargon. Furthermore, judging the fictional war-time tale—so directly inflected by current events—of someone who has served is also a difficult task because I do not want to belittle what Young has seen or done. Thus, I must conclude by saying Young weaves an enticing story that is certain to please readers who thrive on the thrill of action and fast-paced writing. [Book received as part of Early Reviewers Program]
    • 4/5
      The Mullah's Storm by Thomas W. Young is a must read for all. The fast pace intro snares you but it’s the in depth look at survival that keeps you turning the page. You’ll be hooked by page two.Michael Parson and several crew members are shot down during a blizzard in Afghanistan while transporting a Taliban detainee for questioning. Unable to get help due to the severe storm the survivors must rely on each other to survive. Not only in a hostile environment with the Taliban hunting them but also never knowing when and if they meet someone if they are friendly or not. Parson finds himself stuck between staying with fellow survivors or carrying out the mission of delivering the detainee for interrogation and along the way gains and loses both friends and enemies. He finds himself pushed to his limits both physically and mentally. This is an action pack thriller that will zoom in to your mind like a snipers bullet, you’ll never know what hit you till it’s over.It is obvious from the beginning that this book is written by someone who has been there and know’s his way around. I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads but would defiantly recommend it and I can’t wait to see what Thomas W. Young does next!