A tough but valuable read about war. This takes some unexpected turns, the characters are terrific, and the storytelling is good.

Wonderful book!
Really liked reading this fresh and outstanding book. It was a real pleasure to read it.
Thanks for the publisher for the opportunity to read this in advance

It’s easy to overlook the fact, here in the UK, that other nations have fought in Afghanistan as well, and that Denmark too was one of those who joined the coalition to secure the country from the Taliban. In this novel we see the conflict from the Danish perspective, although in war nationality matters little – the effects and consequences on the combatants are always the same. We are introduced to members of a platoon stationed in Helmand Province, a group of young people, and we are graphically reminded of what war does to combatants and civilians alike, what happens to people in extreme situations. So far so good – I have no reason to think this is anything other than a realistic and faithful depiction. However, I simply couldn’t engage with the book. For a start the protagonists seem types rather than fully-rounded characters. They are all overly articulate and speak in long speeches and clichés. The description of the Afghans seemed stereotypical and their savagery seemed to know no bounds. I found there was just too much violence overall and the descriptions unnecessarily graphic. There was also too much exposition, with every abbreviation spelt out even when the meaning was clear. Too many subplots dilute the narrative and in the end I lost interest. Just not one for me, this tale of brutality and war, and I gained little from it.

Outstanding tale about the moral corruption of war as told from the perspective of a Danish platoon in the Afghanistan War. The soldiers are green, eager to prove themselves in battle or to make a difference, but the lack family models for military prowess given that for over 100 years the only combat the Danes had as a nation was a resistance to Hitler’s invasions that lasted only a few days. They are in a forward camp with Brits in the Hellmand Province around 2009, a time when the so-called Petraeus Doctrine was in play, which featured counterinsurgency and nation-building work to garner “Hearts and Minds” of the Afghan people (e.g. support of infrastructure, schools and clinics). As covered in the Brad Pitt movie about field commander General McKrystal, “War Machine”, the soldiers were constrained to firing only in defense and only against armed opponents, a hard policy to follow in the face of IEDs, sniper fire, and Taliban mixing with the civilian population.

Jensen’s four main voices in his story come from ordinary walks of life—the private, Hannah, who comes from an aimless life pursuing weightlifting and rollerblading and inhabits a tough persona undermined by feelings inadequacy; the medic, Simon, a pragmatic but selfless butcher’s son, who thrives on a sense of family among the platoon’s “band of brothers”; the sergeant Schroder, who was a video game designer and now applies relevant experience of team leadership and problem-solving strategies; and the colonel and platoon leader Steffensen, whose background as a city councilor gives him confidence in balancing military and political agendas. Other main characters include a chaplain who pumps up the spirit of his soldier flock with a religious and romantic blend of memes resembling that of the Crusades, an educated Afghan woman refugee seeking a son being brainwashed by the Taliban into jihad, and a CIA operative working undercover as made possible from his background as a Afghan immigrant to the U.S. as a child.

This is not a typical combat situation against soldiers, such as that portrayed in Junger’s nonfiction account “War”, about American troops at the remote “tip of the spear” outpost in the mountainous northeast. Here military patrols to take out Taliban insurgents are a sideline to attempts by the occupying forces to stabilize relations and support for town governments and independent warlords and their militia. The fictional plot is mostly about how good intentions go awry due to ignorant self-righteousness and poor understanding of a culture used as a pawn in the conflicts of powerful nations for centuries. For example, Steffenson works to place a cooperative man as a town’s chief of police and contracts with a warlord to secure checkpoints around their base. The Afghans can only see these efforts as typical gamesmanship in the context of the corruption endemic in their society. A simple breech in relations between Steffensen and the police chief leads to the warlord addressing the problem by directing the latter’s assassination. These and other misunderstandings with the warlord escalate out of control and end up in an airstrike on his compound, killing many children and women in the process.

The major thread of the novel has to do with one man of the platoon collaborating with the Taliban on an ambush that takes out most of the platoon and the capture of the handful of survivors. The fate of the captives makes for a compelling tale, bringing out the humanity of all players and the tough moral dilemmas faced by participants and bystanders in this long and brutal war. I found the novel well crafted and on the same level of satisfaction and impact as Marlantes’ novel on the Vietnam War, “Matterhorn.” The experience made me interested in pursuing Jensen’s well received prior novel, “We, the Drowned”.

I now share some sample quotes to convey some of the power of Jensen’s prose. The first captures why one platoon private, Adrian (aka Sidekick), has taken up the task of documenting as much as possible of the platoon’s activities on a video camera:
"He knows firsthand how therapeutic it is to hold an automatic rifle in your hands—a profane feeling of immortality. As if the rifle guarantees that what happens to others will never happen to you. The world can’t kill you. You’re deaths equal. Maybe a camera makes you feel the same way."

In the following sample, Sergeant Schroeder lets his hair down a bit after a lover’s tryst with Hannah:
"No one can stand it that their death or survival might be determined by chance. But that’s all that life is. People with vison and talent don’t need luck. Only the incompetent do. An idiot once wrote that everyone in the trenches ends up believing in God. … No one gets religion in the trenches. They become superstitious, which is something entirely different. …We worship luck to hide shame in our own inadequacy."

In my final example, certain tragic events experienced by the platoon members have led the chaplain to changed his style of homily from bucking them up on their mission as defense of family and goodness to an Old Testament kind of message:
"Today you have witnessed the Lord’s wrath. He has shown us what Judgment Day means to him. Not the day when the sheep are separated from the goats, or the just from the unjust, but the day when he slaughters as he pleases. …The all powerful executioner awaits all of you, turning the world to one big execution. Today, the Lord has let his mask fall, revealing his hatred to the very world he breathed life into."

This book was provided for review by the publisher through the Netgalley program.

The First Stone is a brutal war novel that is well written and very graphic. The descriptions are graphic and well done.

It was even better than I expected. I will be including it in an upcoming Book Riot piece on most anticipated upcoming titles.

Another stellar novel from Carsten Jensen; the story is fast-paced, unpredictable. Ultimately this is a book about war; a war story that takes some very unexpected turns along the way, and one that leaves the reader worried about the human race.

For more reviews and bookish posts please visit: http://www.ManOfLaBook.com

The First Stone by Carsten Jensen (translated by Mark Mussari) is a novel which follows a Danish platoon fighting in Afghanistan, who find themselves as not only hunters, but as prey as well. Mr. Jensen is an award winning author and journalist.

A platoon of Danish soldiers, part of NATO forces, are hampered down in Afghanistan fighting the Taliban. Third platoon has a charismatic and brave leader, Schrøder, who answers to Colonel Steffensen. The two man are polar opposites.

The soldiers embark on a revenge mission, without realizing they are being set up by a traitor from within. Third platoon realizes that in war you have to make inconvenient allies, and embrace strange bedfellows just to survive the day.
If you’re lucky.

One of my favorite books is We, the Drowned and I have been looking forward to read more of the author’s books ever since. I have been, for years, checking to see if he came out with a new book and was very excited when The First Stone by Carsten Jensen (translated by Mark Mussari) popped on my screen.

This book is an excellent read, fast paced, unpredictable, and quite bloody. Mr. Jensen has an understanding about Afghanistan that I wish some of the world leaders had, or at least admit to having instead of spewing that day’s talking point.

I felt that Mr. Jensen tried to push his ideas a bit too hard, to the point where it was obvious instead of letting the readers figure it out. That being said, I think readers will have a much better understanding of this unforgiving country, its culture, factions and the hell the troops have to go through while stationed there.

The book is divvied into three parts, one of the common themes to them all is a Shakespearean power struggle, among different people, which would make Macbeth proud. Any Afghan or foreigner that ties himself to the “common people” eventually gets removed or killed, only to be replaced by a more placating figure. The struggle to “win hearts and minds” takes a backseat to fighting a war disregarding the plight of the population the Danes came to help.

The book is very violent, with some graphic descriptions of the horrors and savagery the soldiers witness. There are many subplots involved and the book could have easily been twice as big, but it certainly kept my interest throughout

There are so many reviews for this already that I can't add any value, so I'll just say that this is a solid war read from an experienced author with the expected violence and drama. Recommended for fans of war stories.

I really appreciate the NetGalley copy for review!!

A beautiful story but hard to read when it’s missing text and images! After certain pages of text there will be a <Insert image> and then the image file name- but no image. It’s distracting and takes away from the story. Additionally, there isn’t a map included and I think based on the insert image there should be one. So, difficult to get my bearings as someone not used to this geographical zone. All important for a successful translation. Maybe this works better in print.

Thank You NetGalley for the free ARC. I loved "We, the Drowned", but had a harder time with this new book about a group of Danish soldier fighting the was in Afghanistan. Very brutal.