A thrilling and emotional story about the bonds forged in war and good intentions gone wrong. In the early days of the Afghanistan war, Jeff Stern was scouring the streets of Kabul for a big story. He was accompanied by a driver, Aimal, who had ambitions of his own: to get rich off the sudden infusion of foreign attention and cash.
In this gripping adventure story, Stern writes of how he and Aimal navigated an environment full of guns and danger and opportunity, and how they forged a deep bond.
Then Stern got a call that changed everything. He discovered that Aimal had become an arms dealer, and was ultimately forced to flee the country to protect his family from his increasingly dangerous business partners.
Tragic, powerful, and layered,
The Mercenary is more than a wartime drama. It is a
Rashomon-like story about how politics and violence warp our humanity, and keep the most important truths hidden.
"In the early days of the Afghanistan war, Jeff Stern was a young reporter, living abroad and looking to make his name by sending dispatches from Kabul. He rode with a driver named Aimal, who had ambitions of his own: to make money by doing favors for Americans and others who came to his country in those violent and auspicious years. In The Mercenary, Stern tells the story of his relationship to Aimal, and how it grew and changed as their fortunes did"--
