Aaron Gwyn's WYNNE'S WAR (2014) is one of those HOLY KEE-RAP kinda novels that grabs ya by the throat and won't let go until the last page. I mean, REALLY! And it's not one of those comic book kinda adventure stories either. It has some marvelous, well-defined characters and a plot with a number of twists and turns that will keep you guessing and turning pages deep into the night. (I finished it last night at 1am, and I'm OLD. I don't usually stay up much past 10. That's how good it is.)

The setting is Afghanistan, after a brief intro in Iraq. Our 'hero' is twenty-ish Corporal Elijah Russell, an Army Ranger, who has been specially requisitioned by the mysterious and charismatic Captain Wynne, a Special Forces officer who seems to operate on his own from a desolate outpost in eastern Afghanistan. He wants Russell because of his skill with horses. Yes, HORSES - in Afghanistan. Wynne has a couple dozen half-broke horses he has brought in from the U.S. and wants to use on a highly secret mission into the remote mountains on the Paki border, supposedly in search of some American POWs being held in a Taliban camp. After breaking the horses and training the SF squad how to ride and care for them, Russell and his Ranger battle buddy, "Wheels," are compelled to join the mission. We follow Wynne and his unit deep into the mountains, all on horseback and leading pack animals and a half dozen extra mounts - a journey that will take weeks and will test the resolve and courage of young Russell and his buddy.

I hesitate to say much more about the story itself, but here are some influences that came to mind. Think Conrad and Kurtz, O'Brien and Cacciato, but then imagine those stories on horseback through the mountains, with plenty of authentic details of wrangling and the weapons and technology of modern warfare. The war novel as western. And then throw in some backstories of Russell, a boy raised by his grandparents on an Oklahoma ranch and a natural horseman from childhood. Oh, and yeah, his grandfather was a Ranger in the Second World War and his father was a Vietnam veteran. And a little background on Wynne too - an ivy-league grad who left a $600K-a-year job in high finance to join the Army after 9/11, a highly intelligent man who has done a study of the kind of men who become Rangers and Green Berets, boys generally, he has found, from broken homes and abusive environments. He calls them "children of adversity."

There is, of course, much violence in this story. It is war, after all. There are scenes of incredible cruelty, but also some surprisingly tender moments too, found both in friendship and camaraderie of the men, as well as an 'almost' love story involving Russell and Sara, a young medic assigned briefly to the outpost. But mostly keep that HEART OF DARKNESS theme in mind. Or, perhaps also one non-fiction work that came immediately to mind, Doug Stanton's HORSE SOLDIERS, the subject of which is tangentially mentioned within the narrative.

One of the cover blurbs on my paperback edition of WYNNE'S WAR was from Philipp Meyer, author of THE SON (a bestselling epic western I loved reading a year or two ago). He said, "I could not stop reading it." Yeah, me too, Mr. Meyer. Me too. This is one of the most gripping, exciting - and literary - reads I have encountered in a long time. My very highest recommendation.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the Cold War memoir, SOLDIER BOY: AT PLAY IN THE ASA ( )

The mystique of fighting from horseback brought to a modern setting. ( )