I picked up this book for $1.00 at Dollar Tree. It was worth forty times that. It was extraordinary. I had a terrible time putting it down. Terrific blend of mystery, investigation, spy and war story. Shades of Heart of Darkness.

The Valley was a long ribbon of ever narrowing gorge leading to the Pakistan border. The furthest outpost from the FOB Omaha was known as Vega and was manned by a platoon under almost constant fire. It was supplied weekly and Lt. Black, relegated to administrative desk duties for some as yet unspecified violation of Army tradition or protocol, has been randomly assigned to investigate a case of a warning shot that had killed a farmer's goat. Black is universally despised by the rest of the troops. His commander, Lt. Colonel Gayley wasn't a bad commander, as things went. He was classic army and Black's description is priceless:

True, the beating bureaucratic heart of the Army had a slobbering crush on officers like Gayley. Somewhere in a lab at West Point his instructors had mixed him in a bowl. whipping into him the precise proportions of accountability. flawless attention to detail. chipper optimism, and bold cooperativeness. folding in a hardy tolerance for paperwork and a relentless professional ambition, with a dash of tanned physical perfection for flavor. They had tried and failed many times before, but when they poured Gayley into the mold and pulled him from the oven, they saw what they'd made and cried, 'That's it!' its' then hugged one another and drank reasonable amounts of sparkling cider to celebrate.

He was a little of everything and a little of nothing. He yelled at the right people, didn't yell at the wrong people, didn't fail in his duties, didn't cause surprises or embarrassments. He was just so.

When Black arrives at Vega, he's met with hostility. The soldiers know Black doesn't have a clue what they go through almost on a daily basis. He thinks the 5-16 is bullshit. They know it's bullshit Just the day before his arrival, a new soldier had lagged just a few feet behind his squad on patrol in the fog and disappeared, to reappear the next day, ball-less, intestines hanging out, tied to a tree in front of the outpost, and alive. But he didn't cry out because he knew anyone who came to help would be shot by snipers in the hills overlooking their post. And they know the villagers they are there to help participate and help the Taliban. Shades of Vietnam. It's all so fucked up.

But.... so they all think.

Note: The attack on COP Vega bears a striking resemblance to a real event, the attack on COP Keating in 2009. Renehan has referred to it as well as Jake Tapper's book about COP Keating. or Red Platoon by a Medal of Honor winner who was there. For a summary of that battle see https://mohmuseum.org/copkeating/. Who builds a base at the bottom of a valley surrounded by mountains? ( )

This is not a book I would have ordinarily have been interested in just by reading the blurb - I was so glad I gave it a chance.

Lieutenant Black is living a fairly mundane life as part of military administration on an U.S. base in Afghanistan. He has become somewhat disillusioned with his military career, when he is sent to a remote command post in one of the huge valleys in the Nuristan mountains. Black is tasked with investigating a warning shot fired in a nearby village, pretty mundane stuff for routine paperwork. Of course not all is what it seems there...

I loved this book pretty much as soon as I started to read it, I found the descriptions of military life and procedures absolutely fascinating. I loved how everything as explained simply, as I knew pretty much nothing about the U.S. Army. The book really gripped me, I was dying to know just what the heck was going on at the command post - sadly as the book reached its conclusion I was left scratching my head.

There are a lot of revelations to keep track of, I didn't really understand why some events were significant. Who was actually involved in what, and what the heck did that all mean and why was it a problem. Also there was a lot of mistaken identity, by the end of book I didn't understand who was supposed to be who. It was just confusing. Also there is a huge italic part near the end that I couldn't work out. Was that a flashback? What was the deal with the professor? So confused!

Great subject matter, convoluted conclusion. I came away from this book feeling I had missed something, or several something's.


***Disclaimer***
I received an advanced reader copy for free through Goodreads First Reads. The opinions stated this review are entirely my own. ( )

I agree wholeheartedly with the wise reviewer who said, "If you want to read one book about the war in Afghanistan, this is it." I've read more than one, have been on an Afghan/Pakistan tear of late, but this is the book that kept me reading all through the night.

Firstly, it's an Army procedural. "Hooah, LT" is the greeting for Black, a lieutenant carrying the burden of a brutal combat background, who is assigned to investigate the shooting of a goat in the remotest, furtherest, smallest operating base in Nuristan, near the Pakistani border. The Nuristanis were the last Afghans to become Muslims, which does not endear them to the area Taliban. And The Valley is lush with poppy cultivation. And the Vega Base is rife with mysterious deaths and disappearances, with stalking tribal children, two sergeants in brutish competition, a Wizard, a Monk, Xanadu, and almost too many secrets for one investigator to uncover in a week.

Renehan's familiarity with the life, considering his background in field artillery in Iraq, is a considerable asset to the novel. What is unexpected is his brilliant construction of many unfolding mysteries, his ability to deviously hide clues, and the perfection of both outer and inner dialogue.

I have enjoyed many a police procedural. This one, with the additional pressures of an insane war, rises right to the top of my best evers, along with Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie, Robert B Parker's Spenser, and Dennis Lehane's Angie and Patrick. None of those took place in a war zone (well, Lehane's Dorchester, maybe). I'd give this to anyone in or out of the service with immense pleasure. A remarkable read. Where did this guy come from? ( )

This is a niche book that will be enjoyed by people with a military background and particularly those who served in the Middle East in recent years. I see very little crossover outside of that group. The story involves a man named Black who is sent to investigate possible wrongdoing at an outpost close to enemy lines. Lots of military terminology make it difficult for someone like myself who has never been in the military. ( )

The Valley – Stunning Thriller

The Valley is the debut thriller from former American soldier John Renehan which is a brilliant mixture of war amid an investigation. Reading this you will feel that you too have been in the Valley alongside Lieutenant Black as he slowly discovers the dark secrets of a highly strung out platoon at an isolated and very remote outpost in Afghanistan. This descriptions and the imagery that they bring shows John Renehan to be a keen observer of his surroundings and you feel the harshness of the land, the harshness of the people and the loneliness of the soldier.

Lieutenant Black is a desk jockey at FOB Omaha when his commanding officer informs him that he has been randomly selected to carry out Army Regulation 15-6 investigation at Combat Outpost Vega which is based up an isolated Valley in Afghanistan, he would be there for a week to interview the men and the local chief about a dead goat. Bringing to life the politics of the locality while dodging the bullets that the American forces had to deal with.

After a six hour night time journey to COP Vega his welcoming committee is a bad tempered sergeant who puts him on his back in the mud screaming at him. Once inside the post he is also informed that he is the only commissioned officer there as the platoon’s officer had taken his place in the convoy back to base.

It is not until the following day he realises how unprepared he is to do this investigation and how much the sergeants and the other ranks are not happy he is there. Even more so when he insists they have to go down the Valley to meet with the local village chief where he meets full hostility of the locals especially when the platoon have to literally run back to the outpost to save their own skins.

Black cannot at first work out why the chief exploded in anger and cannot get any clear or honest answers from any of the men on the base. It is only when the base comes under renewed attack that he is able to slowly able to put together what the problems are and why there is an evasion of the truth by the men. It is when he has made his way up to the furthest outpost known as Traynor that he is able to gain a fuller picture.

It is while Vega is under a sustained attack that he is able to understand what has been happening and why the men are afraid to speak out to him or to another sergeant. Injured and concussed he is able to help run the command post while under attack and is able to get air support in. He is also eventually evacuated back to Omaha where he is given time to recover.

It is while he is moved to Kuwait that he is finally able to understand what one of the men said to him when he arrived at Vega "The Devil is in this valley, sir.” It is here that the pieces fall in to place and realises that he is lucky to be alive, when so many did not get away.

This is an excellent debut that makes you feel part of the investigation and feel the isolation of an unwanted officer on an outpost where there are even hostiles there. At times you have to get past some of the military jargon but there are explanations to help your understanding. A great military thriller that really grabs you and you feel the harshness of battle, plenty of action infused with mystery. ( )