His last novel, The Small Boat of Great Sorrows, was hailed as “a relentlessly crackling mystery and adventure tale” ( The Baltimore Sun ) and “a new standard for war-based thrillers” ( Los Angeles Times ). In this electrifying new thriller, Dan Fesperman takes us to present-day Afghanistan–the global capital of death long before it became a battleground for America–where the fates of an American journalist and a Pakistani translator become dangerously intertwined with the fortunes of warlords, spies, and dubious corporate interests. A burned-out war correspondent hoping for a last hurrah in Afghanistan, Skelly arrives on the Afghan border just as American bombs begin falling on the ruling Taliban. Seeking the scoop of a lifetime as witness to the capture of “the biggest fish of them all,” he links up with an exiled warlord’s quixotic expedition. Guiding Skelly’s way is Najeeb, a tribal Pakistani with his own objective–U.S. visas for his girlfriend and himself, promised by Pakistani intelligence if he acts as an informant. A harrowing crossing into Afghanistan is only the beginning of trouble for the two men. Their journey quickly escalates into a race for their lives as they are pulled into a vortex of intrigue, betrayal, and violence. Finally, only their loyalty to each other holds out the possibility of survival for either of them. Fast-paced, timely, and galvanizing from first to last. Dan Fesperson's captivating third novel, The Warlord's Son , begins cinematically with a dusty sunrise in Peshawar, Pakistan, the clamorous calls of competing muezzins, and the buzz of a scooter. In a classic premise worthy of John Le Carre, an aging American war correspondent named Skelly has been sent on what he fears will be--one way or another--his final assignment: the war zone of Afghanistan during the American bombings after 9/11. His ticket into Afghanistan is Najeeb Ajam--an Afghani-born "fixer," a local guide for foreign correspondents, expected to translate the region's languages, arrange passage to difficult areas, and secure introductions to valuable contacts, government clerks, street merchants, warlords. But Ajam is working for higher stakes than his daily cash envelope. His journey with Skelly takes him back to his tribal lands, where he must reckon with the powerful father he left and betrayed years earlier. Like the works of Graham Greene or Paul Bowles, The Warlord's Son can be read purely for atmosphere, since it beautifully conveys the rigid hierarchies, harsh living conditions, and casual violence of the region. As a thriller, it has some weak points, but Najeem's world is depicted so convincingly that we can allow Fesperson a few liberties with plausibility. --Regina Marler Adult/High School–A superbly written tale of betrayal, brutality, and courage. Skelly (a slurring of Stan Kelly) is a thrice-married, journalistic warhorse, a veteran of hot spots from Managua to Sarajevo to the Kuwaiti deserts. Suffering burnout, he returns to the U.S., but "three years of the suburbs of the Midwest had left [him] forgetful of past lessons." Now in Pakistan, he plans to cross the border into post-9/11 Afghanistan in hopes of a career-crowning story. The warlord's son of the title, Najeeb, is his translator/guide, a Pashtun whose father has banished him from his native country. Further complicating Najeeb's political and familial situation is his live-in relationship with cosmopolitan Daliya, which places them both in cultural jeopardy. The plot is a heart-stopping drama (a rope-bridge crossing straight out of Indiana Jones; a grisly hanging) even as the author weaves everyday cultural realities into deeply affecting scenes; Daliya's visit to a burqa shop is both enlightening and sobering. With a polished writing style, Fesperman delivers plot twists, adept characterization, attention to detail, and a masterful use of setting, making The Warlord's Son highly recommendable to teens who enjoy a quality reading experience. –Dori DeSpain, Fairfax County Public Library, VA Leaving the Eastern Europe of his well-received Lie in the Dark (1999) and Small Boat of Great Sorrows (2003), Fesperman turns to another region he has covered as a Baltimore Sun reporter. Afghanistan is being bombed by American warplanes in retaliation for 9/11, and Stan Kelly ("Skelly") is hoping to close out his long reporting career with a big story and an Afghan dateline. Setting up first in Peshawar, Skelly hires an Afghan "fixer," Najeeb Azam, to translate and run interference for him across the border. Najeeb, though, has his own issues: his fiancee has gone missing; he's being coerced by the Pakistani secret police into informing on Skelly; and he finds their party heading to his home village, run by his warlord father, whom Najeeb, under torture, betrayed to authorities seven years before. Plot-driven fans might not see this slowly paced book to the end, but Fesperman offers a level of cultural and political nuance not al