Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Chasing Shadows: A Special Agent's Lifelong Hunt to Bring a Cold War Assassin to Justice, 2011, etc.) embedded himself with a combat unit in Afghanistan in 2010. The result is a carefully rendered account of Parnell's tour, with verisimilitude provided by extensive specific details illustrating the sheer complexity of modern combat, as well as the frustrating officer politics on remote bases. Parnell focuses on the experiences of several platoon members, and he writes that it is brotherly love that bonds soldiers in combat, ensuring their survival. He also observes his comrades' deep ambivalence toward their Pakistani allies and the Afghani people's willingness to reform and defend their society. The book's main flaw is a repetitiveness that becomes mawkish: Points about the soldiers' personal burdens and the bond of brotherhood in combat are made so often that they become less rather than more effective. This flaw, however, may not bother the book's intended audience. Well-told combat narrative that raises disturbing questions about America's professionalized military and the post-9/11 objectives with which they've been tasked.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.