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Pashtun
In a modern day version of the Phoenix Program, a soldier is recruited by the CIA to assassinate suspected Taliban and Al Qaeda terrorists. The real targets become blurred and the hero of this work discovers it's oil that's driving many of the missions he is sent to carry out. His new found knowledge takes him and his two comrades to Germany and throughout Afghanistan. One of his sidekicks is an indestructible lyrical Irishman with a cutting sense of humor and a glass of whiskey never far from his hand. The second buddy is a giant who quotes poetry and rap songs while he both gives torture and lives through his own agonizing trials. On the way, they rescue a woman and barely escape the vengeance of the bosses at the CIA. Pashtun is filled with challenges of military special operations in rock filled landscape and told with a compassion for those asked to fight the battles.
389 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 10, 2010
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96 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
December 5, 2022
It's a good book. It has a lot of the mysterious subplots and and cloak and dagger stuff that is pretty much the staple of stuff with the CIA. The MC is taken through a world of spy stuff and of course Save The World From Evil plots. Generally though it gets overused but I think this book does a great job of making that work. At the outset the plot is pretty stable and I liked at the end where Dunne betrays them all and how that now that he's the actual bad guy and not the good guy. However, the author keeps his role subdued and makes it workout pretty good. I like the characters and wondering how an Irishman gets on the CIA payroll, but Finnen is good enough to not really worry about. If there is one critique, it's the weapons used. Only Germans use H&Ks as part of their issued weapons, and the US Army doesn't use G36s, which I feel was artistic license and not so much born on reality. Regardless I'd check this book out if you like thrillers.
July 8, 2014
Audiobook Review
3 7/8 Stars
Frank Morgan is a spook, a CIA assassin, on duty in Afghanistan. His mission: eliminate Taliban and Al Qaeda leaders, as well as a few others. But his conscious is bothering him. He has found a bond with the local people, and regrets his murder of innocents. He also has rightfully developed a great distrust of his own people and most of all the CIA. They're up to something awful, and he's probably a pawn in it.
Frank keeps himself sane by mentally composing emails to his mother while he's engaged in unpalatable actions. There are episodes of past events recalled, providing a little more depth to Frank but distracting from the flow of the story. Frank also 'saves' an Afghan girl from the Taliban, perhaps salving his own guilt. The problem is he falls for her.
In the CIA mix, there are Frank, a drunken Irishman, and a newbie black guy that plays the humor part of the story quite well.
For those readers of Afghan war stories, this book is entertaining, but not earth shattering. It has a plot that gradually winds up, then takes a major swing at you but -- misses. The ending is flat and inconclusive. I kept checking to see if I lost the end of the audiobook somehow, but it just -- ends. Disappointing.
3 7/8 Stars
Frank Morgan is a spook, a CIA assassin, on duty in Afghanistan. His mission: eliminate Taliban and Al Qaeda leaders, as well as a few others. But his conscious is bothering him. He has found a bond with the local people, and regrets his murder of innocents. He also has rightfully developed a great distrust of his own people and most of all the CIA. They're up to something awful, and he's probably a pawn in it.
Frank keeps himself sane by mentally composing emails to his mother while he's engaged in unpalatable actions. There are episodes of past events recalled, providing a little more depth to Frank but distracting from the flow of the story. Frank also 'saves' an Afghan girl from the Taliban, perhaps salving his own guilt. The problem is he falls for her.
In the CIA mix, there are Frank, a drunken Irishman, and a newbie black guy that plays the humor part of the story quite well.
For those readers of Afghan war stories, this book is entertaining, but not earth shattering. It has a plot that gradually winds up, then takes a major swing at you but -- misses. The ending is flat and inconclusive. I kept checking to see if I lost the end of the audiobook somehow, but it just -- ends. Disappointing.
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February 1, 2015Decent Read
Wow bought the book on a flyer and enjoyed it. Definitely not a rookie read. The author spun quite a tale. With that being said ,the book could totally be true. The last 20 pages all hell broke loose. The ending totally took a left turn on me. This book could easily be turned into a series and I hope he does. I will purchase the series. With all of this being said this work of fiction reads as a real life thriller. A solid 3.5-4 Stars. I recommend this to the hardcore readers of the military/spy genre.....not a rookie reader. If you have been reading simple fiction and you want to get back a few brain cells then give this .we author a shot.
Wow bought the book on a flyer and enjoyed it. Definitely not a rookie read. The author spun quite a tale. With that being said ,the book could totally be true. The last 20 pages all hell broke loose. The ending totally took a left turn on me. This book could easily be turned into a series and I hope he does. I will purchase the series. With all of this being said this work of fiction reads as a real life thriller. A solid 3.5-4 Stars. I recommend this to the hardcore readers of the military/spy genre.....not a rookie reader. If you have been reading simple fiction and you want to get back a few brain cells then give this .we author a shot.
September 19, 2018
Yet another in a veritable flood of books inspired by America’s involvement in Afghanistan. Well may suicide be the leading cause of death among US Soldiers. There are certainly true believers among his comrades but CIA Black Ops Specialist Frank Morgan, assumed name, is not one of them. Not that he’s anyone you’d ever want to meet in a dark ally.
The story is told in the third person from Frank’s point of view. The author makes no bones about America’s true motivations for being in Afghanistan and paints an unflattering picture of her allies. No one comes off looking righteous. The poppy remains the area’s most profitable crop and moving drugs the most powerful motivational force.
The use of profanity is not unexpected nor should descriptions of torture surprise us. In the war on terror the ends justify the means even if the ends remain undefined. The harvesting and processing of opium is described; I’d always assumed it was extracted from the seed. Poppies are 50 times more profitable than any other crop a local farmer can grow and are drought resistant.
Given the things described I’d prefer to believe this to be a work of fiction rather than a memoir of actual events. I’m not sure whether the author is playing up stereotypes or relating things that actually happen. The gallows humour is puerile, tasteless, disgusting; about what would expect from 19-year-olds stuck in an impossible situation. However in a world where Trump is president of the United States anything is possible. We end with the suspicion that our boy’s handler is dirty and that’s dangerous intel to be carrying around. After all the action that precedes it the ending just fizzles out.
The story is told in the third person from Frank’s point of view. The author makes no bones about America’s true motivations for being in Afghanistan and paints an unflattering picture of her allies. No one comes off looking righteous. The poppy remains the area’s most profitable crop and moving drugs the most powerful motivational force.
The use of profanity is not unexpected nor should descriptions of torture surprise us. In the war on terror the ends justify the means even if the ends remain undefined. The harvesting and processing of opium is described; I’d always assumed it was extracted from the seed. Poppies are 50 times more profitable than any other crop a local farmer can grow and are drought resistant.
Given the things described I’d prefer to believe this to be a work of fiction rather than a memoir of actual events. I’m not sure whether the author is playing up stereotypes or relating things that actually happen. The gallows humour is puerile, tasteless, disgusting; about what would expect from 19-year-olds stuck in an impossible situation. However in a world where Trump is president of the United States anything is possible. We end with the suspicion that our boy’s handler is dirty and that’s dangerous intel to be carrying around. After all the action that precedes it the ending just fizzles out.
February 22, 2021
had waited ages to get hold of this having read a teaser first chapter a few years ago. i don't want to give away the plot so I'm deliberating not providing much detail. I quite liked the sarcasm running through some of the banter between the main characters, didn't feel like an average spy novel as there was a bit more depth and thought to the main character's conscience. I enjoyed his outlook and voice- the author made him come to life for me.
The descriptions of the countryside and conditions felt very real, and that added to making the plot a believable storyline for me. I started to twig some of the twists and turns in the plot and was at first bemused by the swift outcome at the end...but actually, now ruminating on the final twist, I'm coming round, I just resented that the tying up of one element felt a bit rushed (ms masari).
Hope there might be more to follow with the 3 main characters as i grew fond of them & their interactions.
The descriptions of the countryside and conditions felt very real, and that added to making the plot a believable storyline for me. I started to twig some of the twists and turns in the plot and was at first bemused by the swift outcome at the end...but actually, now ruminating on the final twist, I'm coming round, I just resented that the tying up of one element felt a bit rushed (ms masari).
Hope there might be more to follow with the 3 main characters as i grew fond of them & their interactions.
September 8, 2022
There were a lot of good things in this book, even through the cheesy similes and metaphors. The characters were well defined and I got attached to them and the timeline was interesting enough. He’s an assassin so there was a bit of gore to make me cringe but not lose my dinner. I personally know Americans who served in Afghanistan and Pashtuns from Jalalabad, but I’m not sure how accurate the portrayal is. The Pashto translations were spot on. The story built to an interesting climax and I was eager for the resolution and…there really isn’t one. Not a couple loose strings but it just stops. I reread the last chapter thinking I missed something. It is not a set up for another book, it needs another chapter! Bookus interuptus? WTH? I’m still glad I read it, but it’s an awful conclusion. I’m giving 4 stars for my 80% satisfaction of taking me to Jalalabad.
April 19, 2016
“PASHTUN,” by Ron Lealos
“Pashtun” is a great pleasure to read. It has swift action, and suspense that is sustained throughout. Lealos has an irrepressible sense of humor. The characters are vivid, and he has a talent for letting the reader hear their voices as they speak with slang, colorful vernacular.
“Pashtun” describes the adventures of Frank Morgan, “a young man from the Republican stronghold of Kansas who believed he was fighting the good fight.” Lealos described Morgan in his earlier novel “Don’t Mean Nuthin,” now Morgan works in Afghanistan for “the Company.” This is “the Firm,” also known as the CIA. His orders come ultimately from Langley. “The people I worked for weren’t really military. They came from a long line of killers made notorious in Vietnam. Wild Bill Donovan was our daddy…and the Phoenix Program. Same old men in their Brooks Brothers suits writing the death warrants. Same generals with their spit-shine aides ordering me in Kheva to grease a suspected al-Queda sympathizer.”
The “Phoenix Program” in Vietnam performed multiple assassinations and torture of the most brutal painful kind, often leaving the body permanently disfigured. In our own time this secret program provided a blueprint for the war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan, and recently it has been described in a non-fiction book by Doug Valentine, The Phoenix Program. In the novel Pashtun it is constantly present in the background.
In first half of the book Frank Morgan, who narrates Pashtun, has a cynical attitude about what he describes, and this provides much of the humor and style of the book. He enjoys telling jokes about the CIA that make fun of their supposed technical expertise. For example “Did you hear of the CIA firing squad that stood in a circle?” Or, “the CIA has invented a solar-powered flashlight for its agents.” Frank Morgan jokes when he comes back from a mission, “I’ve just returned from protecting the free world.”
Working for “The Firm,” however, brings with it an even more cynical, grim gallows humor as Morgan performs his assignments. A group of Rangers looks down at the bodies of dead who were Taliban killed and incinerated in an attack. They comment,
“Raghead rag-oo.”
“Mujh mush.”
“Taliban tar-tar.”
“Hadji burger.”
“Mohammed mayonnaise.”
“Turban toasties.”
The macabre banter continues until a lieutenant says “Enough. Just toss ‘em in the bags.”
The grim humor has advanced beyond the fun stage.
Violence increases done by both sides, the Taliban and the “Company” or CIA. Both do horrible things. The assassinations and tortures by CIA operatives often involve shooting a person’s knee or the grisly breaking of an elbow. In the course of an interrogation to gain information or confession, parts of the face, perhaps an ear, can be shot away. The “Hush Puppy silenced pistol” accompanies most of these interrogation sessions. In Pashtun, these events are described with a hard-boiled humor that is probably necessary for Frank Morgan to maintain his sanity.
A prolonged duel is taking place with the Taliban over loads of heroin; interrogations and kidnappings become increasingly violent in attempts to draw information or obtain a confession. “He kicked him in his wounded knee for third time and let him splutter.” In quest of the name of a corrupt soldier, the narrator shoots off part of nose. During a torture session he observes, “At this rate, we’d have to whittle them down to talking heads.”
At one point Frank Morgan confesses “I was getting numb. I was enlisted in this insanity with no escape…. There was no R & R for my conscience.”
The US Army, according to Lealos, was “in the pocket” of oil companies like Halliburton, along with President Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld, Karzai and the Coalition. Michael Moore made this assertion in the film Fahrenheit 9/11. According Lealos, “Exploiting land and people for oil was nothing new to the conglomerates. The Company had shown its skills as a major player in the export of both cocaine and smack.” According to Lealos in Pashtum, Afghanistan supplied roughly 90% of the world’s heroin. Opium was the biggest component of the Afghan gross national product. In addition Germany was involved; the company Wintershall, one of the largest oil companies in the world, cooperated with the CIA but also with the Taliban. Frank Morgan slowly came to a conclusion: the CIA was just as bad as the Taliban.
There are some things, certainly, that fiction can do better than journalism or non-fiction. A major force and intention of Pashtun is to confirm in its broad lines what was taking place beyond the reach of journalists; or to find a voice for important events that were secret, widely suspected but very difficult to prove.
Lealos clearly learned a harsh lesson from the Vietnam period when it was admitted, by large numbers, that lies were endorsed by the US government. During the last years of the war General Harkins made one wildly untruthful-- and embarrassing-- statement after another. (See Neil Sheehan et al.) On college campuses in the US, a tall man wearing an outsized pasteboard General’s hat strutted about, with military bearing and claiming to all who would listen, “I am General “Waste-more-land!”
At a time when secrets are withheld from the public, like the real nature of the Phoenix Program, parody and fiction with its highlighting become choice weapons to get at a greater truth. There is much parody in Pashtun, and masked by humor and jokes it is possible to see deep loathing.
“Pashtun” is a great pleasure to read. It has swift action, and suspense that is sustained throughout. Lealos has an irrepressible sense of humor. The characters are vivid, and he has a talent for letting the reader hear their voices as they speak with slang, colorful vernacular.
“Pashtun” describes the adventures of Frank Morgan, “a young man from the Republican stronghold of Kansas who believed he was fighting the good fight.” Lealos described Morgan in his earlier novel “Don’t Mean Nuthin,” now Morgan works in Afghanistan for “the Company.” This is “the Firm,” also known as the CIA. His orders come ultimately from Langley. “The people I worked for weren’t really military. They came from a long line of killers made notorious in Vietnam. Wild Bill Donovan was our daddy…and the Phoenix Program. Same old men in their Brooks Brothers suits writing the death warrants. Same generals with their spit-shine aides ordering me in Kheva to grease a suspected al-Queda sympathizer.”
The “Phoenix Program” in Vietnam performed multiple assassinations and torture of the most brutal painful kind, often leaving the body permanently disfigured. In our own time this secret program provided a blueprint for the war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan, and recently it has been described in a non-fiction book by Doug Valentine, The Phoenix Program. In the novel Pashtun it is constantly present in the background.
In first half of the book Frank Morgan, who narrates Pashtun, has a cynical attitude about what he describes, and this provides much of the humor and style of the book. He enjoys telling jokes about the CIA that make fun of their supposed technical expertise. For example “Did you hear of the CIA firing squad that stood in a circle?” Or, “the CIA has invented a solar-powered flashlight for its agents.” Frank Morgan jokes when he comes back from a mission, “I’ve just returned from protecting the free world.”
Working for “The Firm,” however, brings with it an even more cynical, grim gallows humor as Morgan performs his assignments. A group of Rangers looks down at the bodies of dead who were Taliban killed and incinerated in an attack. They comment,
“Raghead rag-oo.”
“Mujh mush.”
“Taliban tar-tar.”
“Hadji burger.”
“Mohammed mayonnaise.”
“Turban toasties.”
The macabre banter continues until a lieutenant says “Enough. Just toss ‘em in the bags.”
The grim humor has advanced beyond the fun stage.
Violence increases done by both sides, the Taliban and the “Company” or CIA. Both do horrible things. The assassinations and tortures by CIA operatives often involve shooting a person’s knee or the grisly breaking of an elbow. In the course of an interrogation to gain information or confession, parts of the face, perhaps an ear, can be shot away. The “Hush Puppy silenced pistol” accompanies most of these interrogation sessions. In Pashtun, these events are described with a hard-boiled humor that is probably necessary for Frank Morgan to maintain his sanity.
A prolonged duel is taking place with the Taliban over loads of heroin; interrogations and kidnappings become increasingly violent in attempts to draw information or obtain a confession. “He kicked him in his wounded knee for third time and let him splutter.” In quest of the name of a corrupt soldier, the narrator shoots off part of nose. During a torture session he observes, “At this rate, we’d have to whittle them down to talking heads.”
At one point Frank Morgan confesses “I was getting numb. I was enlisted in this insanity with no escape…. There was no R & R for my conscience.”
The US Army, according to Lealos, was “in the pocket” of oil companies like Halliburton, along with President Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld, Karzai and the Coalition. Michael Moore made this assertion in the film Fahrenheit 9/11. According Lealos, “Exploiting land and people for oil was nothing new to the conglomerates. The Company had shown its skills as a major player in the export of both cocaine and smack.” According to Lealos in Pashtum, Afghanistan supplied roughly 90% of the world’s heroin. Opium was the biggest component of the Afghan gross national product. In addition Germany was involved; the company Wintershall, one of the largest oil companies in the world, cooperated with the CIA but also with the Taliban. Frank Morgan slowly came to a conclusion: the CIA was just as bad as the Taliban.
There are some things, certainly, that fiction can do better than journalism or non-fiction. A major force and intention of Pashtun is to confirm in its broad lines what was taking place beyond the reach of journalists; or to find a voice for important events that were secret, widely suspected but very difficult to prove.
Lealos clearly learned a harsh lesson from the Vietnam period when it was admitted, by large numbers, that lies were endorsed by the US government. During the last years of the war General Harkins made one wildly untruthful-- and embarrassing-- statement after another. (See Neil Sheehan et al.) On college campuses in the US, a tall man wearing an outsized pasteboard General’s hat strutted about, with military bearing and claiming to all who would listen, “I am General “Waste-more-land!”
At a time when secrets are withheld from the public, like the real nature of the Phoenix Program, parody and fiction with its highlighting become choice weapons to get at a greater truth. There is much parody in Pashtun, and masked by humor and jokes it is possible to see deep loathing.
September 17, 2017
Well done adventure--written as though Ron had spent time in the environment himself. Reminiscent of similar books written about the Vietnam conflict and its slippery slope moral issues.
January 16, 2018
Pretty good, most of the details appear to be accurate.
February 1, 2015
Picked the book up on a flyer and enjoyed it.. A solid 3.5-4 Stars. Definitely not a book for the rookie reader. The book makes you think a bit and wanders at times but I caught myself enjoying the day dreaming. If you have a few books read behind you and you make yourself a promise you won't quit... Then read this book, it became very explosive and full of twists and turns in the last 50 pages. These characters could easily be turned into a series that I think would become very popular. I know I for one would purchase and be a fan. There are 3 very likable characters in this book for very different reasons. I enjoyed this book because after reading a lot of senseless fiction (that I enjoy) it was nice to think a bit. Overall I enjoyed this book and will purchase the authors next installation. For all of you military/spy genre fans out there, give this guy a chance... Good luck guys, hope you enjoy!
September 9, 2015
Pashtun is one of those books that grabbed me immediately and wouldn't let go until I finished it the next evening. While not perfect, it does several things very well. It puts the reader into the country of Afghanistan well enough to see it as a movie, a very real one. I respectfully disagree with the reviewers who dismiss the joking about killing and gore in the book. My conversations with Viet Nam vets as well as a recent experience editing a story by an Iraqi War veteran, leave no doubt that this type of reaction is sometimes the only way to stay sane when reality turns to silly putty, day after day. I like the characters, their dialogue with each other and have minimal illusions about the probability that issues central to the plot regarding our shaky rationale for doing what we do there aren't just that, shaky. I'm curious what happens next. This is a good book for those with strong stomachs and a liking for action-filled stories.
May 23, 2015
Great read
The only negative is a somewhat indifferent edit, but the mistakes were infrequent enough that they weren't too distracting. The author's style was at first a bit odd, but I quickly came to appreciate the spare "just the facts" tone and in a chapter or two I found it hard to imagine the story being told in any other way. The story itself is fascinating, with plenty of multisensory detail that puts the reader right in the scene. This author is both a good writer and an excellent storyteller.
The only negative is a somewhat indifferent edit, but the mistakes were infrequent enough that they weren't too distracting. The author's style was at first a bit odd, but I quickly came to appreciate the spare "just the facts" tone and in a chapter or two I found it hard to imagine the story being told in any other way. The story itself is fascinating, with plenty of multisensory detail that puts the reader right in the scene. This author is both a good writer and an excellent storyteller.
February 2, 2015
Lealos writes about Afghanistan as if he’s been there. He gives the reader a glimpse on what it takes to operate with ruthlessness and cunning in a war in which almost no one can be trusted and death is not the worst fate that can be befall you. There are moments where he overdoes the Irish antics of the characters and the jive talk of Washington, but the sordidness of this ugly war shines through it all.
November 16, 2014
Fantastic book! Loved the character Morgan & Washington. Gripping with a great amount of cloak and dagger.
Left me on a cliff when it ended though. Cant wait for the second part.
Note: I listened to this book on Audiobook and the narrator was fantastic. After the book was finished I went searching for more titles on audiobook by Ron Lealos but to my despair, none!
Left me on a cliff when it ended though. Cant wait for the second part.
Note: I listened to this book on Audiobook and the narrator was fantastic. After the book was finished I went searching for more titles on audiobook by Ron Lealos but to my despair, none!
January 19, 2015
intresting
August 23, 2020
A military thriller, just the way I like it. Non stop action, first person narrative makes it easy to read, with a few twists to keep you guessing. Loved it!
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews