Tom Young’s
latest book, The Warriors, has a new setting. Instead
of war torn Afghanistan it takes readers back to the forgotten
Serbia-Bosnia conflict. In addition to its historical significance,
the novel also brings back the potent characters of Air Force
Lieutenant Colonel Michael Parson and Army Sergeant Sophia
Gold.
This story was a bit personal for Young since he had witnessed
this conflict from two perspectives. In Washington, DC he
had worked for the Associated Press to coordinate coverage,
and as a flight engineer with the Air National Guard he flew
airlift missions over this area.
He commented to blackfive.net, “I found it hard to watch
Yugoslavia tear itself apart while the world stood by. After
the Holocaust the world said Never again, but there was this
ethnic group that was targeted for extinction until NATO forces
eventually intervened. I was frustrated that originally the
story did not receive much coverage and how initially no one
seemed to react.”
The plot has Parsons and his supporting cast, including Gold,
pitted against a wealthy Serbian arms dealer, Viktor Dusic,
who wants to use a terrorist attack to reignite the war. In
this book, more than in his other novels, the characters drive
the plot. To explain the motivations he writes from Dusic’s
point of view.
He is hoping to show the irony, post 9/11, that in this conflict
the Muslims were the victims of atrocities versus in Afghanistan
where the Islamic extremists commit vicious acts. This becomes
evident through two quotes about women in the book. A Bosnian
woman was taken by the Serb Duslic who “slapped her.
Then he pulled his sidearm. With one hand he grabbed her by
the hair…You’re going to bear a Serb child.”
Young compared this to the Taliban who “opposed any
education for girls. Terrorists blew up schools, threw acid
in girls’ faces, murdered teachers.”
The author is able to get his point across through his character’s
eyes. Parsons uses his “country boy” skills to
outwit Duslic, including the strategy of a “deer stand.”
Young explained, “Parsons is an outdoorsman because
the author is one also. In fact, many pilots find these types
of skills very useful. I wanted my character to be a man of
action, impulsive, courageous, and loyal to his friends. I
contrasted this country boy with Gold who is analytical, spiritual,
and is Parson’s alter ego.”
Young also gave blackfive.net a heads up about his next book.
The setting will be in North Africa. Just as in this book,
Gold had a new position, working as a UN translator because
Young wanted to expand her role. In the future book she will
be interpreting Arabic as she and Parsons go up against a
terrorist group that takes advantage of the chaos in that
area of the world. He is also going to bring back as the main
character Marine Gunnery Sergeant Blount, the no-nonsense
and politically incorrect character from The Renegades.
Young uses all of his novels to convey the nature of conflicts
whether in North Africa, Afghanistan or as in the case of
The Warriors, Bosnia-Serbia. He skillfully shows
the mindset and motivation of those who fought in and became
victims of this forgotten war. As the author explained, “I
wanted to be true to what happened in real-life and to remind
people of what went on and what could happen when the international
community turns it back.”
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