Machete Squad

Brent Dulak doesn't want to go to Afghanistan. Haunted by the memories of his two tours in Iraq and burnt out on soldiering, he wants nothing more than to engage in self-destructive behavior. He's a U.S. Army medic who was recently promoted to sergeant, in charge of a team of soldiers whose job it will be to patch up the wounded at a remote outpost as the Americans prepare to turn Kandahar Province over to the Afghan forces. That won't be easy: Kandahar is the birthplace of the Taliban. It's filled with motivated insurgents, question-able local allies, and countless ways to die. Brutally honest and darkly funny, Machete Squad is the story of a soldier trying to keep people alive as America's longest war rages all around him. He must look out for the welfare of his men and their patients even as he doubts his own abilities-and at times his sanity.