Unavailable
Unavailable
Unavailable
Audiobook13 hours
The Valley
Written by John Renehan
Narrated by William Hope
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
There were many valleys in the mountains of Afghanistan but there was only one like this…
Black didn't even know its proper name. It was the farthest, the hardest, and the worst. He thought that everything about the Valley was myth and rumour. But Black finds after traveling deep into the heart of the Valley an illumination of dark secrets that had accumulated during month after month of fighting and dying in defence of an indefensible piece of land…
Black didn't even know its proper name. It was the farthest, the hardest, and the worst. He thought that everything about the Valley was myth and rumour. But Black finds after traveling deep into the heart of the Valley an illumination of dark secrets that had accumulated during month after month of fighting and dying in defence of an indefensible piece of land…
Unavailable
Author
John Renehan
John Renehan served in the US Army's 3rd Infantry Division as a field artillery officer in Iraq. He previously worked as an attorney in New York City. He lives with his family in Virginia. This is his first novel.
Related to The Valley
Related audiobooks
Cosmopolis: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Robert Ludlum's The Altman Code: A Covert-One Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Key: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Forty Thieves Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Strange Way to Die Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThese Savage Shores [Dramatized Adaptation]: Vault Comics Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Crime of Their Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Innocent as Sin Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nightwalkers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Feather on the Water: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wingman #10 - War of the Sun Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Night Over Water Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Casimir Bridge Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsParallel Lies Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Boat Man: A Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Crime Beat: Episode 1: New York Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Crime Beat: Episodes 1-3: New York, Washington, D.C, Miami Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMorris PI: The Men from Ice House Four Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5People of Darkness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kingdom Keepers: The Return Book Three Disney at Last Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sentinel: A Spycatcher Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Razor Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hard Fire Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Event Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Zero Separation: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Skeleton Key Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rain Gods: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Monument Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Damnation Alley Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Thrillers For You
The Teacher Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Housemaid Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Perfect Marriage: a completely gripping psychological suspense Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Troop Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Guest List: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mr. Mercedes: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Inmate Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silent Patient Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hidden Pictures: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Never Lie Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fairy Tale Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Huntress: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hunting Party: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Flicker in the Dark: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wrong Place Wrong Time: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Holly Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dragon Teeth: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fury Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Billy Summers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5All the Sinners Bleed: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Paris Apartment: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bright Young Women: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Terminal List: A Thriller Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The It Girl Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Local Woman Missing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fool Me Once Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Perfect: A Thriller That Will Grab You By Your DNA Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Turn of the Key Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dead Zone Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Valley
Rating: 4.02272725 out of 5 stars
4/5
22 ratings7 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This is not a book I would have ordinarily have been interested in just by reading the blurb - I was so glad I gave it a chance.
Lieutenant Black is living a fairly mundane life as part of military administration on an U.S. base in Afghanistan. He has become somewhat disillusioned with his military career, when he is sent to a remote command post in one of the huge valleys in the Nuristan mountains. Black is tasked with investigating a warning shot fired in a nearby village, pretty mundane stuff for routine paperwork. Of course not all is what it seems there...
I loved this book pretty much as soon as I started to read it, I found the descriptions of military life and procedures absolutely fascinating. I loved how everything as explained simply, as I knew pretty much nothing about the U.S. Army. The book really gripped me, I was dying to know just what the heck was going on at the command post - sadly as the book reached its conclusion I was left scratching my head.
There are a lot of revelations to keep track of, I didn't really understand why some events were significant. Who was actually involved in what, and what the heck did that all mean and why was it a problem. Also there was a lot of mistaken identity, by the end of book I didn't understand who was supposed to be who. It was just confusing. Also there is a huge italic part near the end that I couldn't work out. Was that a flashback? What was the deal with the professor? So confused!
Great subject matter, convoluted conclusion. I came away from this book feeling I had missed something, or several something's.
***Disclaimer***
I received an advanced reader copy for free through Goodreads First Reads. The opinions stated this review are entirely my own. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When I received a copy of The Valley by John Renehan, I almost did not read it, and that would have been my error. Renehen has created a fantastic, in depth, and at times suspenseful look at the men who put their lives on the line to maintain a fragile balance at a remote outpost in Afghanistan. I highly recommend The Valley and look forward to reading more works from this author.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I agree wholeheartedly with the wise reviewer who said, "If you want to read one book about the war in Afghanistan, this is it." I've read more than one, have been on an Afghan/Pakistan tear of late, but this is the book that kept me reading all through the night.Firstly, it's an Army procedural. "Hooah, LT" is the greeting for Black, a lieutenant carrying the burden of a brutal combat background, who is assigned to investigate the shooting of a goat in the remotest, furtherest, smallest operating base in Nuristan, near the Pakistani border. The Nuristanis were the last Afghans to become Muslims, which does not endear them to the area Taliban. And The Valley is lush with poppy cultivation. And the Vega Base is rife with mysterious deaths and disappearances, with stalking tribal children, two sergeants in brutish competition, a Wizard, a Monk, Xanadu, and almost too many secrets for one investigator to uncover in a week. Renehan's familiarity with the life, considering his background in field artillery in Iraq, is a considerable asset to the novel. What is unexpected is his brilliant construction of many unfolding mysteries, his ability to deviously hide clues, and the perfection of both outer and inner dialogue.I have enjoyed many a police procedural. This one, with the additional pressures of an insane war, rises right to the top of my best evers, along with Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie, Robert B Parker's Spenser, and Dennis Lehane's Angie and Patrick. None of those took place in a war zone (well, Lehane's Dorchester, maybe). I'd give this to anyone in or out of the service with immense pleasure. A remarkable read. Where did this guy come from?
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is a niche book that will be enjoyed by people with a military background and particularly those who served in the Middle East in recent years. I see very little crossover outside of that group. The story involves a man named Black who is sent to investigate possible wrongdoing at an outpost close to enemy lines. Lots of military terminology make it difficult for someone like myself who has never been in the military.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Valley – Stunning ThrillerThe Valley is the debut thriller from former American soldier John Renehan which is a brilliant mixture of war amid an investigation. Reading this you will feel that you too have been in the Valley alongside Lieutenant Black as he slowly discovers the dark secrets of a highly strung out platoon at an isolated and very remote outpost in Afghanistan. This descriptions and the imagery that they bring shows John Renehan to be a keen observer of his surroundings and you feel the harshness of the land, the harshness of the people and the loneliness of the soldier.Lieutenant Black is a desk jockey at FOB Omaha when his commanding officer informs him that he has been randomly selected to carry out Army Regulation 15-6 investigation at Combat Outpost Vega which is based up an isolated Valley in Afghanistan, he would be there for a week to interview the men and the local chief about a dead goat. Bringing to life the politics of the locality while dodging the bullets that the American forces had to deal with.After a six hour night time journey to COP Vega his welcoming committee is a bad tempered sergeant who puts him on his back in the mud screaming at him. Once inside the post he is also informed that he is the only commissioned officer there as the platoon’s officer had taken his place in the convoy back to base.It is not until the following day he realises how unprepared he is to do this investigation and how much the sergeants and the other ranks are not happy he is there. Even more so when he insists they have to go down the Valley to meet with the local village chief where he meets full hostility of the locals especially when the platoon have to literally run back to the outpost to save their own skins.Black cannot at first work out why the chief exploded in anger and cannot get any clear or honest answers from any of the men on the base. It is only when the base comes under renewed attack that he is able to slowly able to put together what the problems are and why there is an evasion of the truth by the men. It is when he has made his way up to the furthest outpost known as Traynor that he is able to gain a fuller picture.It is while Vega is under a sustained attack that he is able to understand what has been happening and why the men are afraid to speak out to him or to another sergeant. Injured and concussed he is able to help run the command post while under attack and is able to get air support in. He is also eventually evacuated back to Omaha where he is given time to recover.It is while he is moved to Kuwait that he is finally able to understand what one of the men said to him when he arrived at Vega "The Devil is in this valley, sir.” It is here that the pieces fall in to place and realises that he is lucky to be alive, when so many did not get away.This is an excellent debut that makes you feel part of the investigation and feel the isolation of an unwanted officer on an outpost where there are even hostiles there. At times you have to get past some of the military jargon but there are explanations to help your understanding. A great military thriller that really grabs you and you feel the harshness of battle, plenty of action infused with mystery.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I enjoyed the descriptions of military base facilities, equipment and operations. The combat scenes and dialogue were engrossing. However, other than the protagonist, I felt the characters were forgettable. Perhaps, the author unknowingly directed this book toward "military readers". But I am glad I read it and plan to buy it when it's released in March.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5An enigmatic mystery wrapped in a war story. The author masterfully conveys what it is like to be in the Army in a modern war. From the artificial normalcy of a secure base camp, to the baffling insanity in the middle of a hot war zone, the descriptions are spot on. The images of men under fire in combat, are powerful enough to take your breath away. It all starts as another annoying assignment for First Lieutenant Black, who is stuck in an office in secure base Omaha. But it turns out this assignment will take him into the field for a couple of days. He has to track down the facts surrounding a minor incident involving a run in between an Army patrol and some civilians. Warning shots were fired and a goat was killed. A goat. Surely this wouldn’t take long to investigate, but it did happen in the Valley. Not just any valley, but the Valley. The location is the farthest outpost of our troops, smack on the border of the country. Ops people consider it the Wild West. A lonely outpost in hostile territory, far from help. What could possibly go wrong? Everything! This book provided for review by the well read folks at Shelf Awareness and Dutton Books.