A tough but valuable read about war. This takes some unexpected turns, the characters are terrific, and the storytelling is good.

Wonderful book!
Really liked reading this fresh and outstanding book. It was a real pleasure to read it.
Thanks for the publisher for the opportunity to read this in advance

It’s easy to overlook the fact, here in the UK, that other nations have fought in Afghanistan as well, and that Denmark too was one of those who joined the coalition to secure the country from the Taliban. In this novel we see the conflict from the Danish perspective, although in war nationality matters little – the effects and consequences on the combatants are always the same. We are introduced to members of a platoon stationed in Helmand Province, a group of young people, and we are graphically reminded of what war does to combatants and civilians alike, what happens to people in extreme situations. So far so good – I have no reason to think this is anything other than a realistic and faithful depiction. However, I simply couldn’t engage with the book. For a start the protagonists seem types rather than fully-rounded characters. They are all overly articulate and speak in long speeches and clichés. The description of the Afghans seemed stereotypical and their savagery seemed to know no bounds. I found there was just too much violence overall and the descriptions unnecessarily graphic. There was also too much exposition, with every abbreviation spelt out even when the meaning was clear. Too many subplots dilute the narrative and in the end I lost interest. Just not one for me, this tale of brutality and war, and I gained little from it.

The First Stone is a brutal war novel that is well written and very graphic. The descriptions are graphic and well done.

It was even better than I expected. I will be including it in an upcoming Book Riot piece on most anticipated upcoming titles.

Another stellar novel from Carsten Jensen; the story is fast-paced, unpredictable. Ultimately this is a book about war; a war story that takes some very unexpected turns along the way, and one that leaves the reader worried about the human race.

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The First Stone by Carsten Jensen (translated by Mark Mussari) is a novel which follows a Danish platoon fighting in Afghanistan, who find themselves as not only hunters, but as prey as well. Mr. Jensen is an award winning author and journalist.

A platoon of Danish soldiers, part of NATO forces, are hampered down in Afghanistan fighting the Taliban. Third platoon has a charismatic and brave leader, Schrøder, who answers to Colonel Steffensen. The two man are polar opposites.

The soldiers embark on a revenge mission, without realizing they are being set up by a traitor from within. Third platoon realizes that in war you have to make inconvenient allies, and embrace strange bedfellows just to survive the day.
If you’re lucky.

One of my favorite books is We, the Drowned and I have been looking forward to read more of the author’s books ever since. I have been, for years, checking to see if he came out with a new book and was very excited when The First Stone by Carsten Jensen (translated by Mark Mussari) popped on my screen.

This book is an excellent read, fast paced, unpredictable, and quite bloody. Mr. Jensen has an understanding about Afghanistan that I wish some of the world leaders had, or at least admit to having instead of spewing that day’s talking point.

I felt that Mr. Jensen tried to push his ideas a bit too hard, to the point where it was obvious instead of letting the readers figure it out. That being said, I think readers will have a much better understanding of this unforgiving country, its culture, factions and the hell the troops have to go through while stationed there.

The book is divvied into three parts, one of the common themes to them all is a Shakespearean power struggle, among different people, which would make Macbeth proud. Any Afghan or foreigner that ties himself to the “common people” eventually gets removed or killed, only to be replaced by a more placating figure. The struggle to “win hearts and minds” takes a backseat to fighting a war disregarding the plight of the population the Danes came to help.

The book is very violent, with some graphic descriptions of the horrors and savagery the soldiers witness. There are many subplots involved and the book could have easily been twice as big, but it certainly kept my interest throughout

There are so many reviews for this already that I can't add any value, so I'll just say that this is a solid war read from an experienced author with the expected violence and drama. Recommended for fans of war stories.

I really appreciate the NetGalley copy for review!!

A beautiful story but hard to read when it’s missing text and images! After certain pages of text there will be a <Insert image> and then the image file name- but no image. It’s distracting and takes away from the story. Additionally, there isn’t a map included and I think based on the insert image there should be one. So, difficult to get my bearings as someone not used to this geographical zone. All important for a successful translation. Maybe this works better in print.

Thank You NetGalley for the free ARC. I loved "We, the Drowned", but had a harder time with this new book about a group of Danish soldier fighting the was in Afghanistan. Very brutal.