Youngblood

Pulling readers into the captivating immediacy of a conflict that can shift from drudgery to devastation at any moment, Youngblood provides startling new dimension to both the moral complexity of war and its psychological toll.

“On one level, the novel is a parable — with overtones of Graham Greene’s The Quiet American…On another, it’s a story about how we tell stories to friends and strangers, trying to convey experiences they will never know firsthand, and how we tell ourselves stories to reckon with the past…Mr. Gallagher has a keen reportorial eye, a distinctive voice and an instinctive sympathy for the people he is writing about, and he uses those gifts here to immerse us in his characters’s lives…With Youngblood, he has written an urgent and deeply moving novel.”
– Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

“While [Gallagher’s] nonfiction was visceral, immediate and reportorial, his fiction transforms direct experience into something more layered and complex. Gallagher’s voice is vital, literary and sometimes lyrical…smart, fierce and important.”
–The Washington Post

“[Gallagher] writes about war like you’ve never read before … in its emotional nuance, Youngblood codifies the fact that this is a voice to be reckoned with.”
–Esquire

“A complex tale about the Iraq War, intrigue, love, and survival. Gallagher follows up on his successful first book, the memoir Kaboom: Embracing the Suck in a Savage Little War (2010), with a smart Iraq War novel that adds something new to the genre—new genres. Gallagher subtly weaves throughout this excellent, brutal tale intrigue, a mystery, and two compelling love stories… A fresh twist on the Iraq War novel adds depth to this burgeoning genre.”
–Kirkus, starred review