Sniper

��he saboteurs? Holy Christ, what happened? What did you do to deserve that?��a fellow soldier responds when he hears that Nicolai Lilin has been assigned to an unconventional, ultra-high-risk paramilitary unit of the Russian army. Also nicknamed the ��ara-bats��for the black parachutes that dropped them behind enemy lines at night, Lilin and his fellow ��aboteurs��soon find themselves fighting Islamic insurgents armed with American weaponry in the breakaway province of Chechnya.

In vivid, harrowing detail, Lilin relays how, under the mind-bending dangers of heavy fire, on unknown terrain, in unpredictable small villages, the only goal is survival. Under the leadership of corrupt generals profiting from the war, his unit develops a camaraderie that is their best hope for staying alive��nd staying human. Ultimately, the return to the bland normality of an impersonal society at ��eace��might be the hardest struggle of all.

Writing with unhindered directness and power, Lilin combines his own experiences as a sniper in Chechnya together with the stories of those he fought beside to forge an autobiographical novel unique in the literature of war. A bestseller in Europe, this novel will remain an unforgettable account of one of the ugliest conflicts of our time.