A gripping novel of the National Guard in Afghanistan.

They had never planned on being soldiers. They were regular American citizens, “weekend warriors” in the National Guard, suddenly yanked from their everyday lives and regular duties—attending college, coaching teams, fighting forest fires—and dropped into firefights along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

A California surfer, a Mexican-American immigrant, an African-American auto mechanic, and a high school teacher and mother—they answered the call. In no time they were facing car bombs, AK-47s, and rocket-propelled grenade launchers in a world of poverty, terror, and incomprehensible human cruelty.

Unflinching, realistic, and timely, Into the Fire is a riveting novel of what’s happening in Afghanistan now—as the men and women of the National Guard become soldiers, casualties, and heroes.