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The Mercenary
- A Story of Brotherhood and Terror in the Afghanistan War
- Narrated by: Ray Corasani
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
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Publisher's summary
A thrilling and emotional story about the bonds forged in war and good intentions gone wrong.
In the early days of the Afghanistan war, Jeff Stern was scouring the streets of Kabul for a big story. He was accompanied by a driver, Aimal, who had ambitions of his own: to get rich off the sudden infusion of foreign attention and cash.
In this gripping adventure story, Stern writes of how he and Aimal navigated an environment full of guns and danger and opportunity, and how they forged a deep bond.
Then Stern got a call that changed everything. He discovered that Aimal had become an arms dealer, and was ultimately forced to flee the country to protect his family from his increasingly dangerous business partners.
Tragic, powerful, and layered, The Mercenary is more than a wartime drama. It is a Rashomon-like story about how politics and violence warp our humanity, and keep the most important truths hidden.
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Story
Mokhtar Alkhanshali grew up in San Francisco, one of seven siblings raised by Yemeni immigrants in a tiny apartment. At age 24, unable to pay for college, he works as a doorman. Until: a statue of an Arab raising a cup of coffee awakens something in him. He sets out to learn the rich history of coffee in Yemen and the complex art of tasting and identifying varietals. He travels to Yemen, collects samples of beans, eager to bring improved cultivation methods to the farmers. And he is on the verge of success when civil war engulfs Yemen in 2015 and he is trapped in Sana'a.
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MOVING THE NEEDLE
- By Dog Fish on 02-20-18
By: Dave Eggers
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Midnight in Siberia
- A Train Journey into the Heart of Russia
- By: David Greene
- Narrated by: David Greene
- Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Through the stories of fellow travelers, Greene explores the challenges and opportunities facing the new Russia: a nation that boasts open elections and newfound prosperity yet still continues to endure oppression, corruption, and stark inequality. Set against the wintery landscape of Siberia, Greene’s lively travel narrative offers a glimpse into the soul of 20th century Russia: how its people remember their history and look forward to the future.
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Long String of NPR Short Reports
- By Sara on 04-13-15
By: David Greene
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Preemptive Love
- Pursuing Peace One Heart at a Time
- By: Jeremy Courtney
- Narrated by: Jeremy Courtney
- Length: 7 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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In the middle of the Iraq War, Jeremy and Jessica Courtney found themselves with their two children caught up in the turmoil, just hoping to make a difference. After an encounter with a father whose little girl was dying from a heart defect, they began to investigate options for helping and learned that untold thousands of children across Iraq were in similar need, waiting in line for heart surgery in a country without a qualified heart surgeon.
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Recommended Highly!
- By Zak on 06-13-18
By: Jeremy Courtney
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Spare
- By: Prince Harry The Duke of Sussex
- Narrated by: Prince Harry The Duke of Sussex
- Length: 15 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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It was one of the most searing images of the twentieth century: two young boys, two princes, walking behind their mother’s coffin as the world watched in sorrow—and horror. As Princess Diana was laid to rest, billions wondered what Prince William and Prince Harry must be thinking and feeling—and how their lives would play out from that point on.
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Gutterball!
- By Jimmyjoejangles on 01-10-23
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On Wings of Eagles
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: Marcia Hyde, Larry Robinson, Ralph Williams, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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When two of his American employees were held hostage in a heavily guarded prison fortress in Iran, one man took matters into his own hands: American businessman H. Ross Perot. His team consisted of a group of volunteers from the executive ranks of his corporation, hand-picked and trained by a retired Green Beret officer. To free the imprisoned Americans, they would face incalculable odds on a mission that only true heroes would have dared.
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Was the narrator in a hurry?
- By Tammy on 06-19-08
By: Ken Follett
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The Ungrateful Refugee
- What Immigrants Never Tell You
- By: Dina Nayeri
- Narrated by: Dina Nayeri
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Aged eight, Dina Nayeri fled Iran along with her mother and brother and lived in the crumbling shell of an Italian hotel-turned-refugee camp. Eventually, she was granted asylum in America. She settled in Oklahoma, then made her way to Princeton University. In this book, Nayeri weaves together her own vivid story with the stories of other refugees and asylum seekers in recent years, bringing us inside their daily lives and taking us through the different stages of their journeys, from escape to asylum to resettlement.
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Amazing story of resilience and compassion
- By PAH on 09-06-19
By: Dina Nayeri
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The Upside
- A Memoir
- By: Abdel Sellou
- Narrated by: Ray Chase
- Length: 5 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1992, Count Phillippe Pozzo di Borgo, on the heels of his wife's diagnosis with a terminal illness, suffered a paragliding accident that left him a quadriplegic. Forty-two years old, trapped inside his luxurious Paris town house, he was an outcast for the first time in his life. Abdel, an unemployed Algerian immigrant who had been an outcast for his entire existence, would become Phillipe's unlikely caretaker. Quick-thinking, unsentimental, and more than a little wild, Abdel surprises both himself and his employer.
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loved it
- By RockyDog on 01-31-19
By: Abdel Sellou
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They Said They Wanted Revolution
- A Memoir of My Parents
- By: Neda Toloui-Semnani
- Narrated by: Neda Toloui-Semnani
- Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1979, Neda Toloui-Semnani’s parents left the United States for Iran to join the revolution. But the promise of those early heady days in Tehran was warped by the rise of the Islamic Republic. With the new regime came international isolation, cultural devastation, and profound personal loss for Neda. Her father was arrested and her mother was forced to make a desperate escape, pregnant and with Neda in tow.
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I learned so much. Great pacing, felt like I time-traveled
- By Jess Fuchs on 02-07-22
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The Pursuit of Happyness (Abridged)
- By: Chris Gardner
- Narrated by: Andre Blake
- Length: 5 hrs and 42 mins
- Abridged
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At the age of 20, Chris Gardner arrived in San Francisco to pursue a promising career in medicine. However, he surprised everyone and himself by setting his sights on the competitive world of high finance. Yet no sooner had he landed an entry-level position at a prestigious firm, Gardner found himself caught in a web of incredibly challenging circumstances that left him part of the city's working homeless with his toddler son.
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Very Good Story!
- By Lito Da Critic on 06-02-06
By: Chris Gardner
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Proof of Life
- Twenty Days on the Hunt for a Missing Person in the Middle East
- By: Daniel Levin
- Narrated by: Will Collyer
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Daniel Levin was at his office when he got a call from an acquaintance with an urgent, cryptic request to meet in Paris. A young man had gone missing in Syria. No government, embassy, or intelligence agency would help. Could he? Would he? So begins a suspenseful, shocking, and at times brutal true story of one man’s search to find a missing person in Syria over twenty tense days.
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It was a true story.
- By stingray on 06-12-24
By: Daniel Levin
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The Chief Witness
- Escape from China's Modern-Day Concentration Camps
- By: Sayragul Sauytbay, Alexandra Cavelius
- Narrated by: Xifeng Brooks
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Born in China’s northwestern province, Sayragul Sauytbay trained as a doctor before being appointed a senior civil servant. But her life was upended when the Chinese authorities incarcerated her. Her crime? Being Kazakh, one of China’s ethnic minorities. The northwestern province borders the largest number of foreign nations and is the point in China that is the closest to Europe. In recent years, it has become home to more than 1,200 penal camps - modern-day gulags that are estimated to house three million members of the Kazakh and Uyghur minorities.
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A Must Read!
- By Stephanie on 12-22-21
By: Sayragul Sauytbay, and others
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Six Minutes to Freedom
- How a Band of Heroes Defied a Dictator and Helped Free a Nation
- By: Kurt Muse, John Gilstrap
- Narrated by: Paul Heitsch
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Six Minutes to Freedom is the remarkable tale of Kurt Muse's arrest and harrowing months of imprisonment; his eyewitness accounts of torture; and the plight of his family as they fled for their lives. It is also the heart-pounding account of the only American civilian ever rescued by the elite Delta Force. Timelier than ever, this is a thrilling and highly personal narrative about one man's courage and dedication to his beliefs.
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excellent book!
- By Andrew Tomlet on 07-05-21
By: Kurt Muse, and others
What listeners say about The Mercenary
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Barakb
- 04-01-23
Brilliant, honest, engrossing and raw
Jeffery E. Stern is a fantastic writer and storyteller.
Ray Corasani does justice to Stern’s incisive prose with pitch-perfect narration.
Stern is such a talented storyteller that this book moves along relentlessly. He is so honest and self-critical that I sometimes wanted to ask him not to be so hard on himself, but his prose are always clear and accurate and, at times, profoundly moving while never sentimental.
This book was recommended to me by a friend, and I did not know what to expect. What I can tell you is that you are unlikely to regret listening to or reading it. Some moments may make you uncomfortable, they may make you confront difficult questions about war, friendship, and justice, and they may even make you wonder whether you are doing enough to help people in need, but it will never bore you.
Stern divided the book into three main sections. The first section is written from his point of view, his path to becoming a war correspondent in Afghanistan. While his path is almost an accident, he is so consistently lucky that it must be more natural skill than luck. Early on, he meets a driver in this section called Alex, who becomes the key to breaking into a real war reporting job without experience. The relationship between the author and Alex is the critical storyline that ties this book together.
Section two runs through the same timeline as section one but from Aimal’s (Alex’s Afgan name) point of view. I feel Stern added more depth of emotion and sympathy to Aimal’s story than his own, even though Aimal gets caught up with some frightening people and runs a dangerous business.
And finally, section three pulls all these threads together as an ad hoc group of people work to save Afghan women and teachers as the West withdrawals and the Taliban takes control.
Throughout the book, the story unfolds artfully, part journalism, part war drama, part relationships story about the bonds created under stress when everything is at risk and when someone dependable can be the difference between life and death.
Stern’s prose drives the book forward, his honesty makes you believe, and the relationship between Aimal/Alex and him runs so deep and moving that I found myself tearing up in the end, even as the narrative is so clear-eyed.
You can’t help but marvel at the work done by groups like 30 Birds https://www.30birdsfoundation.org, who Stern worked nonstop with to get Afghans out in the end and settle in Canada, the real hero’s who I could not resist donating to, you might consider it too.
If you want a great read that puts you in the center of a dynamic story, is well-written, and leaves you more knowledgeable about the dynamics of war, this is your next book. It will give you faith that just a few people can make a big difference in the toughest of circumstances.
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- Justin
- 07-15-23
Important and thrilling read
A powerful book about war, friendship and understanding humanity. Great for anyone who wants to know more about Afghanistan, journalism, and the human condition. Couldn’t put it down!
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- Anonymous User
- 06-07-23
Holy enthralling book, Batman!
I wasn't going to bed until this book was finished. It was beautiful, and heart-breaking, and captivating. i laughed, I cried, and I was genuinely moved. I loved it, man. Having the fortitude to display that sort of honesty about yourself and your own shortcomings as an author was impressive. And the nail biter in the end not knowing whether his people would get out of Afghanistan. It truly had the makings of all my favorite stories: comedy, drama, heartbreak, love and love lost. Well done.
I truly hope there's a follow-up to this book somewhere later in our timeline. Truly a marvelous piece of writing and an exceptional encore to Stern's first book The Last Thousand
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