SEARCH

Shadow Army

ABOUT THE BOOK

During a terrorist attack on the Danish Embassy in Islamabad, eleven people are killed, including the ambassador and an American colonel. The attack was planned and carried out by Al Qaeda's elite force, known as the Shadow Army, led by top terrorist Mohammed Jamal Azzam. Three patrols from the Danish commando corps are inserted into the secret, American-led Task Force Black, whose mission is to eliminate highranking members of Al Qaeda. The elite Danish soldiers prepare for an operation in the impassable mountain area between Afghanistan and Pakistan with the intention of getting to Mohammed Jamal Azzam. But Al Qaeda proves to be stronger than anticipated; a violent firefight results, and several commandos are killed.

The 34-year-old commando Michael Plessner is badly wounded and barely manages to escape. A couple of days later a 14-year-old Afghan boy finds Plessner unconscious and brings the soldier to his village. There he is accepted into the local tribal culture, which means that the villagers will protect him - with their own lives, if necessary. But rumors begin to spread that Plessner is hidingin the village, and the Al Qaeda cell comes back in an attempt to capture and behead him. Another bloody confrontation occurs, followed by a desperate flight through the desolate mountains.

The novel presents a detailed account of the commandos' lives and the circumstances they encounter in the field. It also describes the advanced equipment at their disposal, which makes it possible for them to wage the battleagainst Al Qaeda units, which use bribes and threats so they can operate under the cover of the local populace and the pashas. The book offers insight into tribal cultures and local conditions in a country at war.

The story is based on the real-life bombing of the Danish Embassy, which took place in June 2008. Shadow Army is Thomas Rathsack's debut as a novelist. The book follows in the international tradition of thrillers about elite commandos carrying out dangerous operations. It is the first volume in a series with the commando Michael Plessner as the main character.

THE AUTHOR
In 1990, Thomas Rathsack (born 1967), a former sergeant in the royal Guards, joined the Danish special operation force, Jaegerkorpset, which led to him receiving the American distinction the Presidential Unit Citation, a distiction given only to units that have fought extraordinarily heroic against an armed enemy.

He subsequently participated in a number of special operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2009 he wrote Jaeger - At War with the Elite, which became an enormous bestseller and sparked the biggest scandal within the Danish Defense Ministry in recent times. Rathsack has now embarked on a new career as lecturer and novelist.