The Pepperdogs: A Novel - Hardcover

West, Bing

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0743235894 ISBN 13: 9780743235891

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2002

Synopsis

When his friend is kidnapped by Serbs on his way out of Kosovo, Captain Mark Lang and his recon team, the Pepperdogs, embark on a dangerous rescue mission deep into Serbian territory.

About this title

From the Publisher:

Five reservists from New York City, a firefighter, a toy-store executive, an auto mechanic, a computer nerd and a commodities trader. But that hardly does them justice. They are, in fact, something of a new breed: a carefully selected, superbly conditioned reconnaissance team (The Pepperdogs), highly trained to infiltrate enemy lines and cause maximum chaos wherever they operate. Things in the Balkans are relatively quiet post 9/11, which is how US policy wonks much prefer it. But lotsa luck. Captain Tyler Cosgrove, an American marine a day away from shipping home to be with his dying mother, is whacked on the head and hijacked by a brutish Serbian soldier who covets his motorbike. Faster than you can say Semper Fi!, and without the formality of specific orders, Captain Mark Lang mounts up. "Get gear and pull ammo," he tells his team, partly because Cosgrove is Lang's best friend and partly because marines don't leave marines to un-tender mercies. So begins an improbable two-day journey as the Pepperdogs walk a hundred miles and fight eight pitched battles, by then having enraged the Serbs, tickled the Muslims, annoyed their own brass, and made headlines all over the world, laudatory and condemnatory in about equal measure. As for the mission, well, they're marines, aren't they?

First-novelist West, himself a former marine captain (The Villager, 1972) takes on complex themes here -- duty, loyalty, and what to do when they conflict -- and deals with them capably. Mostly, though, this is a story about warriors, told authoritatively and brilliantly.

About the Author:

Bing West served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs in the Reagan administration. He was a member of force recon team Primness, which ambushed a North Vietnamese battalion thus initiating Operation Stingray, whose behind-the-lines tactics are the backdrop for The Pepperdogs. His nonfiction book The Village (Pocket Books) has received high praise for describing close combat. He was a lead CNN military analyst during Desert Storm. Three generations of Wests have served in Marine infantry and his firm, GAMA Corporation, conducts combat training for the Marine Corps. He lives in Newport, Rhode Island, and Washington, D.C. Contact him at www.westwrite.com and www.pepperdogs.com.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0743235894
• ISBN 13: 9780743235891
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 384