Review: Entertaining and realistic!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 7, 2013
The author captures the somewhat anarchic atmosphere and frenetic activity in Bishkek during this period in an entertaining story that has the ring of some basis in reality.  Set during the period following Russian abandonment of the country, the rebuilding of tribal influence and the efforts of the US to gain and use an airbase for supplying the the Afghan war, the story is a fascinating account of everyday and singular challenges.  From the descriptions of crumbling Soviet-era construction to the rational but sometimes unexpected behavior of local workers and officials, the author tells an interesting tale of trying to support U.S. interests in a decidedly foreign environment.  With adventures in the magnificent Tien Shan mountains and on the shorelines of Lake Ysyk-Kol and the challenges and foibles of local officials, there is something interesting going on all the time.  The book sheds some light on an alien (to westerners) culture in a geographically significant region and the challenges in dealing with it, in an entertaining package.  No real edge-of-our-seat thrills, but an entertaining yarn with realistic people struggling with realistic challenges.