Paul Thompson's third combat rotation is a real ballbuster. Hundreds of light-years from Earth, he's with an advisor team attached to an infantry battalion fighting a vicious dissident movement among Pashtun settlers. Between the untrustworthy allies, the nihilistic terrorists, and the constant chaos, this counterinsurgency operation has him near the breaking point. A masterwork of military science fiction, In the Valley takes an unvarnished look at military life through the eyes of a soldier reflecting back on how he ended up among the carnage in Pashto Khel, a village in the Baradna Valley...