Special Forces: Soldiers

Special Forces: Soldiers - Marquesate,  Vashtan,  Aleksandr Voinov Their lives did shit to them, turned them inside out and left them raw at the seams, unraveling. Special Forces – Soldiers is unlike any book I’ve ever read. It’s brutal, violent with small moments of utter tenderness. This might be on of the hardest reviews I’ve had to write because of the emotions that this book evoked, the subject matter and the sheer violence these two characters displayed. Here is my feeble attempt:Home his only home. An ‘enemy’ in a wilderness of insanity. Special Forces – Soldiers takes place in war torn Afghanistan in 1980 and spans 10 agonizingly glorious years. Vadim Petrovich Krasnorada, a soldier for the Soviet Union and Dan McFadyen a member of the British Special Forces, meet one night down a dark ally in a country that is torn apart and this meeting is just the brutal beginning. They are enemies. But they cannot stay away from each other.Like the two first men on earth, or the last, and it was fucking insanity they were enemies. DanDan is a Scottish Highlander, he grew up on a farm surrounded by his family and wanted nothing of that life. He joined the SAS, British Special Forces and left the Highlands behind. He doesn’t know he’s gay until one night dressed as a Canadian reporter he stumbles into Vadim. That night changes both of their lives. I would argue that that night changed Dan more the Vadim. ”When you are like this, Vadim, I want to own you, and taste you, burrow all the way into your body until I feel so much it fucking hurts in every fiber, and your scent clings to every pore.” It’s Dan’s transformation over those ten years that what makes this book so addicting. Dan slowly comes to terms with his sexuality and he goes from victim to victor in a sense because his relationship with Vadim transcends my own understanding. It’s a love that cannot be found or understood without pain. Their relationship can only be compared to violent storm that rocks the house, shakes the trees and damages the roof. In its wake the foundation is still solid, the sun is bright and the world has gone quiet.”Don’t leave me.” I need you. I love you. And all that other fucking shit that I used to laugh about, a lifetime ago. “Don’t… leave me. Can’t bear…”VadimBorn in the Soviet Union, Vadim became an accomplished athlete where he met his wife. They share 2 children and reside in Moscow while Vadim is stationed in Afganistan during the 10 years he knows Dan. Having a family give Vadim a stable home life, Vadim has knows about his sexuality and has come to terms with it before he meets Dan that fateful night.He understood the body, he didn’t always understand the man that lived inside. Vadim is a soldier. He does unspeakable things to the afghan people, things that don’t seem to bother him or keep him awake at night. He cannot feel pleasure without pain. It’s the pains that gets him off and weather its him inflicting it or if he’s on the receiving end. At times I thought Vadim was such a deep character but in the end it’s just simple. He’s in love with Dan and that’s all he wants.”Do you feel me?” “Right in my heart,” murmured Vadim. AfghanistanThis war torn country is another brutal character in Soldiers. She’s relentless, unforgiving and shockingly beautiful. It’s the backdrop to a love affair unlike any other I’ve read before. I picture her caves filled with fires to warm Dan and Vadim after months of separation. Her cold snow covered peeks with that relentless wind and blinding rain. A tearoom, smoky and dark that allowed two men from two different countries to find a love that transcends it all.The war had kept them together; peace was tearing them apart.