"Youngblood is not only a 'war novel, ' it is a rich, fully formed, and beautifully executed novel-novel, way beyond the chicken coops of genre, a novel about the human heart in contest with itself, a novel about memory and longing and grief and hope and guilt and late-night ironies that raise a chuckle to the lips of the dead. Yes, the people and events in this fine novel are certainly 'tangled up' with war, as the author puts it on page one, but it is the same sort of entanglement that Lord Jim has with the ocean, or the sort of entanglement that Huck Finn has with the river."--Tim O'Brien, author of The Things They Carried "Kirkus, starred review"

"[Gallagher] writes about war like you've never read before ... in its emotional nuance, Youngblood codifies the fact that this is a voice to be reckoned with."-- "Esquire"

"A complex tale about the Iraq War, intrigue, love, and survival. Gallagher follows up on his successful first book, the memoir Kaboom: Embracing the Suck in a Savage Little War (2010), with a smart Iraq War novel that adds something new to the genre--new genres. Gallagher subtly weaves throughout this excellent, brutal tale intrigue, a mystery, and two compelling love stories... A fresh twist on the Iraq War novel adds depth to this burgeoning genre."-- "Kirkus, starred review"

"A flat-out great novel about the Iraq war and about much, much more. It's truthful, urgent, grave and darkly funny. Everyone should read it."--Richard Ford "Kirkus, starred review"

"A timely and moving story of the realities and psychological consequences of war."-- "Harper's Bazaar"

"Gallagher's riveting combination of gritty military jargon, sharply drawn characters, and suspenseful story line adds up to one of the best modern war novels since Tim O'Brien's Vietnam classic, The Things They Carried (1990). Highly recommended."-- "Booklist, starred review"

"Not only does Youngblood rank among the very best books of our seemingly endless Iraq war, it's one of the best novels I've ever read of war, period . . . Matt Gallagher's fierce, brilliant novel should serve as a slap in the face to a culture that's grown all too comfortable with the notion of endless war."--Ben Fountain, New York Times bestselling author of Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk "Kirkus, starred review"

"The Iraq Novel We've Been Waiting For. [A] dark, suspenseful meditation on [the] impact abroad ... America's first great work of reckoning."-- "The Daily Beast"

"Thrilling, tragic, and darkly funny, Matt Gallagher's Youngblood is a brilliant portrait of command in the modern, morally bruising battlefield."--Phil Klay, New York Times bestselling author of Redeployment "Kirkus, starred review"

"While [Gallagher's] nonfiction was visceral, immediate and reportorial, his fiction transforms direct experience into something more layered and complex. Gallagher's voice is vital, literary and sometimes lyrical...smart, fierce and important."-- "The Washington Post" --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

Matt Gallagher is a Wake Forest graduate and US Army veteran. He's the author of the novels Youngblood and the memoir Kaboom: Embracing the Suck in a Savage Little War. He holds an MFA in fiction from Columbia and has written for The New York Times, The Atlantic, Esquire, and The Paris Review. He lives with his wife and son in Brooklyn.

--This text refers to the hardcover edition.