Where Torture and Mercy Are Equal When River Rochman enlists in the U.S. Army, his plan is simply to survive the next four years of required military service to pay off his college loans. Then he can go home to Hippie Hollow, Texas, and marry his girlfriend, Daisy. Instead, Major Rochman finds himself tasked with a dangerous mission: He's sent into Afghanistan and Pakistan in December 2004 to recover the "Achilles," a communications system that locates U.S. Special Forces and CIA agents conducting operations on the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Rochman must cross the border disguised as a local worker-with no weapons and only his street-smarts to help him survive-knowing that recovering the Achilles will save the lives of military and CIA operatives. He cannot fail this mission. Once in Pakistan, Major Rochman reluctantly rescues a Pakistani woman and her child from an abusive husband, and a strong bond forms between the three as Rochman continues his search for the Achilles. But the mission is arduous and plagued by betrayal, pain, and sacrifice, and Rochman will face death and danger over and over before his mission is complete. His story is eloquently told in The Achilles, a riveting and authentic novel about the horrors and deception of war, and one man's courage in the face of overwhelming odds.