Parson & Gold Books In Order

Publication Order of Parson & Gold Books

Parson & Gold are the main characters in a series of military thriller novels written by a bestselling American author of Literature & Fiction, Mystery & Thriller books, Tom Young. Michael Parson is an army navigator and Sgt. Sophia Gold is an interpreter. Tom Young began publishing Parson & Gold series in 2010 when The Mullah’s Storm was released.

The Mullah’s Storm

The Mullah’s Storm is the debut novel in Parson & Gold series by Tom Young. The story introduces readers to Major Michael Parson, the navigator on a C-130 Hercules transport airplane that takes off from Bagram Airbase in in Afghanistan into an approaching winter storm. The plane’s cargo is a captured Mullah, a high priority target in the war against terror. Aboard is a female Army Sergeant acting as an interpreter. The flight is normal and smooth until a rocket-propelled grenade slams into the plane causing the plane to crash in the mountainous Hindu Kush.

Parson is one of the people who survive the crash but with a broken wrist. Sergeant Gold the woman acting as an interpreter together with the prisoner also survive the crash and Parson helps them get off the plane wreck before Taliban terrorists can reach the downed plane, rescue one of theirs and unpleasantly dispatch the two Americans.

From this dramatic opening scene, Thomas Young weaves an acutely distressing tale of Parson and Sgt. Gold attempt to survive and also retain control of their high target prisoner against overwhelming odds. The storm is unrivaled and hinders any chances of air rescue, and the Taliban terrorists are in hot pursuit. The Mullah’s Storm is an engrossing story, and to the author’s credit- he manages to take it in ways that not even the readers expect. Gold and Parson are on a wonderful journey, and the reader will want to bundle up along with them.

The landscapes as described are so barren that it could be considered another planet. There are few settlements and Parson, and Gold must live by their wits. On the brink of freezing to death, the two build a snow cave to protect them from the freezing temperatures. At several occasions, Parson gives in to his raging hatred of the terrorist and manhandles the old Mullah much to Sgt. Gold dismay. Gold is the voice of reason amongst them.

The book also maintains a high level of suspense right from the first page to the last. Between the snow storm and the threat of terrorist attack, the survival of the several characters is in serious doubt. Young does a beautiful job of painting a fine and realistic picture of an imperfect man who is committed to the mission he is assigned. The contrast between Parson and Gold is nicely done, and their relationship is a professional one, and they form an exceptional team regardless of some fundamental differences amongst themselves.

Tom Young’s portrayal of Afghanistan setting is fantastic, almost real, such that you can feel the fatigue and the hopelessness of the characters as they are trying to overcome its challenges, the weather is so severe such it did not seem likely for anyone to survive it for a couple of days. The characterization is wonderfully done from the protagonist to the villains. Tom Young served in Iraq and Afghanistan with the Air National Guard and has flown combat assignments to Kosovo and Bosnia as well as other missions to Africa, Latin America, and the Far East. Young has also been awarded Air Medals, Air Force Combat Action Medals and Aerial Achievement Medals. In other words, The Mullah’s Storm could be said to be the translation of Young’s background in the military.

The novels is about loyalty and commitment to your comrades versus commitment to the mission and the kind of decisions you make when those commitments conflicts. The book works well by transporting the reader to a different world. You can hear the sounds, see the sights, and you experience something that you have probably not seen in your own life. You have probably watched the Afghanistan war on the news and learned something about it with your mind, however reading The Mullah’s Storm you will learn something about it with your heart.

Silent Enemy

Silent Enemy, the second in Parson & Gold series, is a real page-turner. After a terrorist attack leads to a mass casualty event, the United States military quickly arranges a medevac flight from Afghanistan headed to German where patients both Afghan and American can receive the medical treatment they desperately need. By chance, this flight to Germany reunites two characters from the first book in the series, Parson, and Gold.

Captain Parsons is now serving as C-5 pilot and airplane commander and Sgt. Gold have a reason to expect a smooth flight to their destination. However what unfolds on that flight is nothing normal. Immediately after takeoff, they discover that bombs, perhaps other hidden surprises have been placed on the airplane, and they are not the only one in this mess. As a result, not a single country wants the stricken plane to land on its territory. As a result, this leads to a near globe-spanning journey that continuously tests the abilities of all those aboard the airplane. Instead of droning along at elevated attitude on autopilot, the passengers and crew face a series of harrowing challenges, hurricanes, bombs, volcanoes, irate pilots, suicide attacks and much more.

Throughout, the readers get hints of an existing relationship between Gold and Parson especially given the struggles which they had to undergo in the series debut novel. However, no one has the time to work on love affairs especially when they must deal with a series of life-threatening events. The story is narrated from the different point of views through the eyes of Michael Parson, a teacher and Sgt. Sophia Gold. Almost the entirety of this story takes place on the air since descending the plane means triggering the bomb.

Parson and the crew must find the hidden bomb and learn how to disarm it. On the other hand, Gold works with those injured and becomes vital to the operation when she asked to help with disarming the bomb. Silent Enemy is an exciting book that will keep you in suspense until the end when an attempt is made to land the plane on a deserted island.