Poised to stand among the great war novels, the harrowing chronicle of a sniper during the Chechen War.

As unflinching in its description of war as Catch-22, Nicolai Lilin’s Sniper offers a steely view of the world through the eyes of a sniper. Assigned to an unconventional elite military unit known as the “saboteurs,” Lilin’s narrator and his comrades penetrate enemy lines on risky killing missions. Under heavy fire and under corrupt leadership, the camaraderie that develops within their unit is their best hope for staying alive --- and staying human.

Lilin’s graphic description of the bloodbath that was Chechnya --- in which small bands of predominantly Islamic rebels fought a guerrilla war against the vast Russian military --- evokes disturbing parallels to U.S. battles in Iraq and Afghanistan.Wielding language as deftly as a weapon, Lilin is a powerful storyteller who makes possible an objective view of the tragic absurdity that is war.