Gary Paul Corcoran

Afghan's Lipstick Warriors: First Chronicle Gary Paul Corcoran

In a secluded mountain village, in the shadows of the Hindu Kush, Saarah Khalil was born and came of age, filled with the fairest of childhood dreams and mostly unaware of the endless wars and tribal strife going on beyond her sheltered world.

Then one day, the Taliban came and everything changed.

Faced with the prospect of a forced marriage to a Taliban warlord, Saarah flees to a women's shelter in Kabul, overwhelmed now by a bustling city and filled with dread over what may befall the family she has left behind. When Saarah learns that her father has indeed been killed by the Taliban, she can no longer ignore the harsh new reality facing her life. All her hopes and dreams, and those of every woman in Afghanistan, will be meaningless if the Taliban can retake power.

Having already been invited to join a fledgling band of women warriors, Saarah's initial reluctance now turns to fiery determination. She realizes that she must join the fight, not for the sake of her freedom alone, but for the freedom of all Afghan people. When the heroics of these 'lipstick warriors' come to light, they fuel a clandestine war of wills between the CIA and State Department, the CIA doing everything in its power to support this nascent crusade against the Taliban while State, at the direction of a new president, is determined to stamp out what his administration views as upending their neat and orderly withdrawal plans.

With a horde of zealous Taliban soldiers about to launch a fatal offensive against this band of courageous women, one sympathetic CIA operative, aided by his Kabul station chief and their crew of behind the scenes techies, go completely off the reservation in an effort to save them. Add to this mix a salty assortment of special forces mavericks, corrupt Afghani politicians and their imperious American counterparts and you have the ingredients for both a stirring adventure and heartwarming tale of redemption.