Checkpoint

From the award-winning Serbian author David Albahari comes a devastating and Kafkaesque war fable about an army unit sent to guard a military checkpoint with no idea where they are or who the enemy might be.

Atop a hill, deep in the forest, an army unit is dropped off to guard a checkpoint. The commander doesn't know where they are, what border they're protecting, or why. Their map is useless. The radio crackles with a language no one can recognize. A soldier is found dead in a latrine and the unit vows vengeance—but the killer, like the enemy, is unknown. Amid orgies and massacres, the commander struggles to maintain order and keep his soldiers alive, but he can't be sure whether they're fighting a war or caught in some bizarre military experiment.

Equal parts Waiting for Godot and Catch-22, David Albahari's Checkpoint is a haunting and hysterical confrontation with the absurdity of war.

"A satirical take on war in the vein of...