The Ghosts of Mariupol

By Mark McCord

Jacob Arno had seen enough of war, especially as he realized that the biggest battle of his life was within himself. Ashley Barnes helped him overcome the trauma and addiction, only to marry another man. Jacob's spiral that ensured led him to another battlefield, as a volunteer in Ukraine. During the brutal siege of Mariupol and battles in and around Kharkiv and eastern Ukraine, three strangers-Jacob, Ukrainian medic Oksana Chernova, and Georgian Legion soldier Giorgi Abashidze-are bound together by chance, survival, and the impossible choices war demands. When a daring nighttime rescue earns them the nickname The Ghosts of Mariupol, they become symbols of hope in a city collapsing under fire. But the true ghosts are the ones they cannot save: the civilians lost in the rubble, the defenders who vanish without a trace, and the memories that cling to the ruins long after the smoke clears.

As the city becomes both battleground and character, Jacob, Oksana, and Giorgi navigate the thin line between courage and despair, loyalty and loss. Their story is a testament to the resilience of ordinary people facing extraordinary darkness-and to the haunting truth that some wounds follow us long after the war ends.

The Ghosts of Mariupol is a stark, emotionally honest novel about survival, sacrifice, and the fragile threads of humanity that endure even in the world's darkest hours.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0GJ2YX9W9
• ISBN13: 9798245011103
• Release Date: March 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 254 Pages
• Weight: 0.76 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"