In this riveting first novel Khaled Hosseini follows the fate of his two main characters (one a privileged Pashtun and the other a Hazara servant) though political and personal upheaval in Afghanistan and the United States. An Afghan doctor who found refuge in the U.S. in the 1980s, Hosseini memorably evokes the recent history of his country while keeping his focus on an intimate story of friendship, betrayal -- and redemption. His tale opens in 1975 Kabul on the brink of Soviet invasion.  (CAS114, $15.00)