“A modern masterpiece*.” — BookPage
Finalist for the CWA Gold Dagger Award, “Best Crime Novel of the Year”
“As daring in execution as imagination, this adventure tale crackles with heart, charm and dark honesty.” — Shelf Awareness
“Not to be missed, this is a compelling combination of literate storytelling and action-packed thriller laced with humor.” — Library Journal*, starred review
1991. One hundred miles from the Kuwaiti border, Thomas Benton meets Arwood Hobbes. Benton is a British journalist who is starting an ambitious career reporting from war zones, resulting in the estrangement of his wife and daughter; Arwood is a naive small-town American private bored out of his skull waiting for something—anything—to happen. Desert Storm is over, peace has been declared, but as they argue about whether it makes sense to cross the nearest border in search of an ice cream, they become embroiled in a horrific attack in which a young local girl in a green dress is killed as they are trying to protect her. The two men walk away into their respective lives. But something has cracked for them both.
Twenty-two years later, in another place, in another war, they meet again as changed men. Time, politics, or maybe fate is now offering an unlikely opportunity to redeem themselves when that same girl in green is found alive and in need of salvation. Or is she?
“Written with Miller’s incisive wit, intelligence, compassion and authenticity, this is a novel from a writer fast becoming a master of his craft.” — Evening Post (UK)
“Swift, gripping, and mined with surprises.” — David Shafer, author of Whiskey Tango Foxtrot