Spoils: a novel

It is April 2003. American forces have taken Baghdad and are now charged with winning hearts and minds. But this vital tipping point is barely recognized for what it is, as a series of miscalculations and blunders fuels an already smoldering insurgency intent of making Iraq the next graveyard of empires. This novel explores the lives on both sides of the battle lines: Cassandra Wigheard, a nineteen-year-old gunner on an American Humvee who is captured during a deadly firefight and awakens in a prison cell; Abu Al-Hool, a lifelong mujahideen beset by a simmering crisis of conscience as he struggles against enemies from without and within, including the next wave of far more radicalized jihadists; and Specialist Sleed, a tank crewman who goes along with a "victimless" crime, the consequences of which are more awful than any he could have imagined.

"A Lee Boudreaux book."

Intro; Title Page; Copyright; Table of Contents; Dedication; PART I; Chapter 1: Cassandra: Roundabout; PART II; Chapter 2: Abu Al-Hool: the Dry Time; Chapter 3: Cassandra: Communications Blackout; Chapter 4: Sleed: Trophies; Chapter 5: Abu Al-Hool: the Time When Camels are in Calf; Chapter 6: Cassandra: Suffer the Children; Chapter 7: Abu Al-Hool: the Forbidden Time; Chapter 8: Sleed: Victory Over America; PART III; Chapter 9: Cassandra: the Prisoner's Dilemma; Chapter 10: Sleed: Collateral; Chapter 11: Abu Al-Hool: the Empty Time; Chapter 12: Cassandra: Antibody.

Chapter 13: Sleed: the Lack of LifePART IV; Chapter 14: Abu Al-Hool: the Time of Scorching Dryness; Chapter 15: Cassandra: the Profession; Chapter 16: Abu Al-Hool: the Time of Separation; Chapter 17: Cassandra: Mother of Ammara; Chapter 18: Sleed: Spoil; Acknowledgments; About the Author; Praise for Brian Van Reet's ""Spoils; Newsletters.