{"product_id":"spoils-9780316316163","title":"Spoils","description":"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-simmering insurgency intent on making Iraq the next graveyard of empires. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In dazzling and propulsive prose, Brian Van Reet explores the lives on both sides of the battle lines: Cassandra, 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 mujahedeen beset by a simmering crisis of conscience as he struggles against enemies from without and within, including the new 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Depicting a war spinning rapidly out of control, destined to become a modern classic, \u003ci\u003eSpoils\u003c\/i\u003e is an unsparing and morally complex novel that chronicles the achingly human cost of combat. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"The finest Iraq War novel yet written by an American\"-\u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e, 10 Best Novels of the Year \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"An electrifying debut\" (\u003ci\u003eThe Economist\u003c\/i\u003e) that maps the blurred lines between good and evil, soldier and civilian, victor and vanquished.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBrian Van Reet\u003c\/b\u003e was born in Houston. Following the September 11th attacks, he left the University of Virginia, where he was an Echols Scholar, and enlisted in the U.S. Army as a tank crewman. He served in Iraq under stop-loss orders, achieved the rank of sergeant, and was awarded a Bronze Star for valor. He has twice won the Texas Institute of Letters short story award. \u003ci\u003eSpoils\u003c\/i\u003e is his first novel.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Lee Boudreaux Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50844343828754,"sku":"9780316316163","price":27.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_db2fb0a8-69b8-4484-9373-5cb2998ad9fa.jpg?v=1737317474","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/spoils-9780316316163","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}