Shortlisted for The Gold Dagger 2017, for best crime novel of the year

There she is, in a line of refugees in Kurdistan, just before the mortar lands. The girl they failed to save twenty-two years ago.

Thomas Benton and Arwood Hobbes watch the video again. It can't be her, can it? But as soon as they ask the question, the journalist and the ex-soldier both know they have to make the journey back to Iraq's shattered landscape and broken heart - they have to know.

'The ludicrous nature of the situation the characters find themselves in is expertly delineated. There is real heart here too, though, amongst the black humour.' Doug Johnstone, Big Issue

'A thriller that combines characters of more than usual sensitivity with the harsh reality of combat and a prescient analysis of the shameful behaviour of governments.' The Times