To Die in Babylon

"Lieutenant Colonel Nick Harmon, USAF fighter pilot, is a warrior with no war to fight; a consummate professional whose single-word credo, WIN, has left his personal life in shambles, and now threatens to destroy what he values most, his military career. Desert Storm/Desert Shield may offer him a last glistening chance at resurrecting not only his career, but more importantly, himself as a man." "For the beautiful Christine Campbell, too, the war is a golden chance. Already a celebrated television journalist, her planned exclusive interview with Saddam Hussein will propel her to the very peak of her profession. And she is determined to allow nothing, not love, not even the possibility of betraying one of her own countrymen, to stand in the way of her success." "To Adnan Dulaimi, the Iraqi army officer who already knows the tragedy and futility of war, this new war is a nightmare come true - more so when he finds himself enmeshed in a plot to overthrow Saddam, thereby forcing him to make a choice no soldier should be faced with: allowing ruin to fall upon his beloved country - or dishonoring his oath of loyalty to the leader of that country, the man responsible for bringing ruin to his people and his land." "And for the reservist recalled to active duty, U.S. Army helicopter pilot Major Elaine Nelson, the war represents both personal achievement and personal failure. She, who has struggled so hard to overcome the prejudices of a male-dominated military hierarchy, may find that her success in securing a slot in the regular army may very well be at the cost of her fine marriage to her civilian husband." "The profound effect of the Persian Gulf War on the lives of these four is played out in the death-filled skies over Baghdad, in the byzantine intrigues of the White House and the Palace at Riyadh, in the paranoia of Iraq's Revolutionary Command Council, and in the bloody streets of Iraqi-occupied Kuwait City."--BOOK JACKET.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Fiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.