War-weary Army Sergeant Gus Warden kills an Iraqi civilian on the final mission of his year in Iraq, mistaking the man for a terrorist. Returning home to Texas, guilt-ridden and unable to turn off the war, Warden struggles to rejoin a society where he no longer fits. When his manipulative brigade commander, Colonel Burr, uses the shooting to gain his unit publicity by nominating Warden for the Silver Star, Warden is suddenly trapped between becoming a fraudulent war hero and betraying the wartime buddies who covered for his wartime mistake. As he faces the most difficult choice of his life, Warden must try to separate himself from the horrific memories of his past and, for the first time in his life, put personal feelings before the mission. This powerful and thought-provoking novel is built upon the actual post-war experiences of the US Army veterans who served in the Iraq War. This is the second installment in the One Weekend a Month trilogy, which examines through the searing truth of fiction how the War on Terrorism is changing America and its soldiers.
