Dirty Deeds Done Cheap

The setting is northern Iraq, 2004—a lawless region of rock, sand, scrub, and warring factions; so dangerous the regular coalition armies were reluctant to put their soldiers in harm's way up there. Enter the civilian contractors—private armies in all but name, with state of the art funding, equipment, and training, packing immense firepower and staffed by veterans of the world's elite forces. Working in small groups alongside the U.S. Army, men from all corners of the globe volunteered to risk their lives day after day fighting someone else's war—and all for a few bucks and a suntan. One of these mercenaries was Peter Mercer. An ex-Royal Marine and former member of the navy's elite SBS, Peter's been to some pretty hot places before but even he didn't know what to expect. A warm welcome was extended when within minutes of his arrival into northern Iraq he came under intense mortar and small-arms fire. That was just the start of 9 months of high-tempo missions...