US Army Staff Sergeant Will James, Sergeant J.T. Sanborn and Specialist Owen Eldridge comprise the Bravo Company's bomb disposal unit stationed in Baghdad. James is the tech team leader. When he arrives on the scene, Bravo Company has thirty-nine days left on its current deployment, and it will be a long thirty-nine days for Sanborn and Eldridge whose styles do not mesh with their new leader. James' thrill of the dismantlement seems to be the ultimate...

In this extraordinary story, which will bend the mind as well as the senses, Inspector Borluof the Extreme Crime Squad investigates the murder of a student whose body is found on the rundown streets of Besźel. Cases like this are run of the mill for Borlu until he discovers evidence that the victim had been visiting Besźel's prosperous neighboring city, Ul Qoma. This shouldn't be possible as citizens of each city are forbidden from seeing or interacting...