I Lost My Love in Baghdad

the long version

At age 25, Michael Hastings arrived in Baghdad to cover the war in Iraq for Newsweek, with a little Hemingway romanticism and all the apparatus of a 21st-century reporter. He describes the chaos, the violence, the threats of bomb and mortar attacks, the front lines that can be anywhere. This is a new kind of war: private security companies follow their own rules or lack thereof; soldiers in combat get instant messages from their girlfriends and families. Back in New York, Hastings had fallen in love with Andi Parhamovich, a young idealist who worked for Air America. A year later, Andi followed Michael to Iraq. Their war-zone romance is another window into life in Baghdad. Then Andi goes on a dangerous mission for her new employer--a meeting that ends in catastrophe. This is both a raw account of the war and a heartbreaking story of one life lost.--From publisher description.