Northern Iraq, 2004 - a lawless region so dangerous the regular coalition armies were reluctant to put their soliders in harm's way. Enter the 'civilian contractors': private armies in all but name. Working alongside the US 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 Pete Mercer. An ex-Royal Marine and former member of the navy's elite SBS, Pete's been to some pretty hot places but even he didn't know what to expect. During 15 months of high-tempo missions putting him literally right on the firing line, the frenetic life of the mercenary changed from one week to the next. Only the constants remained: dirt, danger, excitement, and the ever-present gallows humour in the face of huge casualty rates. Sent on suicidal runs designed to draw out the enemy insurgents, Pete's team were expendable men, charged with making the hard yards on behalf of the most sophisticated army in the world. Any when the orders started coming right from the top - from the CIA itself - things really started to heat up...