{"product_id":"the-baghdad-shuffle","title":"The Baghdad Shuffle","description":"\u003csection aria-labelledby=\"baghdad-overview\"\u003e\u003ch2 id=\"baghdad-overview\"\u003eAbout The Baghdad Shuffle\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJosh Bates’s debut novel joins a crime thriller to the upheaval of Iraq in 2003. Marine Jim Wilde discovers a trail of illicit money as deposed Iraqi officials seek to move their fortunes abroad. The plot extends from Baghdad to Los Angeles and Baja, bringing intelligence operatives, criminals, and law enforcement into a dangerous contest.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eWar, Crime, and Competing Loyalties\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe book offers readers a way to discuss how a thriller uses the disruption of war. Consider who can exploit uncertainty, how money changes relationships, and where personal motives meet institutional interests. The movement between locations also invites attention to the connections a story draws across borders.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eQuestions for Book Club Readers\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat happens when a character’s role as a Marine intersects with the logic of a crime story? How does the narrative distribute knowledge between its characters and its reader? Which loyalties become most difficult to maintain? Discussing specific scenes can help distinguish the demands of suspense from the wider questions the setting raises.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/book-club\/book-club-reading-guide-the-baghdad-shuffle\"\u003eRead the The Baghdad Shuffle Book Club reading guide\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/section\u003e\u003c!-- Book context: The Baghdad Shuffle; Josh Bates; fiction; crime and military thriller; Jim Wilde; Iraq in 2003; Baghdad, Los Angeles, Baja; Double Dagger Books; paperback ISBN 9781998501489, June 27, 2025, 298 pages. --\u003e","brand":"Josh Bates","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47669784150178,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0717\/9200\/1186\/files\/The_Baghdad_Shuffle_-_Cover.jpg?v=1789690273","url":"https:\/\/elliotackerman.net\/products\/the-baghdad-shuffle","provider":"Elliot Ackerman","version":"1.0","type":"link"}