BROOKLYN TO BAGHDAD

Terse, detailed account of a no-nonsense cop’s time running interrogations in Iraq.

Former Marine and retired NYPD Intelligence Division sergeant Strom wrote this memoir with prolific authors Preisler and Benson, resulting in sometimes-workmanlike prose with an as-told-to feel. Still, Strom’s personality comes through as a tough, profane operator who transitioned into high-stakes military contracting as private projects were funded to address aspects of insurgent violence. Following his retirement in 2006, Strom was recruited by a military contractor for Phoenix, “a highly classified program by which law enforcement and military personnel, chosen for their varied yet complementary skills, would track down insurgent groups responsible for the roadside bombs that were killing our soldiers and marines and local civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan.” Strom was initially enthusiastic, noting, “for the first time in many weeks I could feel my adrenal glands starting to pump.” During training at Fort Hood and elsewhere, he became frustrated by the slow pace of military operations, a frequent theme in the book. Finally deployed in 2008, he writes, “once in the Green Zone, the coalition’s occupied seat of control in central Baghdad, I realized the army guys viewed us as greedy, overpaid contractors.” Over time, however, Strom’s unit became integrated into the military’s operations during a tense period of the Iraq War, proving their worth in intelligence-gathering even as they were hamstrung by internal conflicts and regulations. Strom identifies soldiers, contractors, and Iraqis he admired, but he also castigates certain people for their professional or personal failings. “I’d like to think of myself as a guy who gets along with others,” he writes, “but I am also one who doesn’t suffer assholes lightly.” The narrative is saved from an overly generic feel by the in-depth focus on daily operations, which involved intricate planning and immediate response to attacks, with Strom leading interrogations. These set pieces capture his role as a weary urban cop–turned-warrior in a volatile, culturally challenging battle space.

A cynical but unique viewpoint on the Iraq War.