When a group of American soldiers throw an Iraqi boy off a bridge in Samarra, the incident sets off a chain of events that exposes the deep rifts among the Iraqis in Samarra--and results in yet another cycle of violence between the insurgents and the corrupt Iraqi police. Anna is an American journalist who decides to write a story about the assassination of an Iraqi leader whom she admires. At the same time, she is pulling away from a relationship with Dan, an American intelligence official, who thinks the war can be won with hearts and minds; and is moving towards a courtship with Zaid, a young Iraqi photographer who shows her that there are people, rather than sides, in the conflict. As she tries to make sense of the half-truths of Iraq, she finds herself in the middle of a love triangle, and in the midst of a dangerous situation, set against a thick web of alliances, agendas, and reverses.