"When Brian Castner, an Iraq War vet, learns that his friend and EOD brother Matt has been killed by an IED in Afghanistan, he goes to console Matt's widow, but he also begins a personal investigation. Is the bomb maker who killed Matt the same man American forces have been hunting since Iraq, known as the Engineer? In this nonfiction thriller Castner takes us inside the manhunt for this elusive figure, meeting maimed survivors, interviewing the forensics teams who gather post-blast evidence, the wonks who collect intelligence, the drone pilots and contractors tasked to kill. His investigation reveals how warfare has changed since the surge in Iraq, becoming individualized even as it has become seemingly remote and high-tech, with our drones, bomb disposal robots, and CSI-like techniques. As we use technology to identify, locate, and take out the planners and bomb makers, the chilling lesson is that the hunters are being hunted, and the other side--from Al Qaeda to ISIS--has been selecting its own high-value targets."--Dust jacket flap.

The dead -- Blast waves -- Road to perdition -- A frozen funeral -- Cat vs. cat -- Tend the wounded -- One hour to Kandahar -- A child's pride -- The robot has a name -- Breached hulls -- Collect the evidence -- Brave new war -- I'm going to kill you, bomb man -- Hunt and kill -- The black hole -- Helmet fire -- Khowst Bowl -- Long and messy and gray -- The dead revisited -- All the ways we live and die.