Publisher's Synopsis
Can a monster have a soul? Get deep inside the mind of a man after his life crumbles and he desperately struggles to survive. On December 14, 2003 a haggard and disheveled Saddam Hussein was captured in Iraq after months as a fugitive following the US invasion. What was it that transformed a merciless dictator into the disoriented wraith who was run to ground at last, alone in the darkness and silence of a tiny spider hole bunker? Fugue State: Saddam Dreams is a vivid and memorable historical fantasy about the final days of freedom for a man with a monstrous past, now furtive and desperate, his dreams haunted with portent. The novel is set in an alternate, stylized Iraq, filtered by American media images; the story moves briskly through intense situations and strong subject matter. Saddam and the ragtag remnant of his command flee from bunker to safe house, from city to city, increasingly on equal footing with one another as their situation deteriorates - betrayal and violence are inevitable. As psychological tension reaches the breaking point, Saddam's waking and dreaming states begin to meld. By turns exciting and meditative, Fugue State: Saddam Dreams paints a colorful and convincing yet fantastical picture of Iraqi landscapes and culture against which move a cast of dark, quirky characters. Through their actions and motivations, the novel explores the immutability of good and evil, and the possibility of redemption.
