Goodreads asked Matthew J. Hefti:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Matthew J. Hefti I had two very close friends on my first trip to Iraq--two who are still very close to me, even now that we have all left the service. I wanted to honor them and what they did over there, but I also didn't want the book to be a cliche in which the hero saves the day. In this case--the likely hero turns out to be the one that needs saving. So I conflated my two friends into a singular wounded character, who ends up as the real hero of the story.

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