The Girl in Green / Derek B. Miller, 326 pp.

I enjoyed Miller's first novel, Norwegian by Night, so was glad to see his second on the cart.  British journalist Thomas Benton meets extremely green American private Arwood Hobbes near the Kuwaiti border near the end of the first Gulf War.  They become embroiled in an intense surprise attack involving an innocent girl in a green dress.

22 years later the two men meet again in the same part of the world. Neither has recovered from what he failed to do for the girl long ago, so when a girl in a green dress appears on television needing their help, Hobbes convinces Benton to take a crazy risk to set things right.

Steeped in detail about military operations and the functions of NGOs in the middle east, this is a well-constructed and frequently suspenseful novel.  In Arwood Hobbes, Miller has constructed another off-kilter hero fond of quixotic missions.  Not quite as satisfying as his debut, Miller's latest is still worthwhile.