Marine Lieutenant Gavin Kelly is in a no-win situation. His grandfather expects him to undo his father's cowardice in Vietnam. His best friend, arguably a better Marine than Kelly, lusts after the glory he believes Kelly will see as a leader of the U.S military's Operation Restore Hope in Somalia. To make things worse, Kelly's new assignment leaves no room for him to showcase his killer military instincts, the same instincts that earned him a medal in Desert Storm. When one of Kelly's men, trigger-happy and honour-hungry, kills a Somali bodyguard minutes after the Marines land in Mogadishu, none of Kelly's military training prepares him for the maelstrom to follow. With the international press corps determined to uncover the 'murder,' the State Department desperate to place blame, and the Marines held to crippling rules of engagement, Kelly must somehow reconcile his military responsibility with his personal ethics even as Somali gangsters run amok in the night.
Owen attended Harvard University on an ROTC scholarship and rowed for the nationally ranked varsity heavyweight crew team. He served for six years in the Marine Corps and led an infantry platoon, an infantry company, and a reconnaissance platoon before departing as a captain to attend Stanford Business School. Upon graduation, he joined Goldman, Sachs as an energy trader, and is presently a Managing Director and co-head of the firm's veterans' network.
Owen has taken three leaves-of-absence in his 14 years with Goldman. In 2001, he attempted the North Face of Mount Everest, turning back above 28,000 feet. In 2003, he took a leave of absence and joined 1st Force Reconnaissance Company for Operation Iraqi Freedom. In 2004, he embedded with Marines outside Fallujah as a reporter. In 2006-2007, he led a small U.S. advisor team to an Iraqi infantry company on an outpost in Anbar Province.
Owen is an endurance athlete who has completed Ironman Triathlons, week-long adventure races, and 100-mile ultra-marathons. He has represented the United States six times in the Eco Challenge, a 350-mile expedition labeled "the world's toughest race," and has finished as high as 2nd, most recently navigating three Playboy Playmates to the finish line in Borneo.
His writings have appeared in The New York Times, Playboy, The Marine Corps Gazette, Proceedings, Slate, the Wall Street Journal, Men's Journal, Popular Mechanics, and Topic. His first novel, SHARKMAN SIX, won the Boyd literary award for best military novel of 2001. His second novel, FOUR DAYS TO VERACRUZ, was published in 2003. In 2005, he won the Marine Corps Leadership Essay contest.
Owen is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He serves as a director of the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation.
