American Jihadists — Gary L. Dorion

The first section establishes the relationship between Luke - the narrator - and Gustav, his best friend, who quit college to find adventure by traveling to the Middle East and joining one of the so-called 'terror groups.' Their quest lands them in the middle of the Syrian Civil War in an intense conflict which they immediately are desperate to escape. Trouble seems to appear though at every turn.The escape from the rebel group that is fighting the Syrian regime involves the young men's effort to help some of those who have been devastated by the immense destruction in Syria's Stalingrad and they zero in on two refugees who, it appears to them, might be heading to toward a life of modern slavery. Thus, the second part of the novel involves the boys' escape by ship through the Aegean Sea and their suspicions that a young Syrian woman and her small child who are aboard are about to be exploited for the modern slave market. Luke wants desperately to help the possible victims while Gustav is reluctant to get involved because he suspects that the slavers would do anything to protect their property. He sees the slavers as potentially more lethal than ISIS.