About the Author

Major T. B. (Mac) McClelland, Jr., U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.), has lived in the Middle East and North Africa for four decades, having spent his teenage years growing up in Libya, where his father managed an American energy services company. With extensive learning and experience in counterterrorism and military science, as well as graduate academic degrees in political science, crisis management, and leadership, he weaves some of the experiences and relationships of his life and career into this tale of grief, joy, and overcoming insurmountable odds. Mac and his wife, Rasha, born in the Syrian city of Aleppo, live in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, where he works as a political-military and crisis management consultant.