Baghdad fell after just twenty-one days of combat, but the capture of Saddam Hussein took a further eight months and was played out amid a brutal guerrilla war in which the hunters frequently became the hunted. The dictator had simply disappeared and finding him dead or alive was a top priority for US forces. The search for Saddam quickly became a real life crime drama as investigators combined sophisticated software and old-fashioned police work to tighten the noose on Saddam's inner circle. Ace in the Hole is the first-hand story of the US Army investigators who tracked down every lead until their final raid uncovered the Iraqi dictator cowering in his 'spider-hole.