After key moments of a brief but intense fight anointed as "the Battle of Al-Ansakar Canal" are filmed by an embedded Fox News crew, Lynn and seven other surviving members return to the US hailed as war heroes.

The culmination of the Victory Tour is Bravo Squad's invitation to attend the Dallas Cowboys' Thanksgiving game as the team's guests and to make an appearance during the halftime show with Destiny's Child.

A long flashback section of the book relays an earlier visit Lynn spends with his family in small-town Texas where his sister encourages him to consider abandoning the army and refusing to return to fight in Iraq.

He engages in a fight, has revelations about his family and how he was raised, reconsiders past decisions, and reminisces about dead comrades, including Shroom, the sergeant who died in Billy's arms in Iraq.

[9] In the September/October 2012 issue of Bookmarks, the book received a (4.00 out of 5) with the critical summary stating, "If at times Fountain is a little too clever, or if the ending doesn't work as well as the set pieces do, the novel is, we hope, a harbinger of great things to come from a rising talent".

[10][11] ReviewofBooks said on the critics consensus, "Ben Fountain's debut novel has received positive reviews with the New York Times saying, "The halftime of the title isn't about the pause in the football game.