At the American Embassy, in Quito, Ecuador, the members of the Marine Security Guard Detachment act as a highly skilled, spit and polish, first line of defense for members of the diplomatic corps. Bootleg Heroes, however, is an after-hours novel that invites the reader to peer behind the curtain. Once the Embassy has closed and the Marines have shed their uniforms, Bootleg Heroes begins.

On the eve of the 1980 Reagan/Carter election, Lance Corporal Curtis B. Dark arrives in country. His first Marine House T.G.I.F. begins at sundown and lasts the entire weekend. Dark's initial ambition to establish himself as a gung-ho, hard charging Marine, quickly gives way to a pressing realization - that he'd rather be a lover than a fighter...