A mutilated corpse is washed up on the banks of the Nile at Luxor, an antiques dealer is savagely murdered in Cairo, and an eminent British archaeologist is found dead at the ancient necropolis of Saqqara. At first, the incidents appear unconnected. But Inspector Yusuf Khalifa is suspicious, so too is the archaeologist's daughter, Tara Mullray.

This gripping, captivating and wonderfully evocative archeological thriller by bestselling author Paul Sussman is a must read for fans of Clive Cussler and Wilbur Smith.

"A tremendous adventure, one of the most intriguing mysteries of the past, a great novel masterfully written" - VALERIO MASSIMO MANFREDI
"One of the best writers of international suspense in the business" - STEVE BERRY
"Stylish writing and deep research" - GUARDIAN
"An excellent book full of twists and turns." -- ***** Reader review
"Enthralling" -- ***** Reader review
"WOW what a brilliant book and enjoyed every bit of it. No hesitation in giving it 5 stars." -- ***** Reader review

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MURDER, INTRIGUE, VIOLENCE, BETRAYAL AND A RACE TO SOLVE ONE OF THE GREATEST MYSTERIES OF THE ANCIENT WORLD...

523 BC: the Persian pharaoh Cambyses dispatches an army across Egypt's western desert to destroy the oracle at Siwa. Legend has it that somewhere in the middle of the Great Dune Sea his army is overwhelmed by a sandstorm and lost forever.

Two and a half millennia later, a mutilated corpse is washed up on the banks of the Nile at Luxor, an antiques dealer is savagely murdered in Cairo, and a British archaeologist is found dead at the ancient necropolis of Saqqara.

The incidents appear unconnected, but Inspector Yusuf Khalifa of the Luxor police is not so sure...

And so he begins an investigation that will lead him into the forbidding, barren heart of the western desert, and the answer to one of the greatest mysteries of the ancient world...