About the book: year / The hot and dry wind burned my face, burned my lips in the 130-degree Saudi heat. For the third time, I ran my fingers soothingly over the burning butt of Wilhelmina, my 9mm Luger. If I ever caught up with Hamid Rashid and the Dutchman, I wanted to make sure it didn't get shaken out of the spring-loaded shoulder holster I carried under my jacket. The potholes in the two-lane stretch of rubble winding through the desert rang in my teeth. I gripped the steering wheel tighter and pressed the Jeep's gas pedal to the floor. The speedometer needle reluctantly approached seventy.