In this engaging novel of Middle East intrigue from Anderson, who died in 2005, and Westbrook (Ancient Enemy
), muckraking journalist Ron Wright is in disgrace after his Pulitzer Prize–winning article on big pharmaceuticals was revealed to be based on made-up information. Ron is the victim, but he can't prove it, so he's reduced to ghosting stories for successful Washington columnist Nat Cunningham. When an old colleague from Egypt, Hany Farabi, gives Ron a hot tip for a story, he realizes he's onto a political bombshell that could very well lead to his professional rehabilitation. The wife of the Saudi ambassador may have secretly given $20 million to an American white supremacist group, the White Brotherhood of Christian Patriots. In short order, Hany and Nat are dead, and Ron is off to Paris and the Middle East, where he meets Hany's journalist sister, Nevver, with whom he chases this increasingly deadly story. It's a solid plot, but the prickly relationship between the humorous, indefatigable Ron and beautiful, opinionated Nevver keeps readers going until the expected but satisfying climax. (July)
