Cairo by Victoria Pitts-Caine is a modern day Raiders of the Lost Ark. With a female Indiana Jones.

Liz McCran gets a phone call from the American embassy in Egypt. Her good friend Addie has disappeared while in Egypt with her new husband. We met Addie and Gary in Pitts-Caine’s last novel, Alvarado Gold, so we know who Liz is looking for when she heads to Egypt with Addie’s cousin, Donnie, also an Alvarado Gold character.

Addie and Gary were asked to deliver a message for a Christian pastor in the states. They disappear in Egypt and Liz and Donnie head overseas to find their friend and cousin.

An Egyptian man, Rayhan, is assigned to pick them up at the airport, by an American at the Embassy.

Liz feels an immediate connection to Rayhan and it’s expedient to simulate a real relationship (even an engagement) so Liz can move freely around the country. But is the relationship a fake? Or is it real?

The reader is pretty certain of Liz’s feelings for Rayhan, but, as the pair along with Donnie and a stowaway head across the desert in search of Addie and Gary, nothing is what it seems.

If you enjoy adventure stories with an international flavor, you should pick up a copy of Cairo.

The ending is unpredictable and completely fulfilling. Pitts-Caine is excellent at leading the reader along the path she’s chosen, then adding a twist and turn.

Happy Reading!