Senior investigator Khalid al-Zarzisi is a product of the unsurpassed educational systems of North Africa and the Middle East. The countries and cultures of North Africa and the Middle East have dominated the globe for centuries, from the Far East to the young nations of the Sunset Lands. Only one region has festered for decades: Europe, whose despots and monarchs can barely contain the simmering anger of their people. European fundamentalists carry out assassinations, hijackings, and bombings on their own soil and elsewhere. Now Khalid and his partner Dawud must keep European instability from overflowing into the First World. -- adapted from jacket.

"Impoverished, backward, tribal, it's the world's worst trouble spot" --cover.