A woman, long since given up for lost, kept prisoner in a place forgotten by the modern world. A hunt for ancient treasure in a lawless land of pirates, drug-smugglers and Bedouin bandits. Based on first-hand combat experience in the Yemen, Desert Rose is the tale of soldier-turned-mercenary Johnny Baron's return to the desert to hunt out terrorists, make his fortune and settle some deadly old scores. If you've never been to the Yemen, reading Desert Rose will make you feel as if you were right there. Not only is there a wealth of fascinating historical and political information, but Chris Bain has a real knack for getting across a sense of place. In fact some of the best passages in the book are inspired by the "sweltering, singeing lash" of the sun in the desert, or the "weird tract of narrow alleyways and passages" in the ancient towns and villages. His descriptions of flying are equally visceral and compelling, making the reader feel as if they were strapped in next to your narrator, feeling the g-force or watching the dawn break, seeing "the wings and nose turn shades of carmine, claret and crimson". His battle-hardened narrator gets some good lines and offers a nicely cynical perspective on all the international skulduggery. There's also a lot of exciting action in the Indiana-Jones-meets-James-Bond plot. The book falls somewhere between fiction and non-fiction. The author teases the reader with hints about how true to life the story is, based on events within Yemen many years ago. See www.bainhouse.plus.com for details of both his books.