For Lieutenant Bill Reilly, a Westerner at war in the desert, the dream of joining the Foreign Legion has turned into a nightmare. It all starts with a severed hand. In it is a message from a Berber chief: Save the American woman he holds captive or she’s next up for dismemberment. But it’s a trick, leading to a terrorist attack. But who set the trap? Caught in a triangle of treachery between the French, Spanish and native Berbers, Reilly’s only hope is to uncover the truth in a desert of deception.