THE DESERT CONTRACT

Financial broker Steve Kemp finds himself stationed in Saudi Arabia—a location where business has-beens are more or less dumped. The next thing he knows a coup takes place, and he’s trapped in an apartment complex with his ex-girlfriend, now the wife of a U.S. diplomat. Despite bombs and gunfire, wounds and captivity, they survive and rekindle their romance. Inexorably they’re drawn into the religious and political violence of this exotic locale, all the while trying to escape the heat, sand, and tedium of their own lives. David Drummond ably switches accents from Arabic to British, flat American to Irish lilt. Credibly portraying an array of characters from drunks to religious fanatics, he keeps to a steady narration that marches through the lulls and punches out the action scenes. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2009]