'I scrambled onto my knees, pushing the automatic rifle forward to cover one flank. In that instant they opened on us. The air around me was torn by the sound of a thousand bull whips, while the gunfire sounded like a stick dragged swiftly across a corrugated-iron fence.'

A hazy aerial photograph and a sinister curse are the only clues Dr Ben Kazin has before he stumbles on the archaeological discovery of a lifetime. Beneath the red cliffs of Botswanaland a magnificent unknown civilization has remained buried for millennia. But the magic of uncovering a lost culture is harshly interrupted by the violence of terrorists, love, intrigue and the breathtaking secrets of centuries . . .