A band of mercenaries fight deadly enemies and solve ancient riddles to plunder the tomb of Egypt's robber pharaoh in this break-neck historical adventure-thriller.

In this fresh twist on the historical adventure genre, a band of misfit mercenaries trek across sandy desert to the Valley of the Kings in search for the gold owed to them by Egypt's long-dead pharaohs. In the year 701 BC, Assyria casts its eyes on the last stronghold of the upstart Hebrews: the Kingdom of Judah. The Desert Mice, a band of Kushite mercenaries led by the famous warrior Pisaqar, turn away the foreboding Assyrian army from the gates of Jerusalem in an audacious raid. But the Desert Mice are betrayed: the Egyptian general Taharqa denies them of their pay and disrespects his old tutor. Incensed, the mercenaries plot to recoup the debt owed to them by robbing a long-lost tomb of a forgotten pharaoh.

Pisaqar and his Kushites set out on a daring journey down the Nile-toward the Valley of the Kings and the undiscovered resting place of the fabled Robber Pharaoh. But in crossing the long-dead tyrant, the misfit mercenaries unwittingly bring upon themselves an ancient curse-one that places them squarely in the middle of a dynastic power struggle, and under the wrathful gaze of an ambitious king. Pursued by scheming nobles and a malevolent torturer, the Desert Mice will discover that there are people and places far more perilous than the anarchy of battle.

'A thrilling historical adventure that evokes the blood, swords and sand of Ancient Egypt with a gratifying sense of authenticity.' Tom Mead, author of Death and the Conjuror and The Murder Wheel