1884- Two years after the action in Scoundrel in the Thick, Thomas Scoundrel is getting bored training new recruits for the Mexican Army and chasing bandits in the northern territories, and so he jumps at an offer to write an article about the new Paris to Istanbul luxury train called the Orient Express. Onboard the train he meets Heléne de Bovet, the beautiful daughter of a famous Egyptologist who is on a quest to salvage her father’s reputation and save his life. When Thomas accompanies Hélene to the site of her father’s last dig at Luxor in Egypt, they are swept up into the war that is brewing between British forces under the command of General Charles Gordon, and the fanatical warrior chieftain known as the Mahdi whose thousands of devoted followers are bent on ripping off the shackles of European control. In the ensuing weeks Thomas will be flung into pitched battles on the shores of the Nile, captured by the Mahdi, and tossed into a hellish Sudanese prison. He escapes, but only to face another fight for survival as he races across the blistering Sahara Desert to rescue Hélene, who is being held for ransom by a Bedouin warlord.

The Ghost of Khartoum delivers grand adventure, historical realism, and the familiar touch of gourmet food and wine that readers of the Thomas Scoundrel series have come to expect.

Arriving Winter 2024