The Treasure of Al-Raqtan - Tapa blanda

The story begins in 1968 in Saudi Arabia. Khalid Al-Raqtan dies just before making a pilgrimage to Mecca. He leaves a map and several clues regarding a hidden treasure. The hunt for Al-Raqtan's treasure is a loose link between a series of adventures. Mark Holmes and Dominic O'Flaherty, two men of quite different characters, who are lecturing at the same university, learn of the treasure. They become involved in a race to find it. Mark is the protagonist of the tale, and he soon finds himself caught up in events that present danger and excitement. There is always friction between Mark and the less-scrupulous Dominic. Most of the action in this novel is based upon factual incidents and adventures that take place in: Egypt: Where Mark and fellow members of a holiday group come close to disaster when an antiquate paddle steamer runs aground crossing the Nile. The Lebanon: When the travellers are in Beirut, Israeli commandos attack the airport and destroy a number of planes. A wave of anti-American feeling sweeps the city. Arabian Gulf: Mark goes on a pearl-diving trip. His shipmate is Naiem Al-Raqtan. Naiem agrees to be Mark's partner in the treasure-hunt. He gives Marksome written clues and a map left by his brother, Khalid. Saudi Arabia: Mark leads a convoy of cars on a drive from Dhahran to Jordan. They are suspected of being saboteurs and are abandoned in the wilderness by members of a Saudi borderpatrol. The inevitable showdown between Mark Holmes and Dominic O'Flaherty occurs when they are still in the wilderness. The story contains no gratuitous sex or foul language. The violent incident that does take place is essential to the telling of the tale.

Don was lucky enough to be offered a seven-year apprenticeship with Chadburns, a company producing ship's telegraphs and other maritime equipment. While serving his apprenticeship and later as a designer draughtsman, Don spent nine years attending night schools. At the end of the ninth year, he had been awarded, in the field of Mechanical Engineering, a Pre-National Certificate, an Ordinary National Certificate, a Higher National Certificate, and he had passed all of the extra subjects required by the Institute of Mechanical Engineers. Don was accepted as a Graduate Member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers and later as an Associate Member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers. After a number of years working as a designer, he decided to make a career change. After completing a full year's course in Technical Teaching, in Bolton, Don started out on what was to be his main interest for a major part of his working life. Don spent nineteen years developing courses and teaching in the UK, Bermuda, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Algeria. He believes that his most productive years were spent in Saudi Arabia, where he had the academic rank of Associate Professor, and where he was the Director of the university's engineering laboratories. On his return to the UK in 1978, Don discovered that the number of apprenticeships in the engineering industry had decreased dramatically and there were few courses being offered for their advancement. He decided to make another career change. After a full year's course on Technical Authorship in 1987, Don set off on a new, challenging and rewarding career. Writing technical documentation for companies such as Shell UK, Shell International, Heinz Foods Ltd, and British Nuclear Fuels kept him busy for a further 12 years.