False Idols

Million dollar art deals and glittering parties hide a world of deadly relic running in this high-stakes international thriller written with input from Robert K. Wittman, FBI “the most famous art detective in the world” (The London Times).

When a tanker ship laden with illicit cargo lands in Port Newark-Elizabeth Terminal, a highly trained group of government agents must pinpoint where, and more importantly who, the shipments are coming from. Could these shipments, full of looted arts and antiquities, be tied to funding a group of Middle East extremists?

FBI Agent Layla El-Deeb escaped a childhood in the slums of Egypt for a new life in the U.S. But the Bureau has sent her back to pose undercover as an heiress in a Cairo she barely recognizes. City high-rollers’ dealings in the art world may be the key to infiltrating the terrorist network that threatens the history of Layla’s native home and the safety of her adopted nation.

The mission seems straightforward—trace priceless relics from their millionaire owners back to illegal digs and the terrorist groups profiting from their sale—but Layla becomes entangled in the opulent world she’s infiltrated, and she’s falling for the son of a major suspect. When a terrorist plot threatens both Egyptian and American lives, Layla is forced to decide where her loyalties truly lie.