The first shot cracked through the night. Before Sarah could process it, a second round tore through the tent wall, spraying sand across the table. Someone screamed outside—not in surprise, but in terror. “Marcus—” “Down!” He killed the lantern, plunging them into darkness. Gunfire erupted. Shouts in Arabic. Boots pounding across sand. Sarah crawled toward the flap. “Emma!” A hand yanked her back. She twisted free and glimpsed armed figures moving with calm precision between the tents. This wasn’t chaos. This was planned. A flashlight beam found her daughter. Emma stood frozen beside the supply crate. “Mom—” A man grabbed her and dragged her into the dark. Sarah ran. A rifle struck her temple, and white light exploded behind her eyes. As she fell, she saw Marcus fighting, heard Jack crying, and engines starting in the distance. They hadn’t come to kill. They had come to take. And they had taken her daughter. A buried tomb. A missing child. An artifact that should not exist. Dr. Sarah Mitchell is used to digging up the past—not running from it. When she secures the excavation of a never-opened tomb in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, she expects rivalry and desert heat. She doesn’t expect to uncover a crystalline relic that glows with impossible light—or to trigger a conspiracy involving intelligence agencies, antiquities smugglers, and secrets thousands of years old. Because this tomb was never meant to be opened. Dr. Marcus Reid, a British archaeologist with a gift for translation, is also a CIA operative tracking a terrorist-funded antiquities ring led by an ex-KGB dealer searching for the same artifact. When a raid destroys the camp and Sarah’s daughter is kidnapped, the mission becomes personal. With her nine-year-old son and Marcus as her only ally, Sarah races from Luxor to Abydos, following clues left by priests who died to seal away a force that should never be released. The artifact isn’t a relic. It’s a key. And something ancient has been waiting for someone to use it. Blending archaeological mystery, espionage, Egyptian mythology, and fierce family stakes, The Anubis Protocol is perfect for fans of The Da Vinci Code , Indiana Jones , National Treasure , and Tomb Raider . Perfect for readers who love: Archaeological thrillers and ancient tomb mysteries Egyptology, hieroglyphs, and lost Egyptian secrets Intelligent female leads and mother protagonists CIA and international conspiracy plots Sci-fi elements hidden in historical mystery Fast-paced adventure with emotional stakes