Sahara Adventure

This latest edge-of-your-seat thriller, "Death at Sunrise" sweeps readers into a gripping adventure in the sweltering Sahara desert. It centers around five comrades of the French Foreign Legion, the impulsive Teuns Stegmann, brawny Fritz Mundt, quick-witted Jack Ritchie, hardy Podolski the Pole, and feisty Petacci the Italian. Together for the first time, they embark on a perilous patrol mission into the barren wasteland. As scorching winds blast their faces and water supplies dwindle, a lethal sandstorm suddenly engulfs them, obliterating their bearings. Their odds of surviving the merciless conditions seem hopeless until they spot two camels racing through the sand. They desperately pursue the two camels for a chance at sanctuary. After an arduous chase, the men finally reach safety in one of three clay huts nestled in a remote oasis. But what they discover inside the humble shelter leaves them shocked and imperiled. There lies the alluring yet cunning Brigitte Bonnet, the notorious "Witch of the Sahara" hellbent on revenge for her sister's death. Conflict collides as the soldiers confine her, intent on delivering the wanted woman to authorities in Algiers. Yet Brigitte has a knack for slipping away. After drugging her captors' water and fleeing into the darkness, the men awake parched and furious. As the sandstorm entombs the oasis's life-saving well, they become stranded without water, slowly succumbing to a torturous demise. But just when all hope evaporates, a mysterious bomber plane appears and airlifts the five friends to the Arab stronghold of Dutra. In the capital, they are locked away in a reeking dungeon. While languishing in despair, they uncover something extraordinary concealed beneath the cell's hay that renews their drive for survival. But can they utilize it before Brigitte's next lethal plan takes form? For she and the Arab leaders have concocted a barbaric public execution for the legionnaires, set to take place in front of a bloodthirsty mob at sunrise. As the first glimmer of light creeps over the distant dunes, only a miracle seems capable of saving the condemned men from the ceremonial blade. Can Teuns and his loyal comrades-in-arms escape Brigitte's wrath and derail her genocidal scheme? Against impossible odds, the courageous legionnaires will have to fight with every ounce of strength and cunning if they hope to turn the tables on Brigitte and her bloodthirsty hordes and live to fight another day. “Death at Sunrise” delivers a high-stakes tale wound with tension, valor, and startling twists that will leave readers enthralled until the very last page. So, sit down, strap in, and get ready for a rollercoaster ride you won't soon forget with this thrilling Sahara desert story.

About two thousand Dulacs have surrounded Fort Laval and are demanding that Captain Gaston Lefevre, the commanding officer of the French Foreign Legion, surrender the fort to them without any opposition. This places him in a very delicate situation because the Dulacs allege that they have kidnapped his daughter, Julie Lefevre. They say that they will kill her if he and all his soldiers do not immediately vacate the fort. The Arab sheik promises him that he is only interested in the fort and nothing else. To the utter dismay of his men, Captain Lefevre decides to grant the sheik's request. He asks for a volunteer to go and fetch his daughter and make the final arrangements. The South African, Teuns Stegmann, is the only man who steps forward and takes the dangerous task upon himself. While Teuns is en route to the Dulac camp just outside the fort, Sergeant Zhakof decides to take over the command of the fort and place Captain Lefevre under arrest. He signals Teuns to return to the fort at once, but before Teuns can reach the fort, he gets captured by the Dulacs. In the main tent of the sheik, he meets Julie Lefevre, one of the most beautiful women he has ever seen. The sheik gives Teuns only fifteen minutes to return to the fort and demands the fort's surrender. Otherwise, Julie will die. Teuns never returns, but to the amazement of the sheik, Captain Lefevre arrives out of nowhere. He takes him to the fort to demand the surrender of the fort. When they reach the fort, though, they find it empty, to their utter shock and surprise. Not even one soldier is left hiding there. They struggle to unravel this secret. How could all the soldiers have slipped through the Dulac lines positioned around the fort and summarily disappeared without a trace? Sheik Feisan orders Captain Lefevre to accompany him to the armory, as it is the weapons and ammunition he wants to lay his hands on. But once again, the sheik is heavily disappointed because what he finds there is not what he had expected to find. If that is not enough, something happens in the armory that places the Dulacs in a very tight spot. Lead quickly flies in all directions, and one tense situation follows another, causing huge frustration and misery for the sheik and his followers. Standing between the sheik and the things he had come for, one very brave and intelligent person thwarts his plans, one after another...

During the Second World War, Teuns Stegmann's brother was shot down over the Sahara Desert by a German fighter plane. This was also the main reason why Teuns joined the French Foreign Legion in the Sahara. To search for his lost brother by temporarily giving up his beautiful wine farm in the Hex Valley. While on a short leave of absence and enjoying a drink with his loyal fellow soldiers in a restaurant in Algiers, a mysterious, short man appears and asks to speak to Teuns alone. However, his friends warn him against it. The man tells Teuns the shocking news that his brother is still alive and that he is willing to escort him to his brother, as his brother had tasked him with finding Teuns. By using the very thing Teuns treasures, the man manages to convince him. Teuns decides to apply for special leave to accompany the man, but Fritz Mundt has other plans, and a deadly fight ensues in the bar between Arabs and Legion men. The men fight for their lives, and when the police arrive, they discover that Teuns has disappeared without a trace. Teuns finds himself in the clutches of a villain and three henchmen, who give him a choice. Deliver the Sabre of Dutra, worth millions of rands, which Teuns had hidden at an oasis long ago, or his brother will die. They shackle his hands and feet and take him to the oasis in the desert, where Teuns must find the sabre for them. He tries to stall them to gain extra time for an escape plan. He cleverly turns the villains on one another, and one after the another, they get eliminated. As Teuns reckons that the time has finally come for him to escape, approximately three hundred Dulacs arrive. The Sword of Dutra belongs to them, and their sheik makes it impossible for Teuns to escape. However, they have not encountered the bravery and resourcefulness of this tall, blonde South African before, and he concocts a brilliant plan. If everything works out exactly as he wants, his plan will give him a slim chance of getting away alive. However, he is desperate, and this might be his last chance. When all seems lost, Teuns executes his extraordinary plan. When the Dulacs finally grasp his clever plan and want to attack him, he plays his last trump card...