An ancient secret. A faction of killers. A deadly book. Zahra Kane is a brilliant and daring archaeologist. The former British Army Intelligence linguist has used her fluency in a laundry list of languages, as well as her combat training, to succeed at the highest level. The intrepid adventurer isn't afraid to get her hands dirty or blow past the point of no return to obtain her prize. Late one night, she receives a frantic phone call from her estranged brother, an Egyptologist who's been tasked with examining a newly discovered tomb and the prize it contains: the original Book of the Dead--a scroll made of human skin and penned in human blood. This book contains an additional segment of text describing a place forgotten to time, where archaic experiments were conducted to produce a horrifying sickness. The dig is attacked shortly after the scroll is unearthed, and an ancient society of murderous zealots is responsible for the bloodshed. Thus far, they have only been mentioned as a myth since before the time of the pharaohs. Zahra's brother is recruited at gunpoint to help find the clandestine location and replicate the virus--the plague--and release it upon the world.