Skeletons on the Zahara

By Dean King

I loved this book. A great entertaining, page-turning adventure/survival story of another time and place. Written with excellent story telling, I literally could not put it down. It is a true story, which when told well, like this one, makes it even more compelling for me. This is a great story about leadership, faith and compassion.

I hesitate to give you any more information . . .

But if you must know, it is a true story about a crew from the early 1800's who shipwrecked outside of the Sahara. This is their story of nearly dying a few times over and their experience of becoming slaves to desert Arabs.

Everything about the story is enthralling. The details of life on a ship, life about to end, life on the desert was fascinating. Definitely a piece of the puzzle in my own quest for understanding about the human will to live and to what extremes people go to achieve that goal. And actually, of even greater interest, how some do so with great integrity and some cannot find it within them to either survive or do so with human grace and compassion.

I will add Captain Riley and Sidi Hamat to my list of heroes. Not simply for surviving but for providing leadership, compassion and humanity in that search for survival. Dean King did an excellent job of making an old story come to life.

Salem alikoom.

(book 10)