Johnny Walker is an undercover Interpol agent. When he is called to Somalia, he thinks he has a dream-come-true assignment when he is asked to guard the harem of a visiting Arabian prince. But the dream turns into a nightmare when the ravishing beauties disappear. He follows the trail to the abductors and discovers a flourishing White Slave trade. The Prince is so happy to get his harem ladies back, he offers Walker an old family heirloom. Walker graciously accepts, but privately he suspects the gold-plated statue caricature of a three legged camel probably has a Made in Hong Kong label on its bottom. After a drinking bout with a friend, Walker drops the statue. When he examines the broken pieces, he has to use tweezers to pull out a frayed map. A treasure map.

Having learned to read and write, Karimah is put to work by her merchant father, Dunash HaCohen al-Tustari, for whom she does bookkeeping. She is sent to work with Ismail, the son of her father's partner, and they fall in love. Unfortunately, their parents, although colleagues and friends, will not smile upon the union: Ismail is Muslim and Karimah is a Karaite, member of a sect of Jews who adhere solely to the law as it is understood from the written Bible, rejecting rabbinical interpretation.

"The Elsewhere." Or, midbar-biblical Hebrew for both "wilderness" and "speech." A place of possession and dispossession, loss and nostalgia. But also a place that speaks. Ingeniously using a Talmudic interpretive formula about the disposition of boundaries, Newton explores narratives of "place, flight, border, and beyond." The writers of The Elsewhere are a disparate company of twentieth-century memoirists and fabulists from the Levant (Palestine/Israel, Egypt) and East Central Europe. Together, their texts-cunningly paired so as to speak to one another in mutually revelatory ways-narrate the paradox of the "near distance."

Zamil Akhtar delivers an epic science fantasy adventure filled with mystery and romance. When Kav sleeps, a firefly whispers in his ear that his wife is not dead. But to find her he has to kill the three Magi that protect the land of Eden. The same Magi destroyed Kav's hometown four years ago to crush a rebellion, and he hasn't seen his wife since. As Kav plots to kill the Magi, a flying armada bent on conquest and destruction invades Eden. Only the Magi and their ability to turn sunshine into magical energy can stop them. Granted the same power by the firefly, Kav must either kill the Magi to reunite with his wife, or let go of his longing for the sake of Eden and its people.

Have you ever wanted to travel the King's Highway in Jordan and walk down the famous Siq Gorge to the ancient city of Petra? Or wanted to spend an Orthodox Christmas in Bethlehem? Wondered how you would feel if stuck with a flat tyre in the middle of the Sudanese desert at sunrise? Or pondered about the Call to Prayer as it echoes repeatedly across Istanbul at sunset? Have you ever wondered how so many people live and survive in the Middle East without the rules and regulations of Australian building, working, and plumbing? Meet Shazam the Jordanian taxi driver, the boys in the Sea of Shoeshine, Mr Ali and his famous Green Door Pizza in Jerusalem, Russell from Noosa, and the Great Paperweights of Giza as you travel on a journey of adventure, mishaps, revelations, architectural wonders, and lack of plumbing, though Israel, Egypt, Jordan and Turkey. And don't forget the Cats of Istanbul, the Cairo Cat Shop, and Camel School and the Art of Haggling . In 1997, architect MahalathHalperin, together with her colleague and his wife, Peter and Pauline Buckwell, spent four crazy weeks travelling by plane, train, and automobile throughout the Middle East on a journey to discover architecture, culture, and of course, plumbing. And they found lots of cats along the way. This is the story of that adventure.

Journey back in time to the faraway Biblical land of Palestine in thirty-something A.D. Experience the greatest story ever told from a unique perspective in this religious parody of a children's game book for adults. In You Are the Messiah!, take a humorous and irreverent journey through the life of Jesus Christ the lives he touches, the miracles he executes, and the roads he travels during the most tumultuous period of his life from the clumsy beginning of his ministry, to the development of his fabled miracle-working powers, and ultimately, to his tortured sacrifice on the cross as he struggles with becoming humanity's unlucky savior. Turn the page, but watch out. The choices made at the end of each plot point can either further the story along the correct path, lead to crazy side stories, or end in a comically brutal death or much worse. Along the way, you'll get the chance to answer one age-old question: What should Jesus do?

In this collection of 60+ short humorous essays, Woodiwiss fearlessly takes on all comers, from himself to nosey neighbors to Pope John Paul II, affectionately known to Bob as the The Deuce. Whether he's explaining why he doesn't fly a flag -- the stripes make my house look fat -- or his bed-and-breakfast social gaffes, Woodiwiss is sharp, smart, and Dorothy-Parker funny.

In late 1940 a group of five young Australian soldiers set out on a secret mission: one of the Second World War’s most daring operations and the first for Britain’s legendry Special Operations Executive.Leading a small force of Ethiopian freedom fighters on an epic trek across the harsh African bush from the Sudan, the small incursion force entered Italian-occupied Ethiopia and began waging a guerilla war against the 250,000-strong Italian army. One of these men, Ken Burke, was Duncan McNab's uncle.Using a combination of original research and personal anecdotes, McNab tells the little known story of Mission 101, and how a small group of Australians under British command helped to free a nation.