Thrilling Locations: Sandfire

 

One great thing about collaborating with Andrew Warren on Sandfire, is that we both have a love for international travel and thrilling locations. I hope you’ll agree, we came up with some some stunning new locales for Thomas Caine to visit. With the book launch less than a month away, it’s time for Part Two of the Sandfire Location Report (read Part One on Andrew’s website)…

Sandfire is an early adventure in Caine’s career, set when he was still a member of the CIA’s Special Operations Group. He’s younger, less experienced, and forging relationships that will become important later when he is disavowed and on the run. Even back then, he was a global traveler. This story takes Caine on a perilous journey from the frozen heights of New Zealand’s Southern Alps, to the burning depths of the largest sand desert in the world…

Riyahd, Saudi Arabia

Riyahd is the capital of Saudi Arabia and the largest city in the country, but very difficult for foreigners to reach particularly if they hare not Muslim. Located in the middle of a desert, the climate is almost always dry and the temperatures can reach 50oC or more.

Although Caine doesn’t visit the city, Caine’s primary enemy is here. A ruthless and emotionless Royal Saudi Land Forces military intelligence officer who concocts a plan to use Caine to find the missing CIA plane central to the story.

The Empty Quarter, Yemen and Saudi Arabia

Also known as the Rub’ al Khali, the Empty Quarter is the largest contiguous sand desert in the world encompassing the southern third of the Arabian Peninsula. Approximately the size of France, the Empty Quarter is so large the local Bedouin nomads who are experts at navigating its seas of dunes never try to cross it, only skirt its edges. As a result, very few people have ever explored its deep interior, and many have died trying.

Despite the dangers, Caine joins a Bedouin camel caravan and enters the Empty Quarter. They travel at night to avoid the scorching daytime heat and battling sandstorms that can drown a person with its coarse granules.

There is a missing CIA plane hidden in the desert Caine must find, and he is not the only one searching for it.

Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti

Formerly a French Foreign Legion base, Camp Lemonnier is the U.S. Military’s largest base in Africa operated by the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa. The base supports drone, special forces and other anti-terrorist missions inside Somalia, Yemen, Iraq, Syria and other insurgent hotspots across North Africa and the Middle East.

Caine visits the base briefly to first lick his wounds, then prepare for the final stages of his mission.

Blue Mountains, Australia

These picturesque World Heritage Listed mountains located 200km east of Sydney contain eucalyptus forests, sandstone cliffs, canyons and waterfalls and are a popular tourist attraction in Australia. The region had long been inhabited by Australian Aboriginal people. When the first British settlers tried to explore these mountains few could cross its range and most died when they became lost.

Caine enters the Blue Mountains to hunt down and kill a traitor. But the man is as smart as Caine and more cunning. He is ready and waiting for Caine with various deadly traps.

These are only half the amazing locations we visited in Sandfire! At five countries in one book, we realised this is a record in frequent flyer mileage for Caine. To read the first half of this location report, visit Andrew Warren’s post at his website www.andrewwarrenbooks.com.