Mark Exner, a young American construction engineer looking for challenge and adventure, finds more than he expected in the barren deserts of Saudi Arabia. Assigned to a multi-million dollar project near the town of Tabuk, his professional skills are taxed to the limit, but it is the conflicts and passions of the isolated construction camp where he finds the greatest challenges and unexpected rewards. Mark explores the mountains of northwestern Saudi Arabia, the Red Sea resort of Aqaba where Lawrence of Arabia vanquished the Turks, the ancient ruins of Nabatean Petra and biblical Damascus, while Ayatollah Khomeini's revolution in Iran, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and Saddam Hussein's rise to power in Iraq keep the region in turmoil. From the Saudi desert to the bars and beaches of Thailand to the mystical city of Katamandu, Nepal, Mark sees a side of life he had never even imagined. But it is when he gets back home to the Midwest that he finds his greatest surprise.