Death in the Empty Quarter

Author(s): George L Potter

Location(s): Yemen

Genre(s): Crime, Thriller

Era(s): early 21st century

The oil industry can be a cutthroat business, and no one knows that better than troubleshooter Bert Franks. As a consultant and plenipotentiary for Vermilion Oil Company (the Houston-based firm owned by his adoptive sister and brother-in-law), he specializes in navigating the political minefields of the Middle Eastern nation of Yemen, where Vermilion operates a profitable oilfield concession. Bert spends his days dealing with the needs of the oilfield employees, maintaining contacts in the local expatriate community, meeting and socializing with government officials, even handling major negotiations—anything necessary to smooth the way for Vermilion’s interests. When a minor contractual dispute spirals out of control, Bert finds himself at the center of a storm of corporate cupidity, government corruption, a muckraking reporter, political controversy…and murder. His brother-in-law is dead, his girlfriend has vanished, Vermilion is on the brink of bankruptcy—and suddenly he’s persona non grata in a country he’s adopted as his own. And the whole time, he never suspects that the real danger to all he cares for lies not in the Yemen desert, but much, much closer to home…

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