I just finished this book (I have a version that is older than the pic shown) and I almost put it down halfway through. I found the super-wealthy friends of the heroine extremely annoying, as did the main character, it seemed. The historical name dropping was also off-putting and the endless descriptions of the arid, violent middle east gave me the creeps. However, the novel did pick up speed midway through and I spent an entire weekend finishing it to see how it would end. This novel is a mixed bag. It seems to have a cult following of it's own, but not much has been written by the author since, so maybe she quit while she was ahead?