The Khamsin: Raging Sands — J. Peterson

In the middle of the Atlantic she awakened, terrified that she was doomed for disaster when she found herself on a disabled troopship in 1944 heading for the festering sands of Egypt. A bad omen of what was to come. This is a novel regarding women in the service and how they coped with the painfully uncertain present they were confronted with while thousands of miles away from home. In her case she couldn't get far enough from the neighborhood and the hell that was Rico. In short, this is about women who became friends under pressure, spending many long months desperately unhappy over their assignments and sorting out their personal problems meanwhile agonizing over loved ones fighting the war at the front. Tragedy didn't keep her from being famous throughout Cairo for her dancing, her self-induced therapy for the emotional bruises collected daily on a job that she hated. An incredibly handsome blond Bob Donovan stole the show with her at a company celebration marking one year in Cairo where she got star billing in the Stars and Stripes. However, the publicity unfortunately caught the attention of Rico's brother stationed nearby in the Air Force. ...and the toast of Cairo was soon to meet her Waterloo.