Vulture’s Kiss by Justine Saracen

Valerie Foret--archeologist and heir to a terrifying task --returns in a powerful desert adventure set in Egypt and Jerusalem, in both modern and medieval times.

On the eve of the release of Valerie Foret's great chronicle, Valerie learns that hers is not the 100th generation of the prophecy at all. In grappling with a mysterious and lethal opponent, Valerie witnesses the horrors of the first Crusade in which her ancestors, both innocent and malevolent, have carried out a drama identical to her own. The weapon that succeeded then and now threatens once again is the terrible power of faith.

Will the outcome be the same? In the course of fleeing the forces of violent fundamentalism, Valerie, a westerner, and Najya Khoury, an Arab-Israeli, fall in love and find out just how dangerous it is to challenge accepted `truth.'