Black Snow Rising — S.E. Schenkel

A couple disappears while recording folklore from various desert clans. When Acey Tapp and Megan Bork investigate, they step onto a stage set decades earlier, and butt heads with trouble as they explore a land hiding its past under vast expanses of sand and along miles of mountain tunnels.Two groups clash as Acey and Megan unearth clues. One is a team of experts working to transform the Sahara. The other group is a covert society of old clansmen living out their final days as the keepers of a horrific secret.