This powerful first novel tells the story of David Mather, a charismatic relief worker who believes that a mysterious group of African nomads are the descendants of the legendary Lost Tribes of Israel. Mather organizes An expedition to find the tribe; it includes an anthropologist, an African shaman; and Ben Chase, the young journalist who is the book's narrator.

Traveling north through a chaotic, war-torn country, these modern pilgrims encounter soldiers and guerrillas, a deranged family or neo-colonials, and a city ravaged by an unexplained plague. As they search for the elusive veiled tribe, Chase must deal with Mather's apocalyptic vision and his own changing perception of this dangerous world.

Written with the pace of an adventure tale, The Lost Tribe is a complex exploration of the uncertain borderland between faith and despair.