Five medical students, united by a single dream, torn apart by jealousy, secrets, and a deadly revenge. Between Alexandria and Cairo, Zein finds himself torn between a first love that has become an open wound, a new love struggling to blossom in a heart burdened with guilt, and a group of friends whose outward appearance is one of laughter but whose inner conflicts are unspoken. When Zein's body collapses in the hospital, and he rises from his bed surrounded by Fairouz, Shahd, and Shadi, and with Nour's return from the past, it seems as though fate is granting him a second chance at life. But this time, Zein is no longer the kind, heartbroken student torn between conflicting hearts; he returns as an anatomy surgeon who knows how to dissect a person to their very core… and seal every door with quicklime. In a single apartment and a single barrel, jealousy transforms into conspiracy, and the conspiracy into a silent massacre, leaving only the "sole survivor" of the group… wearing the mask of innocence, burying beneath the sands of October enough to write a complete hell. Was Zein a victim of poisoned love… or a killer forged by love itself? "Love in the Time of Lime" is a novel about how the most violent part of us, when we love without limits, turns into an end that leaves nothing behind... but dust.

Five medical students, united by a single dream, torn apart by jealousy, secrets, and a deadly revenge. Between Alexandria and Cairo, Zein finds himself torn between a first love that has become an open wound, a new love struggling to blossom in a heart burdened with guilt, and a group of friends whose outward appearance is one of laughter but whose inner conflicts are unspoken. When Zein's body collapses in the hospital, and he rises from his bed surrounded by Fairouz, Shahd, and Shadi, and with Nour's return from the past, it seems as though fate is granting him a second chance at life. But this time, Zein is no longer the kind, heartbroken student torn between conflicting hearts; he returns as an anatomy surgeon who knows how to dissect a person to their very core… and seal every door with quicklime. In a single apartment and a single barrel, jealousy transforms into conspiracy, and the conspiracy into a silent massacre, leaving only the "sole survivor" of the group… wearing the mask of innocence, burying beneath the sands of October enough to write a complete hell. Was Zein a victim of poisoned love… or a killer forged by love itself? "Love in the Time of Lime" is a novel about how the most violent part of us, when we love without limits, turns into an end that leaves nothing behind... but dust.

A typical university trip to the Baron Palace transforms in moments into a terrifying ordeal in the heart of Cairo… but not the Cairo they know. A sudden power outage, dead power lines, doors locking themselves, and an ancient palace that has decided six students are its new “heroes”… or its sacrifices. Kareem, the calm leader; Hamada, the kind and self-sacrificing one; Shady, the cowardly traitor; Ghada, a prisoner of her own image; Rania, the historian obsessed with the truth; and Yara, the “returnee” whose connection to the palace runs far deeper than a mere university trip. In the catacombs, in the halls of mirrors, amidst stagnant water and a drowned guard, they discover that their ancestors entered this place before them… and some of them have “never left” written next to their names. Every door that opens leads them deeper: a visitors' register recording their names before they arrive; food arranged as offerings; an offering room furnished with six chairs; and a spiral staircase that takes them to a tower overlooking another “Cairo,” frozen beneath a red moon. There, the Baron's spirit makes one last deal: one remains a guardian forever… and the rest are released. Between sacrifice… and betrayal… and blood that binds them in a single pact, they try to break the curse of the Baron's palace before it swallows their story like it swallowed all those who came before them. But when they finally return… the most dangerous question remains: Did they all truly return? Or did just one of them… remain inside, in Cairo under the red moon? A psychological horror novel about imprisonment, fear, and the thin line between reality and nightmare… inside the most mysterious palace in the heart of Cairo.