Mindbending, weird and amazing - these are the three words I would use to describe this book. We have two separate story lines and a lot of questions the reader asks themselvers throughout the story. :) I really liked the cast of unique characters as well as the imagery, even though it was sometimes a bit disturbing. This has the potential to become a modern classic!

I knew I had to read this book when I read the blurb, it sounded right up my street and something I could get lost in. I liked the different stories woven across the book, that of Spider and his family in a world where sand is dangerous and that of McKenzie, a seemingly normal girl with visions of deserts and lizards who starts to believe something strange is going on and her family are keeping secrets. McKenzie’s story held my interest the most as there’s so much mystery and so many questions are raised. I was impressed by the world building and how the places Spider and McKenzie inhabit felt so real. I was gripped from page one.

I got this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I thought the premise of this book was really intriguing, and it was pretty decent in the beginning. We follow two parallel stories here, one featuring Spider and his family group as they navigate a very strange desert landscape where dangerous djinni threatens to end them. Then we also follow McKenzie, who’s a teen in USA who apparently dreams of deserts, sees lizards that no one else can see and has a family that seems to be keeping some serious secrets from her.

I could never really get into Spider’s story. I found it repetitive and boring without any real progress. There was just too many words to tell the story, which made it hard to keep focus, and I kept wanting to skim through it all the time.

While Spider’s parts were just confusing and strange, McKenzie’s part, however, had more of a mystery element to it. Why did she have these visions, these dreams? Who is this person who claims to also see and feel the same things she does? This mystery was what kept me reading. I wanted the answers.

Even though McKenzie’s parts were also slow and too long and too riddled with unnecessary details and conversations etc, the mystery was still there and I found it interesting enough to keep going. But then, her parts sort of fizzled out, and Spider’s took over. And the answers to the mystery were sort of never given in a satisfying way. It was just confusing and spiritual and all over the place. A complete anticlimax after having endured what turns out to be like 600 pages or something.

And the ending? No. It was a complete disappointment and an investment I wish I had never done. This was definitely not for me, and I feel cheated. Why lure the reader in with a good mystery without explaining it properly? Without giving a satisfying answer?

There were interesting part of this, the spiritual side was also thoughtworthy, and the mystery at the beginning was good. But, in all honestly, the book didn’t have to be this long. It was so much that could and should have been cut.

So, this I two stars for me, perhaps even 2,5, but I’m not sure. It just wasn’t for me.

I looked forward to bedtime with much anticipation knowing I had The Book of Sand waiting. I greatly enjoyed my time in this world in the company of Spider, Camel and the rest of the Dormilones 'family'. A mind bending dystopian fantasy, the world building skill is first rate and utterly (un)believable. The Book of Sand had me enthralled from page one as I worked to unravel how everything hung together in this topsy-turvy existence. Much confusion on my part, initially, but once I freed my mind of the geographic constraints here on Earth and embraced the journey the possibilities opened up and the story took on new dimensions.

I won't go anywhere near the plot but will say the adventure is pure escapism fuel and fascinating, even including the tense times of stress and worry for our dear family. A terrific read penned by the much esteemed, late Mo Hayder and the first of a series, I hope, as I am keen to know what lies ahead in this otherworldly adventure race.

My thanks to the late Author publisher's and NetGalley for providing me with a Paperback version of this book to read and honestly review.
I was initially interested in reading this book by the blurb having never previously heard of the Author, however in a letter accompanying the book I discovered it was written by the late great 'Mo Hayder' one of my favourite Author's, all of whose books I have read or are in my ever increasing to be read pile. This is very different genre from any of her books I have previously read. The quality of writing is there the brilliant characters the intensity of the compelling story, grabbing your attention from first to last page. This book is atmospheric awesome thought provoking told with great skill and passion at times sad others funny, sometimes violent always intriguing. A unique not to be missed book.
Please tell me there is at least one more book already written in this series to explain the ending, for this ageing sixty four year old brain.
Completely brilliant totally recommended.

This is a very clever book. Engrossing and enthralling. It really transports you to the desert/USA in the two storylines it follows. The stories happily unravel side-by-side for more than half of the book and you're kind of left wishing that the two don't collide as you don't want to spoil what's going on. But collide they must, and after a bit of time getting your head around it, what a collision! Not a scenario you'd ever second guess and like I say very clever in hindsight.

The characters are good, the scene-setting is second-to-none and the prose is nice and readable - not much to complain about at all to be totally honest.

The most similar thing I can think of is probably something like Maze Runner. Fans of that will lap this up I suspect.

It's 5 stars from me - a story that I'll remember all year.

Many thanks for the review copy.

An eclectic mix of people live together as a family in a strange and deadly desert environment, searching for a mysterious item known as the Sarkpont, This is their last chance to find it, and they are not the only family searching for it - and every few days terrible creatures stalk the desert, promising a hideous death.

In another place and time, a seventeen year old girl begins to have strange hallucinations of a desert lizard appearing in her bedroom, and her parents start to worry about her mental health, but she is quite sure that she is not only sane, but that something is being hidden from her, and she needs to discover what it is.

I don't really know how to describe this book - having finished it, I feel slightly wrung out and bereft. There is so much going on in it, not so much in terms of the plot which is a fairly straightforward adventure/quest, but in terms of unravelling what it actually all means and represents. It would be a very interesting and unusual book to discuss in a book group.

The characters are memorable, the setting is unique, and the adventure is gripping and pacy. I really enjoyed it despite still not really knowing what it was all about!!

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book in return for an honest review.

My thanks to Random House U.K. Cornerstone Century for an advance review copy via NetGalley of ‘The Book of Sand’ by Theo Clare in exchange for an honest review.

This was an extraordinary novel that left me feeling stunned by its originality and complexity. An unusual hybrid incorporating elements of science fiction, fantasy, adventure, mystery, and literary fiction.

Theo Clare is a new pen name of author Mo Hayder and the two novels that she completed prior to her recent death are being published posthumously. I have been a great admirer of Hayder’s thrillers, so was very keen to read this new work of speculative fiction.

‘The Book of Sand’ is an unusual story set in a world of shifting sands and blazing sun, of abandoned cities and unseen invisible deadly threats. A small group, who have been instructed to treat themselves as a family, are engaged in a quest to find an object hidden somewhere in the surrounding cities. The Sarkpont is the key to their escape. Yet they are not alone as other families are seeking it.

In an alternative narrative stream, McKenzie Strathie is an ordinary teenage girl living an ordinary life in Fairfax County, Virginia. She is fascinated by sand and the desert. After she has a vivid waking dream of finding a sand-lizard in her bed, she overhears her mother sadly saying to her father: “You don’t think it’s happening again, do you?” Soon McKenzie begins to question everything around her, especially who she really is ... No further details to avoid spoilers.

While the family faces constant threats in their struggle to survive, their cooperation and love for each other is an uplifting message. The novel incorporates elements of philosophy, religion, and spirituality.

Given the author’s knowledge of her mortality, it is perhaps not surprising that themes such as the meaning of life and death are also explored.

I found this an amazing novel and feel that I have only touched the surface of this powerful, contemplative work with my initial reading. It is a novel that I have every confidence that I will be rereading.

The second book, ‘The Book of Clouds’ will be published in 2023. I look forward to seeing how this visionary story continues.

Very highly recommended.

I enjoyed this book but also found it quite confusing which made it a bit frustrating to read. I would definitely read the sequel, if only to find out what is going on.

Knowing that this was a "Mo Hayder" I had high hopes, but not for me. The writing was very good of course, but I didn't like the two very different timelines and it was very slow and long. I skipped ahead to the end and saw there was no real resolution so I didn't read most of it. Sorry.

The Book of Sand if most certainly a book of two halves and two stories.

We meet Makenzie Strathie, a normal teen with a seemingly normal life, except she is obsessed with deserts, sand and the weather. Things start going wrong for her when she finds a horned lizard in her bedroom that she struggles to convince anyone else is real.

At the same time we meet Spider. Part of a "family" living in a strange desert environment, hiding out from Djinn that terrorise them every other night, in their cobbled together home they call the Shuck. The family have been tasked with finding something called the Sarkpoint, and it's clear if they don't, very bad things will happen.

Ostensibly a mix of speculative fiction, fantasy and thriller, it feels like the book doesn't really know what it wants to be.
Sub plots of a vacuous middle class suburban life, conspiracy theories and CIA are thrown by the wayside as nothing more than set dressing for what becomes the second half of the book, where essentially nothing about Makenzie really matters other than the last few days we spend with her.

Whilst I appreciate this may have been intended to be the first part of a trilogy, I felt character development left a lot to be desired. Even our "main" characters were left with gaping holes in their personality with the audience being left with little understanding as to their motivations outside of the finding of the maguffin.
Side characters were so underused I can barely remember their names as soon as I have put the book down.

The final act was relatively fast paced and kept me reading, even if it was just to find out how it ended. This contrasted starkly to the plodding pacing of beginning of the book, which I nearly gave up on a couple of times.

I was left wondering if I was supposed to view the book as a spiritual piece relating to our place in the world, religion and the meaning of family. Was I supposed to relate it to the pending disaster that is climate change? I honestly don't know.
I was left feeling a tad frustrated and unsatisfied.

Where to start with this book?!

I really enjoyed The Book of Sand but I can't say that I've really taken anything from it? I hope that makes sense. It definitely kept me reading because I wanted to know what was happening and I enjoyed guessing too. I'm just not sure the end was enough for me.

The book itself is quite a hefty one sitting at a comfy 600 ish pages. It's split into two parts with the first half following two narratives which merge for the second half of the book. I will say, the first half of the book felt like a YA novel - it followed a teenager who didn't belong - McKenzie dreams of deserts but when she starts having 'hallucinations' she meets Newt who says he sees things too. The other narrative follows a found family unit (focusing on a guy called Spider) who are searching a desert land for an object which isn't explicitly explained but they are in competition with other 'families' to find it first.

I won't go into the second half as it would be a spoiler!

The world building was interesting for sure in The Book of Sand. The desert world has several cities in it which are mostly buried in sand. So the family would travel between Dubai and Phoenix for example - it was strange to get my head around at first!

In terms of characters I'd say the desert family were more well rounded, even though there are a lot of them - the dynamic there was interesting and kept me invested.

Overall, I've rated The Book of Sand a 3.5 as it was very easy reading and interesting - it just seemed to drift off towards the end without finishing properly and I have no idea if that is how the author intended it or not as it has been published posthumously.

A group of unrelated people, adults & children, live in a 'shuck' - a shelter in the desert which they call home. Every day they travel out in search of the 'Sarkpont', an object which could lie anywhere in the surrounding desert, but they have to ensure they have returned to the shuck every other night, as on 'grey' nights, creatures called the Djinni roam the land, killing anyone they find outside. Meanwhile teenager McKenzie lives in Virginia but has a fascination with the desert which turns into an odd mystery when one night she wakes up to find a sand-lizard in her bed. The lizard has disappeared by the time McKenzie has convinced her parents to come look, & although it reappears several more times, only McKenzie sees it. Her parents think she needs psychiatric help, but then McKenzie receives an online message from a stranger telling her that they have seen the lizard too...

When I first started reading this, I wasn't sure what to expect. The book has dual storylines, the one located in the desert is mostly told from the point of view of Spider, a young man who has a talent for anything mechanical, whilst the second one is from McKenzie's point of view. The two start off quite separately, apart from the desert link, but they slowly start to merge. I found it a gripping read that easily held my attention - I really wanted to find out where the plot was going to go. I have to say I thought the ending was the weakest part, but the preceding chapters were strong so I rate this a deserved 4 stars.

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Random House UK, Cornerstone, Century, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for the opportunity to read and review this.

The Book Of Sand tells of two timelines, a cloud obsessed teenager in the American capitol and a group of desperate searchers stranded in the deserts of Dubai.

I found myself confused throughout this book, but a good confusion that kept me wondering and trying to figure out what was going on. I would urge readers to continue reading on despite this, as the confusion that I had was ultimately and partially answered halfway through the book, but also as a result, I was left with more questions at the end.

While this book is not for all, and this is definitely interesting, enough for me to look forward to the sequel.

Oh wow! This is a brilliant book...its Post Apocalyptic meets Hunger Games...and simply brilliant! I normally read Crime Fiction and Pychological Dramas, but this was very refreshing.. Cleverly written, twists and turns aplenty...and an ending that hopefully means there might be a continuation...if you like the Post Apocalyptic World genre, read this book! Many thanks to Netgalley.co.uk, the Publishet, but mainly the author for allowing me access to an ARC of this awesome book!

3.5 stars

The Book of Sand by Theo Clare takes place in an alternate universe, and is the first book in a series.  It is being touted as a “speculative thriller”, but it is probably on the science fiction end of things.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Random House and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


My Synopsis:   (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)
Mackenzie Strathie wakes up to find a lizard in her bed, but it is gone when her parents come to check.  Apparently her fascination with the desert has crept into her dreams, but she has a great idea for her science project. Then she meets someone new, that she feels she already knows.

Spider walks across the sand with the family.  They are tired, aching, injured.  They are young and old, but still they move.  They must reach home before nightfall, as it is a "grey" night, and their lives depend up shelter.   They call their shelter the "shuck", and they live over 30 meters above the desert floor, inside a vast tower.  They are not of one family, but of many, coming together inadvertently, but seemingly by design.  They work together, each bringing their own skill to their tasks.  They call their world the Cirque.

They head out in a different direction every morning, exploring the empty cities in the distance.   Across the sand, under the burning sun. They are searching for the Sarkpont, although they are not really sure what that is.  But they are not the only family in search of the elusive Sarkpont.  If Spider's family do not find it, they will die.


My Opinions:   
The first part of the book took place in Mackenzie's world, and the second in Spider's.  I spent a lot of time imagining how they would come together.  I was surprised.

Okay, the overall premise of a group of people remembering events from another world was very interesting.  Having that group on a quest was also really good.  The whole thing was very intriguing.  

I liked the way the author took Mackenzie from one world to the next, and then showed us what was really going on.  It was a very philosophical and spiritual book, and it made you think....but unfortunately, this book was way too long.  It wasn't so much boredom that set in, it was more apathy.  I was more concerned about the Camel, than anyone else. Other than Spider, MacKenzie and perhaps Forlani, I really didn't care for any of the other characters, and the children were just annoying.

The plot and writing were well thought-out, and although I had problems with the length and characters, the book still held my interest enough to finish (although I may have skimmed from time to time).

I understand that this book was written by Mo Hayder, who apparently passed away, so I am wondering if there will really be a second book...if not, I'm okay ending it as is.

This book was deeply unsettling at what the world could be and expected;y written with such care and detail towards the plot and descriptions of the setting that allowed me to feel like I was there

All books do not suit all people and The Book of Sand was just not for me. Sorry to say that I had to give up because, having read 7 chapters and trudged through some 15% of the book, I had no clue as to where it was heading.

The book of sand by Theo Clare.
Outlines of several once-busy cities shimmer on the horizon. Now empty of inhabitants, their buildings lie in ruins. In the distance a group of people - a family - walk towards us. Ahead lies shelter: a 'shuck' the family call home and which they know they must reach before the light fails, as to be out after dark is to invite danger and almost certain death.
An engaging read. This was different. I loved the cover. Couldn't put it down. 5*.

Very interesting and intriguing book.
Full of twists and turns from the first page to the last.
You really need to stick with it as what you think you know, what you think is going to happen is suddenly ripped out from under you.
It is heavy going at times but it is completely worth it in the end.
Recommended.