The Book of Sand starts as a story of two worlds - almost two different dimensions. There is the desert with shifting sands and dunes that are capable of burying whole cities; the nights are haunted by monstrous, blood-thirsty beings who are neither dead nor alive and who don't seem to have a stable physical form. In that world a group of strangers is thrown together by fate or rather by mysterious design. The group - referred to as Family - travels by day in search of Sarkpont (a holy grail that has the power to end their apocalyptic desert trek). By night they cower in their shuck which is detached and suspended in mid-air to protect them against night-time perils. Spider, possibly of French heritage but that is only implied, is the focal character. We see the Family's endeavours through his eyes.
In parallel to the desert world, there is the contemporary world of a teenage girl called McKenzie, a science geek, fascinated with sand and desert ,who one day wakes up to find a lizard in her bed. Her world, though seemingly safe and ordinary, begins to undergo a strange transformation. Others can't see what she is seeing and soon her mental health comes into question.
You know that in time the two worlds will collide or merge in some way. The story leads that way. I found McKenzie's story unremarkable at first, but soon it absorbed me and at some point took over from the fantastical world of the desert. Although you will have six hundred pages to plough through, this book is worth persevering with. Your time will be well invested.
The Book of Sand is a reflective and mesmerising tale set in a dystopian reality which tests man's resilience. It is about interdependence and commonality of purpose. It is about togetherness and the intrinsic value each of us represents. All in all, it is an exquisite and thought-provoking story. The ending will take you deep inside yourself, into your past and even your beginning.

This was a long book, and was quite deep. It wasn't always an easy book to read you have to keep your wits about you to keep up with the characters, and plot. Overall it was very original, and well written. I am sad to know that this wonderful author died in 2021 and she will be missed.

Brilliant book! This unique story immediately grabs you and transports you into two seemingly separate worlds, which eventually collide in a dramatic, unexpected, but also very enlightening way. The characters of the family are very well developed and likable. I had a sense of really knowing their personalities, forming favorites in Spider and Yma.

I loved that the author was so mysterious in writing this storyline where it constantly keeps you guessing, never really clearly leading you in one direction or the other until the very end. I liked how the author combines fantasy, spiritualism, time travel/reincarnation and elements of impending horror sprinkled throughout the story. What the book does well is to engage and hold you within the folds of the story from the very start, while trying to pull the pieces of the puzzle together along with the characters, with unexpected twists and turns along the way.

Despite the families dire circumstances and some shady characters, you root for the family and Camel to succeed. Essentially their objective is a race to free themselves from being trapped in a harsh world. They must find the answers to the puzzle which in turn will lead them to finding the exact place from which they can escape from. Their competitors are other families in the very same situation as themselves, struggling to survive and in a fight to be the first to escape. No one knows exactly what will happen when they find it, but they all know if fail, their lives will be taken by the monsters in the sand.

A really enjoyable, thought provoking, recommended book.

Oh my, what a complex and spooky book!

Honestly, I didn't know what to expect from this novel. Fantasy is usually not my genre, and when I was done with one third of the book I still had only a vague idea of what the heck was happening, but by that time I had become addicted. This strange world of sand is depicted so vividly, and the characters are interesting and pretty diverse (my favourites are Spider and Yma). This book is like a distant relative to Mad Max and Matrix.

My face lit up every time I read the Hungarian word "Sarkpont" and I can't help wondering where the author had met this word but it obviously is of high importance in terms of the storyline. Hopefully, the next book in the series will reveal the secret. But then again, how will that happen when the author sadly passed away even before the publication of the first book...?

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for this Advance Review Copy.

Pure genius and a gorgeous book from the outset as the pages just welcome you in. Deserts and abandon cities what is there not to love about this creepy intrigue ?!


The story goes between between that and the seemingly ordinary life of Mackenzie who is just trying to get into a good college . The contrast of the two who will keep you questioning and putting theories forward to yourself.
There is room for a sequel as the book wants you to continue your literary journey.

You will fall in love with the characters even though some aren't all that nice , in times of hardship people pull together and you will be become one of them.

The Book of Sand is a truly unique novel telling the stories of two parallel timelines, one of which is set against the backdrop of a seemingly endless desert, and the other in modern-day Washington. I found the characters themselves to be understandable and relatable, particularly Kenzie. They are all memorable in some way. Many of the ideas presented within the narrative are original and executed very well, making for an engrossing reading experience.

The author of this book had various names to deal with her abundant talents: as Candy Davis she was a fine comedy actress, as Mo Hayder she wrote some of the darkest crime thrillers of the century, as Clare Dunkel she excelled at being a friend, a mother, and eventually a wife, and now as Theo Clare she leaves us with a much-needed encore. For all of the above she deserves a standing ovation. I humbly give her one.
This magnificent novel is smart and compassionate, beautifully written with characters which come alive on every page. This whole new world created by an extraordinary literary imagination is unpredictable and daring and completely compelling. The brilliant atmospheric writing is vivid, heartbreaking but subtly uplifting.
For me this was the best reading experience of a lifetime. It deserves to be a huge bestseller.

Really enjoyed this, it’s quite a hefty book, but it needs it for the story - it’s length is appropriate because there’s a lot to this story, there’s no filler or boring bits to be found.

I read that it’s a bit like Mad Max scene wise and I completely agree with that. A group of people put together with a limited time to escape, and obviously some baddies around to make it a bit more of a challenge.

It’s a really excellent read, one I was completely hooked on, and the ending really didn’t disappoint. I honestly cannot wait for the next book!!!

My thanks to Netgalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review

A journey, into the not so unknown. Lives that have crossed paths on many different plains. Family bonds that bind.


The cirque, an unforgiving desolate land. Cities of the Earth, unexplainably 'close' to each other. The past and present a blur. Lives crossed, memories continued.


The time between the 'grey' precious.


A tale on so many different levels, entwined beautifully. The cast of characters differ on so many levels, yet come together as a single family unit.


The quest, to find a somewhat very well hidden item, to carry finish their journey.


This reminds me of a very compacted take on one of my all time favourite series. The Dark Tower saga by Stephen King.


Does the quest ever end, or do we just return to the beginning and start with a clean slate?


Status: Completed


Rating: 4.7/5.0

Slightly conflicted. I really enjoyed this for the most part, it had a nice twist that was fortunately not what I had feared. The characters were nicely described and the whole thing flowed pretty well. Although it took a couple of chapters to get the rhythm.
However the last couple of chapters felt off kilter and the last page had me checking to see if I was missing pages. It was infuriating. I think I get what the author was trying to achieve but it feels unresolved, and I'm unsure whether there is going to be more to the series as unfortunately the author has died. I'd really love for someone to pen a sequel and give me some closure, I need answers!

I waited a while before reviewing The Book of Sand as I wanted to absorb it. Then I found myself missing Spider, one of the main characters. This is a very immersive story with great family dynamics at its heart. The Dormilones family are not related but thrown together in a disparate group and have to compete, sometimes to the death, with other ‘families’ to find the Sarkpoint. They inhabit the desert living in an abandoned tower in a shuck and all they can see for miles around are abandoned cities engulfed by sand.There are monsters to avoid and environmental dangers too. Meanwhile in a parallel universe, we follow the story of Mckenzie, a 17 year old student who is obsessed by weather patterns and the desert. The ending was a bit abrupt but promises more to come. I can’t wait. Thanks to NetGalley And Penguin Random House for the ARC.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with his book – by Thriller writer Mo Hayder, now sadly passed away. The premise piqued my interest immediately.

The book starts with two concurrent stories. The first is about a family trying to survive the challenge of living in a harsh desert world called the (Cirque), although not everything is all as it seems. This story is interspersed by the narrative of McKenzie – a young girl whose life is turned upside down when she starts seeing lizards in her house.

The book progressed at a good pace drawing me in deeper and deeper into the story and world. The dual timelines worked well; I liked the way they converged towards the end. The plotting is well crafted and interesting. The characters have depth and are well drawn out. There was a lot of tension and built up in this story with the world vividly realised.

Overall, an excellent read, very atmospheric but with an intriguing ending. A book to digest and read again, highly recommended.

My thanks to Netgalley and Random House for a free e-arc, all opinions are my own.

For those who don’t already know, Theo Clare is a pseudonym of British thriller writer Mo Hayder, Hayder itself being a pseudonym for Clare Dunkle. Clare died midway through 2021 from an aggressive form of motor neuron disease. The Book of Sand, a very different enterprise from her works as Hayder, was written over the previous four years. The Book of Sand is a fantasy novel with big questions on its mind of life, death, afterlife and purpose. It is clearly the first of a planned series but it is unknown whether any material for further volumes exist and so whether some of the big questions that it poses will ever be answered.
The first half of The Book of Sand takes place in two very different realities. In a strange desert world, a young Frenchman called Spider finds himself thrown together with a found family. Their task is to work together to find a location called the “Sarkpoint” within a limited amount of time. They do this by exploring the nearby cities, all of which seem to have been transplanted from our world and dropped together into this desert one such that a half buried Dubai is only a few kilometres from Phoenix. But they have to be careful as every couple of nights the Djinni, maleficent spirits, roam the desert hunting for them. There are also rival “families” charged with the same task and only one can succeed. Meanwhile in what appears to be our world, teenager Macenzie is having visions and hallucinations which result in her being taken to see a psychiatrist and being put on anti-psychotic drugs. But despite attempts to normalise her, Macenzie links up with someone who has similar visions and the two try to get to the bottom of their shared affliction sending her on her own dubious adventure.
As can be seen from the preceding paragraph, there is a lot to set up here including plenty of world building. And yet Clare is still able to make reading the book feel like an exploration, as if the desert world is opening up to the reader in the same way it does for Spider and his family. Despite this some explanations, particularly those that try to explore the relationship between the desert world and our world, are sketchy at best and completely unknowable at worst. And while there was clearly another volume planned, the ending does not only not answer these questions but, if anything, poses new ones.
There is no requirement for adventure-based fantasy to have a reason to exist. But the very nature of this book, having a relationship to our world, religions and places in it, will constantly have readers asking: why? Why has this random group of people been put together as a family? Why do they have to find this particular place? What happens if they break the rules? Why are the other families so antagonistic? What role does religion play in this world (much is made of prayer and places of worship)? Is there any relationship with who they have been placed with and who they were in our world?
While The Book Of Sand can be read as a kind of quest story, Clare seems to be striving to be something more. It is just hard to determine what that something is. Which tends to make the whole endeavour often and ultimately frustrating rather than enjoyable.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for an advanced reader copy.

I love fantasy books because there are no rules and they can take you anywhere. The trick for the author is to make the incredible credible. This author does an admirable job of that in this well-written clever book.

It's whacky, The characters are whacky. You're fed the backgrounds of the characters a bit at a time. There are two threads that merge nicely. I quickly embraced the strangeness and got more and more hooked as the story progressed.

Five stars, well deserved. Now, where is her back catalogue?

Since posting this review I have discovered that the author, Mo Hayder, died earlier this year. A sad loss. My condolences to her family.

This is a book that completely caught me by surprise, I was aware that there were two stories involved here but how they connected was a complete curve ball!

One timeline is a group, or as they refer to themselves, a family who are surviving in an inhospitable desert. Each member has a different background and they have random memories from their previous life.

The second is of a young girl, fascinated by wind and sand. She lives in the US and is looked at as a bit of an oddity, her family don't understand her and her obsessions.

I really don't know how to start this review so it may be a little disjointed and most likely very vague! The two storylines don't seem to have any connectors in them, two completely different worlds and people. One is a world we would recognise, as it has a present-day "normal world" setting. The other is definitely not, think of something like Dune but with scarier creatures that emerge at night and that has a time limit to it.

The two stories are very good in their own right, and it took me a while to realise how unconnected they both are. It is not until a lot later in the book that there is that sudden OMG moment when the author literally drops the bombshell. And it was a massive one that suddenly changed the story.

Given the slower and slightly disjointed storyline at the start of the story, I found something about this that kept me reading. I have seen very different reviews of this and some feel that it does go on a bit long. Others and I am one, think it is perfect. I thought it was a way of the author making sure we really get to know the characters. I also found that it very subtly ramped up the mystery and intrigue and I didn't realise that until the bombshell moment.

This is a book that I really enjoyed, it is a mix of dystopian, fantasy, contemporary and mystery. It is from the pen of Mo Hayder who sadly passed away this year (July 2021) at the age of 59. This book is the first time I had read anything by her and I will be going through the back catalogue.

The Book of Sand is a story that I do think will divide readers, it is one that I found was really intriguing and it was the two separate timelines and the different worlds that really drew me in. The end section does change things a lot and it becomes darker and more dangerous.

I really enjoyed this and I would definitely recommend it if you are looking for something engaging, mysterious, dystopian and a little bit different.

This is a very engaging sci-fi fantasy that is essentially two stories in one. I really enjoyed the book but found it a little too long. The ending suggests that perhaps there is more to come, despite the author's recent death. I hope so as this is world building that is worth another visit.

This was a very long story but completely immersive. Some appealing characters, a lot of tension and difficult situations which needed resolving.. I got used the the alternate time lines and found them really interesting, The only criticism I have is the very abrupt conclusion, after reading the book for a long time. it was a shock. i presume there is to be a sequel. Presumably there is to be a sequel.

What happens when you die? Is there a heaven, hell or purgatory? What is on the other side? This novel is like the escape game of the afterlife. A trilling adventure, a riddle woven into a desert scape, in geography that is like our own, but also very different. It feels like a post apocalyptic reality, inhabited by multinational family groups and their animals. It's about invention, discovery, problem solving and human relationships. Trying to fit this book into a particular genre is a challenge.

It is however the best book I have read in the last decade. I can't wait to tell everyone I know about it. An instant classic!

Mo Hayder has been a thriller author I’ve admired for a long time and so I was so excited to receive the ARC for The Book of Sand, a fantasy from her pseudonym – Theo Clare. The premise is an exciting one – a family trying to survive a quest in a harsh desert world that isn’t all as it seems. The first half of the story is also interspersed by the story of McKenzie – a young girl whose life is turned upside down when she starts seeing lizards in her house.

The book itself is quite long at 600 pages but it is an engaging one. I do feel that a good ruthless edit could have easily taken a few hundred pages out of it though. The chapters following McKenzie could have been edited down – particularly as that storyline fizzles out in the middle of the book. Some of the later desert sections also felt a little repetitive. I loved the desert setting though – the abandoned cities were very atmospheric and lead to some creepy moments – especially the lift shafts of the apartment buildings. I also enjoyed the characters – a ragtag bunch of people thrown together and forced to become a family without really knowing their goal or what was happening to them. Spider and Yma stuck out and although there were quite a lot of characters, I didn’t feel overwhelmed by the number. I particularly liked ‘Camel’ who was so well written and becomes as strong a part of the family as anyone else.

This book ends on a bit of a cliff-hanger ready for the sequel, but some plot points are resolved and we do eventually find out what has been happening. I must admit I was a little disappointed at the conclusion – I didn’t like the spirituality element and I wanted there to be a bigger and more surprising twist about who the Djinns were or what was happening around them. I also didn’t really understand the plot points about the scouts and found that reveal just confusing rather than informative. I’m sure the sequel will be interesting though and I’m intrigued to see where the characters end up next!

Overall, The Book of Sand is a bit long but it’s an atmospheric and intriguing fantasy which will keep you gripped and wanting to work out what is going on behind the scenes. I look forward to the reading the sequel and finding out what happens next! Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK, Cornerstone and Century for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed The Book of Sand by Theo Clare!
I really liked the two storylines it was actually my first time reading a book like this.
I was worried I wouldn't like it but I did!
The characters were done so well and I really loved the writing style.
The only reason I didn't give this book a 5 stars is because I wasnt really into the ending.
I highly recommend this book especially if it sounds like something that you would be interested in!
Thank you netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.