The Book of Sand
by Theo Clare
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Sand. A hostile world of burning sun. 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. To survive in this alien world of shifting sand, they must find an object hidden in or near water. show more But other families want it too. And they are willing to fight to the death to make it theirs. It is beginning to rain in Fairfax County, Virginia when McKenzie Strathie wakes up. An ordinary teenage girl living an ordinary life except that the previous night she found a sand-lizard in her bed, and now she's beginning to question everything around her, especially who she really is. Two very different worlds featuring a group of extraordinary characters driven to the very limit of their endurance in a place where only the strongest will survive. show lessTags
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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 show more 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. show less
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 show more 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. show less
I was completely unaware of Mo Hayder and her mystery novels until came across this soon to be posthumously published novel. While the premise of The Book of Sand seems to be the standard fare for sci-fi and fantasy (what attracted me to the book in the first place), the book is far more than what it seems at first glance. It weaves the stories of a desert quest occurring in harsh and brutal conditions, along with the search by a teen in Virginia who believes there’s more to her identity than she’s been told, into a complex tale that is more than your standard fantasy fare. For me, this was a page turner that was totally original in concept. Well written with strong lead characters. I can only hope that the reported future second show more volume will answer the questions raised by this impressive book.
My thanks to Blackstone Publishing and Netgalley for an ARC of The Book of Sand in exchange for an honest opinion. show less
My thanks to Blackstone Publishing and Netgalley for an ARC of The Book of Sand in exchange for an honest opinion. show less
Mo Hayder has been a go-to author for me for a long time and while this novel is a different genre, it's just as gripping and original as her other books. In The Book of Sand, she's built an immersive futuristic mapwork of devastation laced with hope and with characters so nuanced and real that you can't help but root for them. Unputdownable.
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Library Action/Adventure - Junior and Teenage
161 works; 1 member
Author Information
13+ Works 9,676 Members
Mo Hayder is the pen name for Clare Dunkel, a British Crime novelist. She was born, in 1962. After leaving school at 15, she worked as a barmaid, security guard, filmmaker, hostess in a Tokyo club, and taught English as a foreign language in Asia. Here first novel was Birdman (1999). The books that followed were The Treatment (2001), Tokyo (2004) show more also published in 2010 as The Devil in Nanking, Pigs Island (2006), Ritual (2008), Skin (2009), Hanging Hill (2011), Gone (2010) won the Edgar Award, Poppet (2013), and Wolf (2014) which is being adapted for the BBC. In 2011, she won the Crime Writers' Association Daggar in the Library award for an outstanding body of work. Clare Dunkel died from motor neurone disease on July 27, 2021. She was 59. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- Reviews
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