The Dormilones Family are fighting for survival in a strange world very similar to our own, only the cities are in ruins, previous habitants are gone, and sand covers all. In order to succeed, they must locate an object hidden in or near water. But other families are on the hunt as well, and they are willing to kill to find it first. In another narrative, an American teenager named McKenzie lives an ordinary life, but she wakes up to find a sand lizard in her bed that no one else can see. The Book of Sand by Mo Hayder (writing as Theo Clare) is a highly-descriptive tale that follows two stories that are not initially intertwined, but turn out to be connected in ways the reader does not see coming – ensuring a new adventure for everyone. 

Spider is our main protagonist for the Dormilones narrative. He’s a very interesting character with a mysterious backstory – wearing women’s skirts with a leather jacket and boots, and a self-proclaimed murderer, his talent for climbing inspired the name he chose for himself. He and his non-biological family members are searching for an object called the Sarkpont, and they have 12 chances to find it before another family does and avoid the unknown result of their failure. In addition to having to survive and locate the Sarkpont, they must be sure to reach their shelter, called the Shuck, before nightfall. Or else, they risk being mauled to death by mysterious yet hideous creatures called the Djinni. And if they lose too many members along their way, they automatically fail their mission. 

On Earth, in Fairfax County, Virginia, McKenzie Strathie is trying to determine whether or not she’s hallucinating – after all, her family believes she is. She works to domesticate the sand lizard, whom she names Mr. Blonde, hoping to convince her parents that it’s real. However, while eavesdropping on a conversation between her parents, she discovers that this strange behavior has happened before. Aside from the fact that she prefers hot climates and can accurately predict the weather, she is a normal American teenager thinking about her future. When she has a chance to impress college scouts at a science fair, she decides to enlist the help of Mr. Blonde. Unfortunately, things go terribly wrong – and it’s all caught on live video. 

The Book of Sand is an original and creative story with rich descriptions that made it easy to picture the environment in which the characters endure. The jumping between the two storylines made the novel that much more engaging. I wanted to know how McKenzie would handle her embarrassing and very public disaster – especially after a stranger who saw her presentation reaches out to her online and says he saw Mr. Blonde too. But then we switch back to Spider and the rest of the Dormilones Family, who continue to search and survive and happen to have a stroke of luck when he finds a Shuck with running water, and more clues from his family members regarding the Sarkpont’s location. 

The reason I gave The Book of Sand three stars is because of the length – at 600 pages, about a third of them were unnecessary. Hayder/Clare has a great talent for writing, but the expense might be superfluous words that burden the reader. Furthermore, there were some plot holes that weren’t closed up, and I was disappointed when a major shift happened and the book’s strengths didn’t last throughout the entire story. Considering this book is supposed to be the beginning of a trilogy, I’m sure the future installments will make up for it. But I’m also afraid that the opposite could be true as well. Unfortunately, Mo Hayder passed away last year, so readers won’t get much insight until future releases. 

Overall, this book was interesting and unique in some ways, but fell short in others. Nevertheless, if you don’t mind long books with dense writing, I encourage you to pick it up. The Book of Sand is available now.