The Sand Dragon by Michael F. Stewart

The Sand Dragon by Micheal F. Stewart

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PJV's QUICKIE POV: Slow to start but worth the wait, this creepy thrill ride had me glued.  Stewart has a unique writing style that was like trying a new foreign dish. It took me a few bits, but once I acclimated myself to the taste...I was hooked.  The author also showed a deep understanding of the subjects talked about, each character had their own personalities and thumb-prints. You might not like those characters, but each were well-formed and an three dimensional, instead of the usual supporting characters in novels, who are usually just their for placers.

 REVIEW: Center stage is the discovery of what is believed to be a fossil in a very odd little trailer town that is centered around the tar sands and the company that mines them for oil.

You get the feeling that fossils are found a lot in the region, given that they are tar sands and dinosaurs had a habit of falling into them and becoming, well fossils, so of course the managers want to speed up this fossil extraction. They go over local girl, Kim Axon's, paleontologist, head and bring in a creepy cryptozoologist, Dr. Sebastien Bythell.  Quickly Kim begins to suspect that Dr. Bythell is up to no good, and is rather odd, when the fossil gets extracted over night.  As more and more characters are introduced and come into play, you begin to realize that something is strange about this town and because it is a horror story - something serious creepy.

When really screwy events begin happening, murders, a mysterious illness and more odd appearances by Dr. Bythell this town is plunged into utter chaos and mass hysteria is reached.  Now enters the survivors and their desperate fight to save their lives. You don't want to miss their story.

Like I said before, Stewart has a unique writing style and character depiction I very much enjoyed.  His character creation was by far the best part of The Sand Dragon. Each character had their own flavor and world building that was exemplary. Their bleak lives were thrust at you with nothing hidden, open for you to relate to, sympathize, or hate. I almost believed that this was a non-fiction, the characters were so very poignant. Not only that, his story telling was gritty and in-your-face that will leave you shivering and begging for more, that is if you like a bit of adrenaline...

RECOMMENDATIONS: This is an adult novel.  I recommend this for horror fans, if you've read liked, Koontz, King, etc., you'll enjoy this one.

BWB: 3/4