The Sand Dragon by Michael F. Stewart

2010 by Double Dragon Publishing, Inc.

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Review Copy

The discovery of an immense pterosaur skeleton lures paleontologist Kim Axon to the tar sands near her childhood home of Fort Mic. But Kim’s not the only one drawn to the find’s siren call, and the others are coming for a very different reason. Fort Mic, where Kim’s father was murdered long ago, is both blessed and cursed by the shadow population who gravitate to the area for cheap trailers while they mine the sands for oil. Townsfolk begin to fall sick. Fearing the spread of the strange disease, the new doctor quarantines the town. Now alone, the broken community must rise above its past to battle outsiders who do not fear the return of an ancient evil, but worship it.

"Faith must be earned, I always respect an atheist who prefers proof over blind faith. A scientist’s role is to question.” Pg. 12

Review

Ohhhh- nothing says horror like a little mass hysteria, men laying eggs and a town full of crazies.

Starting The Sand Dragon was a bit rough for me, I thought the prologue was a bit choppy and immersing myself into the novel didn't quit happen until around chapter eight. At that point, digging deeper with a messed up Patrick I thought Mr. Stewart found his rhythm with articulating the story.

After the discovery of an old dinosaur skeleton, bizarre events begin taking place within the small gloomy town. Murder, sickness and hysteria soon collide in a town full of secrets and strange rituals. At the start of the weird happenings, the reader is left guessing between a freaky reaction to the exposed skeleton perhaps or the work of some dark evil or just a town full of people who need a good 72 hour lock down at the nearest psych ward?

Out of the well thought cast of characters I wound up connecting to Kim’s story the most. Even though she was facing some of the same circumstances the rest of the characters go through, her inner struggle’s and strength for me as a reader helped me connect to the book emotionally and begin to care about the outcome and survival of the remaining characters.

My favorite aspect of Stewart’s novel was the “mass-hysteria” or just the whole townsfolk’s creepiness. When you can’t figure out if its hysteria or seriously freaky ritual stuff it makes for a good read, you never know which way the story will go. Surprisingly Stewart’s creatures (including vampires) were positively evil, none of this creature of the night I wanna be your boyfriend garbage going on… basically it was just plain ol’ good guys faces the bad guys.

The Sand Dragon defiantly delivers a weird, action packed story, leaving you second guessing those meaty burgers.

Rating

The Sand Dragon is laced with violence, blood, gore, language, religious themes, and sexuality.

2.5/5- Horror
Thanks to Michael Stewart for providing review copy