Book Review - RED SANDS by Clayton Snyder

Red Sands by Clayton Snyder
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Clayton Snyder is an author who I feel doesn't get nearly the buzz he deserves. The guy just churns out quality book after quality book and is the co-author (with Michael R. Fletcher) of one of my all-time favorite fantasy novels, Norylska Groans. Check that one out of you haven't already, it's a banger. He typically sticks to the fantasy and SF genres so when I heard he was dipping his toe into the horror realm with his latest offering RED SANDS, well I just had to request a copy.

As soon as I began reading RED SANDS I knew I was going to be immersed in this story. First of all, the setting is one that I found very original and one that hasn't really been touched on in many fiction novels, that being the Afghanistan War. It's a bold move by Snyder but one that very much paid off in my opinion. The action begins with a firefight in a small village and escalates into something that goes way beyond what the American soldiers expected.

But that's not all the soldiers encounter while dodging bullets and trying to take out their intended target. I mean, this is a horror book after all! Something supernatural is at play and each of the soldiers experiences this in a different way. Oh, that's another thing that I loved about this book, in the opening chapters you get to see the same events play out through the five or six soldiers eyes and it really enhances the intensity and impact of the narrative.

I will refrain from saying what else happens from this point but I can tell you that the action and plot intrigue just ramps up tenfold after this. There are no lulls in the pacing and you would expect that from a book that weighs in at roughly 250 pages. So if you are looking for a tight, compact, and thrilling read, this is just what the doctor ordered.

In closing, I am confident to report that Clayton Snyder is just as adept at writing horror books as he is his usual SFF ones. RED SANDS is an ominous journey that touches on themes of the brutality of war, PTSD, mysticism, revenge, and ultimately the darkness that lies buried within even the most righteous-seeming individuals. This book took me to places I didn't want to go at times, but I'm glad that I did because in the end it made the experience that much more emotional and riveting. I highly recommend RED SANDS if you are looking for a different type of horror book. Great stuff!

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