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Like a master artisan, Brendan DuBois weaves a beautiful first book, Dead Sand. He begins by creating a basic design using the highest quality ingredients--interesting characters, a fully developed plot and finely detailed settings. If that alone were the extent of his efforts, the result would be very fine. However, he's added some accent threads that move this from an accomplished book to something approaching a work of art. Those accent threads are not visible when first looking at the overall picture; however, when they begin to come to light, they illuminate and enhance the total output. In truth, the accent threads are what make the design beautiful. The book takes place in Tyler Beach, New Hampshire, a place that is overrun by tourists in the summer and deserted the rest of the year. One of its residents is Lewis Cole, a writer for a monthly magazine. He's on a drive-around with the town's only detective, Diane Woods, when a call comes in. It turns out that a young woman has hung herself. There's something about this that calls to Lewis, and he begins to investigate the death with Diane's tacit approval. The town budget doesn't provide for her to have any assistance, so Lewis is helping her out by looking into the circumstances. This is purely a personal mission on the part of Cole, as the magazine for which he works will never accept a story about a murdered woman in a beach town. One of the first accent threads that begins to come to light is centered around Lewis. He seems to be a fairly straightforward man, but there are hints that he has a mysterious past. He won't reveal why he has returned to the town where he was born but not raised. He lives in a refurbished government cottage; and within, he has a veritable arsenal. The reader's curiosity grows with each of the strange revelations about Lewis-who is he? What did he do in the past? Is he running from someone? The thread begins to come to light and become a dominant theme. The reader can hazard some guesses, but is totally unprepared for the horrific events that unfolded one day in a desert in Nevada, a day that was the change point in Lewis' life. The "dead sands" of the title refer not only to the shores of Tyler Beach, where so much of this story unfolds, but also to the sands of the deserts of Nevada, where Lewis Cole's personal tragedy occurred and which is revealed periodically throughout the book. Another event from the past plays a large part in the motivations of the book, the discovery of a woman who was buried in the sands of Tyler Beach almost 40 years earlier. Although the focus of the book is on the present day, the reality is that the past is the key to understanding the strange happenings in Tyler Beach, just as the past is a key to understanding Lewis. A lobsterman is blown to smithereens aboard his fishing vessel; an elderly woman friend of Lewis' has disappeared and is presumed dead; a scumbag scheming hotel owner is killed execution style. There is something tying all of these actions together, but that something is elusively difficult to discover. The narrative is laid out using a low key, conversational tone. DuBois is one of the best writers I've seen at describing a setting. He creates a sense of place where the reader can see every molecule of the environment. At times, though, I felt that the descriptions slowed down the narrative. However, DuBois has done a fine job of developing characters, both the good and the evil. I particularly liked the depiction of the Tyler detective, Diane Woods, and the local mob man, Felix Tinios. As we reach the denouement of the book, DuBois escalates the action and creates a taut sense of suspense. The resolution is complex but entirely credible with only one inconsistent stupid move on the part of Lewis. I found this book to be an exceptional first effort, with high marks for plot, character, setting and pace.
Reviewed by Maddy Van Hertbruggen, August 2002
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