The Sand Men

'The ultimate gated community is a human being with a closed mind.' JG BallardIn Dubai there's a new world of high-luxury resorts emerging for the super-rich-but at what price to everyone else?Lea, Roy and their 15 year-old daughter Cara live in a gated community reserved for foreign workers. Roy has been hired to deal with teething problems at Dream World, a futuristic beach complex. In the oppressive heat, the wives appear happy to follow behind their husbands, cooking and arranging tea parties, but Lea finds herself a virtual prisoner in a land where Western women are regarded with indifference and suspicion.At least there are a few friendly outsiders who don't enjoy the conformity of the ex-pat community-until one night, when the most outspoken one dies in a suspicious accident. It's the first in a string of terrible occurrences that divide the foreign workers. Lea's neighbours start to blame migrants, locals and even each other.Lea is convinced that deliberate acts of cruelty are being committed-but is there a real threat to her life, or is she becoming paranoid? And what if what she fears most is really happening? What happens in a world where only the rich are important? Welcome to a future that's five minutes away, where rebellion against conformity can lead to the unthinkable...