Scott Carson delivers a book I just couldn’t put down with Lost Man’s Lane. Combining nostalgia for the end of the 20th century with a twist of supernatural thriller, the tale is a coming-of-age story that is by turns frightening and beautifully told.

Marshall and his mom are living their lives in quiet Bloomington. When he turns 16, Marshall has his license for all of five minutes before he is pulled over by a threatening police officer, who has a missing girl in the back of his patrol car.

Unfortunately, the local PD has no one by the name or description that Marshall gives.

Things are complicated by a local rattlesnake den, which provides for a climax that literally had me crawling in my chair anxiously.

With the help of a private investigator with secrets of his own, Marhsall navigates the heart of a supernatural mystery, as well as the chambers of his own heart as he struggles through his final year in high school, and the feelings he has for his best friend, and next door neighbor, Kerri.

It’s an incredible page turner, it was always a case of ‘just one more chapter’ before bed. Carson’s tale is engaging, and relatable, though I am not a fan of Marshall’s musical tastes. But as a character, he is incredibly relatable.

Carson has a talent to blend the everyday with the supernatural without making the reader question it. Marshall is just a teenager, and while he is worried about this mysterious cop, and the haunting dreams he’s having, he’s also worried about girls, school, and staying on his mother’s good side.

We are wrapped up in Marshall’s world, and those who inhabit it, and we soon find that everyone is going to be affected by the things that are happening.

The characters are well developed, and as I realized I had fewer and fewer pages ahead, I really didn’t want the story to end. I didn’t want to leave these people behind. Over the length of the book, I began to see these people as my friends. Carson’s writing made them real in my mind’s eye.

And speaking of making things real in the mind’s eye, the climax really unnerved me. I’m not a fan of snakes, and without giving too much away, there’s a climbing sequence and a rattlesnake in a backpack. Holy crap that really freaked me out.

With one book, Carson has caught my attention, and I may find myself hunting down his other books. But this one was amazing, and I greatly enjoyed it. It’s beautifully told, and has some great moments, and wonderful characters.

I’ll miss leaving Marshall behind, but glad I got to spend time with him.