The Lantern Man - Paperback

A lantern is a dangerous thing in the dark. It doesn't just show you the path. It shows everything that's been following you.

Embarrassed and disgraced federal investigator Claire Dawson has lost everything: her career, her reputation, and the father she never made time to visit before it was too late. Seeking refuge from the media firestorm and her own crushing guilt, she retreats to her late father's cabin near Clingmans Dome, Tennessee. But on her very first night, someone leaves a message that makes one thing clear: she is not alone, and she is not welcome.

When a stormy night hike reveals a strange light drifting through the trees where no one should be, Claire discovers signs of a struggle near an abandoned trailhead. The locals dismiss her. The sheriff won't listen. Then she meets Sid Grady, a reclusive former park ranger haunted by his own loss. His daughter vanished ten years ago, last seen following a flickering light into the woods. Together, Claire and Sid begin to trace a pattern of disappearances stretching back decades, all connected to a chilling Appalachian legend known as the Lantern Man.

But the deeper they dig into the mountains' secrets, the more they realize the lantern isn't a warning. It's a lure. And whoever is carrying it knows they're getting close. In The Lantern Man, nothing in the dark is what it seems, and sometimes the dawn comes too late.