K.A. Merson

Debut

This novel really lets the author’s freak flag fly, in the best way.  It definitely is not a book for every reader – it will help if you enjoy puzzles, cryptology and maps, but even in you don’t, the story and the characters make the read worthwhile.  The main character, Arizona, is a neurodivergent 17 year old who has just lost her father.  As the book opens, she and her mother are headed to the ghost town of Bodie, California, to scatter her father’s ashes.

She and her mother and Arizona’s dog, Mojo, have arrived in the family Airstream, and when they get there, Arizona tells her mother she’d like some time to herself.  When she goes to meet up with her mother at the appointed time, however, her mother is nowhere to be found.  Hours later, Arizona at last reports her mother’s disappearance to a park ranger who tells her to wait at her campsite. read more