Clear Path

Description

Vipassana: a Pali term that means to see things as they truly are. The Great Allegheny Passage, a 150-mile biking and hiking trail, runs from Downtown Pittsburgh’s Point State Park to the picturesque mountain town of Cumberland, Maryland. Bodhi King sets off to hike the length of the trail, certain that the unspoiled landscape, rolling rivers, and sweeping mountain vistas will soothe his weary soul and clear his clouded mind. For a while, they do. On the third day of walking, the forensic pathologist discovers an abandoned bicycle just off the path. Searching for its owner, he finds a full backpack, one cycling shoe, and, most troubling of all, a fresh blood stain in a tunnel. He detours to the nearest town to contact the authorities and learns a local woman has gone missing. Joining the search for Aurora Westin, Bodhi somehow finds himself leading a ragtag party of townspeople, through-hikers and bicyclists, and the town’s visually impaired, retired police chief. As the search party ventures further from town, dark secrets and old wounds surface. Bodhi’s team of volunteers all have their own agendas for finding the missing woman—not all of them righteous. Bodhi will be forced to take an unwavering look into the hearts of the searchers if they’re all going to make it out of the woods alive.