On The Kalalau Trail

By Robin Reardon

Trailblazer Series: Book 2 of 3.
Self-discovery. Sounds simple, right? After all, you’re already there. You’re already you. So it can surprise us that it takes so much time, and so much effort. It surprises Nathan Bartlett.

In the first Trailblazer book (On Chocorua), Nathan’s adored older brother had died a tragic death. Two years later, during this second book, his grandmother—who’d raised her three grandchildren alone since Nathan was a baby—passes on as well.

Nathan realizes he hadn’t really known the people he’d loved. So he goes on a quest, searching for connections he hadn’t known how to make in life. Part of Nathan’s journey is a physical one, a hike promoted by Conroy Finnegan of Finnegan’s Walks.

Conroy is sexy, very masculine, and charismatic—a rolling stone with no moss, a gypsy rover, leading a life with no strings attached, and he seduces Nathan in more ways than one. His invitation is irresistible:

“Come experience a place where the physical and the spiritual are one. A place where magic happens, where the very names are magical: Na Pali. Ho’olulu. Waiahuakua. Hanakoa. Hanakāpīʻai. Nathan, come to Kaua’i.”

Conroy leads Nathan to paradise and lets him find his own way back.Nathan begins his journey as a searcher. On the way he becomes a seeker. These states of mind are different. And neither is in itself the end of Nathan’s journey.

Walk with him.